I'm your average person with average learning abilities. How long would it take for me to learn PHP from scratch and what are some good resources and references?

It's according to how much time and effort you want to put into it. I wouldn't know the time frame. I think that would depend on the factors.

http://www.php.net is one of the best done documentation sites available.

Use flash cards they help and buy a book and copy the info to the cards in handwriting so you remember and learn three - eight new things from the cards each day it won't take you that long.

The best resource is the internet. As for learning, it depends on your skills. When I started with PHP I already knew java, c++ and some other programming languages so I picked it up quick. If PHP is your first language there are a lot of concepts you will have to pick up.

I think PHP is extremely, extremely easy to learn. If there is one (useful) language that is beginner-friendly, PHP is it.

You could probably pick the basics of PHP up in a couple hours. Spending a couple of days actually working with PHP on a real project is probably enough to get you to an intermediate level. The hardest part of PHP, in my opinion, is learning which functions are built in (there are over a thousand) and when to use them. Fortunately, when you apply yourself in a real project, you'll be forced to learn the most important ones right away.

It also depends on your capacity to learn such things, though. As easy as it is, I know some people who just can't get the hang of programming. A designer that knows HTML might not get the hang of programming when he has to think of program flow, variables etc. And as NullPointer says, you'll learn much quicker if you already know some basic concepts.

Also note that learning a language has very little to do with how good a programmer you are. The design of your applications is much more important. It takes a special kind of mindset to make manageable and efficient applications. You might be able to master PHP fairly quickly, but good programmers take much longer to grow.

I learnt the basics in around 2 days enough for me to start on a project. I then decided what I wanted to build and went about it. The advantage of this was as already stated is you encounter a problem you want to acheive and a quick google search later you have the answer. I am still relatively newb but my 2nd site http:www.talkaboutfishing.co.uk took around 3 weeks to complete and each time I work on a site I find my self refering to forums and books a lot less. Happy coding!!

learning the php language should be really easy, but it will take you a while to become a REAL programer

While I agree that php is probably the easiest language to learn, this only rings true after you know the basics of programming. If you can get a solid understanding of server-side scripting in tandem with the basics of php, you'll progress at a much smoother rate.

I totally disagree with Chris's comment that a few days on a real project would be enough to take you to intermediate level. By that scale you'd be an advanced programmer in a few weeks? Bollocks! This would only apply if you have a few other languages under your belt.

In my opinion, an intermediate level programmer has a firm grasp of scripting logic and good logic only comes with hell of a lot more experience than a few days on a site.

A few good reference books and a beginner's guide are essential when you start out. The reason that I tend to recommend books over the web for beginners is that your mind more readily absorbs new information when it comes from a variety of media. Secondly, unless you have dual screens, flicking between a web tutorial and your work is annoying. Having a reference book in front of you while working is far better.

The www.sitepoint.com series of books are a great source of information for php/mysql developers. Once you're on your way and have a good understanding of the basics, the php.net manual is prolly the best of manual of all web languages.

I'd say 3 months is a fair amount of time for the average non-programmer to pick up the basics for a wide array of tasks.