Does PHP need data structures and algorithms?

When learning PHP, at what stage can you learn data structures? This problem is actually not just about learning PHP, but also other languages.

Regarding this issue, you must not follow the trend blindly, and you must not get ahead of yourself. That is to say, don’t learn it immediately after seeing others on the Internet saying it is important. Don’t stop learning when others say it’s abstract or difficult. (Recommended learning: PHP video tutorial)

In general, this thing needs to be learned and must be learned. The key is when to learn it? How to learn?

If you haven’t learned the basics of the language well, don’t learn data structures and algorithms. Otherwise, if you study for a long time, it will not only be flashy and useless, but also greatly dampen your interest in learning.

For example: For those who have studied PHP for more than 2 years, you use PHPCMS for example in company development projects. When have you ever used the graph algorithm in the data structure taught in university textbooks? ? Or Huffman algorithm? But you can be qualified for many of the company's projects developed using PHPCMS, and the salary may not be low.

On the other hand, even if you memorize complex algorithms like the Tower of Hanoi, but you don’t have time to learn PHP and PHPCMS, if you apply for a PHP development position, how many people do you think will give you an interview? notify? You can only write "Proficient in data structures and algorithms" on your resume, but if it cannot be used in actual combat, the ending may be quite embarrassing.

Others who study liberal arts can still find jobs even if they don’t know what data structures are. Others don’t look for jobs that require data structures. This shows that finding a job or even a job in the development application field such as PHP is directly linked to demand. What is used in the work will require talents in this field.

So, whether to learn data structures or not depends on whether the job you want to find in the future requires it. If you are looking for a job in PHP rapid development projects, and you are proficient in using the framework required for the position in one year, you are likely to become a technical manager. But you may not use the complex algorithms in the data structure.

So there is a misunderstanding, that is: If you want to learn PHP, you must first understand the data structure and algorithm, and you are limited to the few algorithms written in books, such as: Huffman algorithm , hash algorithm, etc... Anyone who doesn't learn this will not be able to develop projects... and so on.

So when I heard that many beginners didn’t even learn the basics of PHP, they didn’t even understand object-oriented, they didn’t even understand the template parsing engine, they couldn’t even figure out why the dynamic tags were there. If there is, even Laravel can't develop a complete project, and it is just reading the data structure book. This is purely a "flashy" move.

This is for others to learn, to let others see how "profound" you are. In fact, he probably doesn't know why he should learn it and where it is used. This kind of learning is seriously divorced from reality. If it causes you to have trouble finding a job and makes it difficult to meet job requirements, it is completely normal.

Because you learned wrongly. Just like you are proficient in history, but you are looking for or doing a job in chemistry, and then you tell others "History is important...".

So: The suggestion drawn above is: If you don’t need it in your work or future work, then you don’t need to learn data structures for the time being.

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