
Learning PHP/Car Engines - billphipps
Does anyone know if my learning PHP code would better my chances of being or learning how to be an effective Car Mechanic? I&#x27;m stuck on this.
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ultrablue
I suppose that in terms of modules interacting, dependencies, information
flow, etc. there are analogs in car mechanics.

Troubleshooting is always the same, regardless of the technology: Look at the
symptoms. Observe the system to see what it's actually doing. Analyze any
residue left behind as the system operates/fails. Start with the most obvious
potential sources of error. Eliminate things as you go. What's left at the end
is the root cause.

However, keep in mind that computers are vastly more complex than engines. Add
networking and it gets even more complicated. One way to think of it is that a
computer running a LAMP stack (as an example) has hundreds of 'engines' all
interacting with each other. The result is that what's wrong with one 'engine'
affects the others in ways that aren't always obvious.

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billphipps
Would you suggest learning networking a better more relevant alternative? or
any other "methodologies", "technologies", or "computer systems"?

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PaulHoule
Maybe learn something about embedded dev.

That is, there is a CAN bus plug on modern cars, shouldn't you learn how to
access it? This is easy to do in Python

[https://pypi.python.org/pypi/python-can](https://pypi.python.org/pypi/python-
can)

but I don't see drivers to do it from PHP.

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krapp
Why one or the other? Learning to be a mechanic is probably more difficult,
time consuming and requires a greater investment, but you could still do that
and teach yourself PHP on the side.

