| Average Rating: |
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| Sales Rank: | 60181 (lower is better) |
| Shipping: | Free Shipping on most orders over $25* |
| Availability: | Usually ships in 24 hours |
| Label: | Wrox |
| Pages: | 816 |
| Binding: | Kindle Edition |
| Publication Date: | 2000-10-31 |
| Published By: | Wrox |
| ASIN: | B000VZW34A |
| Category: | eBooks |
PHP is a rapidly growing web technology which enables web designers to build dynamic, interactive web applications, incorporating information from a host of databases, and including features such as e-mail integration and dynamically generated images. PHP4 added tons of features to make web application development even easier, and this book will show you how to make the most of the language's powerful capabilities.
This book is a complete tutorial in PHP's language features and functionality, beginning with the basics and building up to the design and construction of complex data-driven websites. Fully working examples in the book include a directory-style web search engine, a mailing list management system, a web-based file editor, and a graphical online shopping mall guidebook.
What does this book cover?
Here are just a few of the things you'll find covered in this book:
Who is this book for?
Anybody who knows HTML can use this book. If you've done any programming, that will be useful, but it's not a requirement. You can run all of the code on either a Windows or UNIX (e.g., Linux) system, and the book explains how to set up a web server and database in both of these environments.
PHP, of course, is introduced in the book, but there's also an approachable and effective introduction to programming in general. The conscientious tutorial on basic concepts like variables, keywords, and flow control will give even beginners an understanding of the basics of writing programs. PHP, it turns out, is not only a great way to generate HTML dynamically, but a very marketable skill. Web fundamentals like HTTP, HTML form variables, and managing session information using no less than four different techniques are explained thoroughly and effectively. You also find out how to install PHP and other tools on your system, with the assistance of plenty of screen shots.
That's not to say that this book will cramp the style of more experienced developers. Some chapters delve into such important and advanced topics as database programming (with MySQL) and PHP's support for XML. One standout section demystifies the new support for objects and classes in PHP4. Basic topics like managing files and directories on the server, plus graphics processing, are addressed, of course, and a nifty sample program shows you how to build a Web-based text editor. Except for the final case study--a "URL directory manager" (akin to Yahoo!) that's rather specialized--the examples are right on, and illustrate everyday programming tasks. You'll learn also how to generate e-mail with PHP--certainly a valuable skill to have.
The appendix lists several hundred PHP functions in over 50 pages--a handy and useful feature. In all, Beginning PHP4 provides a strong choice for learning about one of today's most powerful and easy-to-use scripting languages; it's concise, fast moving, and thoroughly approachable. --Richard Dragan
Topics covered:
As far as depth goes, such as discussing details of the functions. Well, that's what the php manual is for (www.php.net). Initially I tried to learn the language from the php manual alone but didn't get very far, I couldn't see the forest because the trees were in the way, eg too much detail without a big picture. What this book does is to focus on the big picture of how and why to do something. It also shows multiple approachs to the same problem and compares them so that you get an idea of the alternatives and trade-offs.
Starting from not knowing php to writing some very sophisticated programs... I learned it all with two books and the manual. The other book that I read is PHP Developers Cookbook. The two books are very complimentary, there is not that much overlap between them instead they fill each others gaps. Note that the "Cookbook" is more advanced and assumes that you already know a lot of php.
Okay, the one big gripe that I have is their lack of proof reading. They must have really rushed this to press. There are literally hundreds of errors and the errata sheet is incomplete. However it is easy to get past the errors as long as you don't make the assumption that the text is always correct. In other words, if something doesn't make sense then you should be suspicious of an error instead of always assuming that it's your lack of understanding.
The necessity of Rewriting the code examples is a little annoying, but the book can hardly be faulted for language changes that were made after the book was published. PHP is a rapidly moving target, no book will ever be current for very long. And besides, the best way to understand a program is to take it apart and rewrite it, that's why they are called "Examples". (most of the changes needed are trivial).
Mostly what you need to do is to change $varname to $_REQUEST['varname']
and that will fix it. If you are having trouble finding the correct variable then use
phpinfo();
to get a list of all of the available variables, then you just pick what you need from the list and put a $ in front of it.
(...)By the way, the code examples can be downloaded from their website which can save a lot of typing...
Look at the errata for more info: http://www.wrox.com/books/errata/0764543644_errata.shtml
The examples are also very tedious and in some places extremely repetitive (chapter 10 repeats the same example ten times with very little change).
Overall a great dissapointment and it is also out of date as new PHP security means most examples will not work without changing to a weaker security setting.
Not recommended, there must be more consistent books about for PHP.
Otherwise an ok introduction to PHP4, but I'm sure there are better guides out these that will be more consistent.
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