In the /r/PHP community on Reddit there's a discussion going on about the best way to learn PHP. The op wonders:

Now a days there are numerous PHP Framework popping out and being fully supported, just to put it straight. Should i jump on one of those like CI, etc. and forget about doing a native code? I'm a new in PHP and now i'm confused which to choose.

There's lots of good answers to the questions with people leaning both ways. Suggestions include:

• "The answer is that you should do both raw php programming as well as get familiar with frameworks. This might sound like a copout, but it's really not."
• "I would agree with the others that it's best to learn the basics of PHP first. Understand PHP and its various constructs, particularly if you're a new programmer."
• "PHP frameworks ARE PHP. [...] Regardless, frameworks are generally pretty advanced PHP, and may be hard to get into without a good grounding in PHP generally, and OOP specifically."
• "Learn PHP. You might be able to make a site if all you do is focus on a particular framework, but by focusing on learning to use the language itself you'll be able to switch from one framework to another. "
• "If you don't have at least some understanding of the basics, learning a framework to start off it a bit of overkill and may or may not actually help you much. I think it's hard to appreciate what a good framework does for you if you don't have a fair understanding of how things are often done without one."

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