For the last couple of weeks, I've been hanging out over at the DevShed PHP forum, trying to give my opinion and share my knowledge for the (mostly) elementary questions.

One thing I have noticed, and am really upset about, is that that the majority of people posting these questions have been hired to develop a full web site in PHP/MySQL. Yet something as simple as padding a string is too difficult to figure out? Pardon me while I go regurgitate my lunch.

See, the problem with that is these people say, "Oh, I know PHP," and they get this huge project to do, and they don't even know where to start with the easy stuff! But there's even more of a problem; one that plagues the majority of web-based discussion forums...

It's known as "spoon-feeding". I believe I've covered this, but I can't seem to find it in the archives. At any rate, here's the deal:

The current generation is full of a bunch of spoiled brats who know nothing of respect and working to earn something. This includes research and learning. I see it way too much...

Kiddie: I need someone to help me figure out how to turn a number from 1 to 001, using PHP. Guru: Use the str_pad() function. Kiddie: I don't understand! Do it for me! Guru: Get a life. Read the manual and figure it out for yourself. Kiddie: Please!! This is an emergency! I am getting paid $4500 to build this website, and I can't figure this out!! Do it for me!!

Come on! Think about it: How did Guru get to the point they're at now, knowing the answer at the drop of a hat? Did someone spoon-feed him/her? I doubt it. It's all about working for the answer. You have a glob of gray matter between your ears. Can't you use it? Yeah... that... It's called your brain.

Just recently, I've noticed (and taken part in) a discussion to log all "script queries" on a site. It went from that, to writing to a log file, to figuring out (un)serialized data, and on to "I just need to log the MySQL queries! I'm not a programmer. I just need the easy answer!"

Let me guide you through the proper way of asking a question:

Greetings! I am working with "ProductX", and I need to make a slight modification. I'm not sure if it's possible, and the technical side of it baffles me (I'm not a programmer), so I would appreciate some input. I need to store all the queries made to the MySQL database in a log file, so I can go back and review them at a later time if any security issues arise. Is it possible? What is the best way to do it? What kind of problems might I experience in setting it up? Thanks in advance! -PHPn00b

Now, is that so hard? I bet even people who don't speak English as a primary language could structure a message the same way.

To my generation: Get off your lazy butt and do it yourself. Respect people older than you, because they know more. Oh, and get a friggin' haircut!