I cracked open this book knowing only basic HTML. About halfway through it, I was a website developer. By the end of the book, I was a website professional with highly sought after skills.

This book is not only written well, but is written in a manner that kept my short-spanned attention all the way through with plenty of momentum. Possibly the only computer book I have ever read all the way through.

Everything about this book is wonderful, it also includes an electronic version of the whole book in PDF format so you don't have to carry it with you if you don't want to. This book is definitely a very understandable book and it uses real-life examples of how to do certain projects. Excellent buy!

This book is great for teaching you how to use PHP and MySQL. The one thing I don't like are the examples; they contain formatting that really belongs in a CSS file. The effect is to make the examples hard to read because they are full of extraneous code, particularly in the case of table elements because inline styles don't cascade to their cells...

Given the excellence of this book, I feel this is a huge oversight. The examples should contain only code related to content, not formatting. In the next edition, please remove the inline styles, move them to a stylesheet, and show us how to use php to dynamically create stylesheets!

I order this book and been waiting and waiting. The date came for the book to arrvie and no book. So, a few days went on and still no book. I call the 1 800 number to see whats the problem and they change the date. So now i have to wait another 2-3 weeks for this book. We will see what happens when 2-3 week comes...

This book was ordered for an evening class at a local college. I was able to easily locate the book using the ISBN and placed the order, which included free shipping. The book arrived on schedule and in excellent condition. I definitely would order through Amazon.com again. Thanks

I bought this book after reading all the rave reviews. At the time I was a beginner PHP programmer with very little programming experience. When I got my hands on this book I was very excited, until I got past the crash course.

For a beginner, this book has too many pages without examples. It just goes too deep. For me, I need a page of description and then an exercise to see how things work. There are sections of this book which go on forever without examples, and the writers say you can do things this way, or that way etc etc. This is just confusing and too dry to hold my attention.

I have quite a few PHP books, 90% of which I have regretted buying. Online tutorials are much better of you want to learn from scratch, you'll pick up more techniques and develop a lot faster by doing these tutorials, most of which are free. One book that does stand out as being an excellent PHP book is 'PHP Solutions' by David Powers. From start to finish this is just a great book. Clear, concise and just a few paragraphs of text before you start exercises. In the space of a couple of weeks I really felt like I had improved, and it reinforced much of what I had learnt from doing online tutorials. 'PHP Solutions' is the best out there for PHP Development... Welling & Thompsons book falls way short in my opinion.

I am new to PHP and happy to that now I've finally found a book that 'teaches'! I've tried other books on PHP and even looked at web sites that tried to teach it with no success. This book does not leave you confused. If you need a book that starts at the beginning, this is the one.

This is one of the best overall software books I have ever read. It is the best PHP and MySQL book I have read so far. The structure of the book, the sequence of the material, and the technical explanations are excellent. It is not overly descriptive of details yet it defines the complex subject material very well. I maintain accounts on 1and1.com and all of the code examples from the book that I have tried so far worked with no problem after I changed file names to .php5. I was able to get the web forum application and the user authentication application up and running within 2 days of getting the book. I have experience in C, C++, and assembly programming but no real web development stuff. Also, I had bought (and returned!) three other books on PHP and MySQL before getting to this one. I am definitley keeping this book. 5 stars all the way!

A good comprehensive review. Starts with the basic syntax and then brings you to full applications. Can be used by a novice or an experienced programmer expanding to a new language

I don't have a real reason for not using it other than everything I've wanted to do I could find decent examples on the web. So to be fair, I don't know if it's a good book or not. Thus the middle of the road 3 star rating.

I bought this book primarily because of the impressive reviews. After struggling with the book for months, I now feel that others' reviews of the book were too generous. First of all, the book needs to be better organized.
And the codes need to be thoroughly tested.
The content is lean, compared to the volume of the book. I tried several other PHP tutorial books, but I have not yet found one which met my expectations. This is just my two cents.

The book provides a fairly comprehensive coverage of the topics. I am particularly impressed with its coverage of programming syntax and semantics before delving into rigorous applications. The inclusion of the source code for all the examples on the accompanying CD will aid the reader in developing profiency in a short time.

The book is ideal for users of the Windows Operating System. It would be more complete if it would also address the interests of readers proficient in the LINUX (UNIX) operating system.

This is an easy to understand book that went over everything that I needed to know. I'm pretty hard on book reviews as if I have to know the language before I learn about it then the book was a waste of time. I've just given up on one more book that has that same failing. I started a job where I quickly needed to learn PHP and MySQL. Because of this book (and that PHP and MySQL aren't that difficult to understand), I was able to learn these technologies quickly enough to finish my project on time. Can't beat that.

I'm a PHP and MySQL beginner. I found this book very easy to follow, with relevant and topical exercises and examples. This book has helped me greatly and I would recommend it to anyone embarking on the PHP/MySQL path.

The best book for learning PHP and MySQL integration. You can literally create functioning, job-earning interfaces from the information in this book.

I'll just say what I like about this book. It is easy to understand how things work from following examples. Some authors know the information but their writing style is horrible, that is not the case here. The book is broken down into sections/chapters in a logical way. It is concise but at the same time explain things sufficiently.

As I was reading this book further, I found a very serious contradiction that I thought I should share with the readers:
Page 144: "PHP does not support function overloading..."
Page 161: "PHP5 now supports function overloading..."

P144 should either say that prior to v5 it didn't support function overloading or just not mention it at all. People tend to make notes or just memorize things as they read and sometimes skip pages. This book claims to cover PHP5 so errors like these should never make it into final print.

It's easy to understand and shows you examples of how to actually create useful functions.

Excellent book. All their examples work and they describe the differences that can be encountered in different recent versions of PHP. Pretty much all you need is here, and the whole book comes on the CD so you can take it with you when you are travelling.

For beginners this book is very worthwhile. I bought 2 "PHP and MySQL" books from Amazon and I haven't even opened the other book. Whenever I need code examples or a reference this book provides me with the answers.

The included source code also offers alot of code examples.

So far it has been an efficient learning tool. This book is clearly written by authors who deal with teaching and learning strategies. Details are thoroughly explained and you are carefully lead from one step to the next.

Well done, maybe 5 stars. Has all the intro and intermediate info you need. Includes some best practices and programming concepts which I didn't want, so perhaps tries to include too much. But I'm being too picky. This book has everything one needs to get going with this technology and is thoughtfully presented. definitely recommended.

I bought the first edition of this book several years ago and it has been my bible ever since. It makes everything amazingly easy to learn. I didn't even have to sit down and do a read-through. I just skimmed it to start out, sat down in front of the 'puter, and flipped through the book to figure out how to code each part of my first PHP-MySQL site. It was almost too easy. I have created about a dozen database driven sites since, and I always pull the book out for a quick refresher before I start coding. I wish there were books this great for learning all web technologies.

There is a bunch of books related to PHP and/or Mysql.
I bought 4, one about Mysql only, one for PHP only and 2 about Mysql+PHP.
Surprisingly, this one is the best - even better than the dedicated ones.

The author starts by introducing PHP, follows Mysql, then elaborates on making projects with examples, guide to build Php+Mysql projects and use of advanced features.

Just start from page one and follow the explanations, examples and advices - you are a php+mysql programmer in no time.

This was first book for me to learn PHP and MySQL. I have known C,Java,Perl and Informix database earlier so it took me little effort to understand the syntax of PHP and MySQL. I was glad to know many things new including both are open source, highly demanding, flexible in terms of good parts of Java, C and Perl. Installation and starting work on was very easy.

This book gave me lots of pointers on how to work on things at project level rather than little snippets. Towards the end it really gets better.

Not a bad book. It covers a little more that the basics but doesn't get real deep, and for my needs that was good. I wanted to find several books I could give to my entry-level programmers that would provide them with an extra reference. All in all it was a good addition to our class library.

... but i've gone through the php crash course (the first part of the book). I have a html/javascript/css background so I could understand and digest most of it. The only thing that turned me off was how it got into describing all exceptions/additions and various obscure details that only served to complicate my mind. You know when you're a beginner? you don't neccisarily know how to filter out the crap that doesn't have any immeadiate utility. Personally I learn from lots of practice and actually writing code over and over. There wasn't enough of that - maybe i need to get deeper into the book. Lynda.com is really great: they give you a bit of information, always followed by you actually writing or tring it out yourself.

I have to say that PHP and MySQL Web Development by Welling is fantastic investment. It is organized perfectly from start- finish. This book will remain on my desk for a long time.

This book is worth every penny. I bought it after buying many other PHP and MySQL books. You are exposed to the code right away. The book will have you programming fairly quickly, doing real world stuff, and progressing fast. They express the language exactly the right way, and is well laid out. This book is made a diamond in the rough because they make the language seem so easy, and never let it get boring; they keep it interesting.
A huge plus is also that they tell you in the appendix, which they reference in Chapter 1, how to setup a web server (Apache) on Unix and Windows, get MySQL and PHP installed and running with the server and Apache, and cover every detail so that a newbe can understand it line by line. They explain all the options to fill out while setup of everything, which versions to use, and if something needs something in a config. file, they tell you where to find it and exactly what and where to insert code.
They also make everything visually scannable so that you can use it as a reference as well, or if you understand the details but are just looking for the syntax for something, etc.
Overall, this book is not only the best you can get, but probably as best as a guide can be written. My words cannot complement it enough. I am an electronics guy, very much like some previous post, but this book helps me understand the software very well. This book maximizes the reader's success. Enough said.

He estado desarrollando en php/mysql desde hace 2 años simpre aprendiendo conforme se me presentaban las necesidades, tome la decisin de comprar un libro para enteder la progamacion php desde sus fundamentos hasta tecnincas avanzadas y este libro me ha satisfecho 100% con ejemplos reales y tips para una correcta programacion.

No lo recomiendo mucho para principiantes sin ningun conociemiento de programacion

I've checked out many PHP books. Unfortunately most of them has a slow pace geared toward the beginner programmer. I have experience in C programming. I don't have time to do another "Hello World". The crash course in PHP from this book is great. It tells me everything I need to know about the syntax usage of PHP. It even shows numerous tables depicting syntax examples as a great way to look up references. The PHP crash course section gets to the point. No fluff, no cheasy long paragraphs to explain what is declaration or initialization. It is definitely a book for people with programming experience.

This book will save me a lot of time understanding PHP. I've only read a few chapters but it has already gotten me much farther then some other books I've tried.

I was catched by the hype "best book" and so on, so now I'm reading it, though i'm only on page 200, but still the book isn't so great. Sometimes I think I'd better read PHP online manual, but not the book (now I'm reading both), because authors sometimes misleadingly present information. For example with __set() and __get() methods in the class, authors claim that these methods are always implicitly invoked when setting the value, but PHP manual clearly states "These methods will only be triggered when your object or inherited object doesn't contain the member or method you're trying to access".
Chapter about objects is very weak, I wonder if I hadn't previous experience with Java, I guess I wouldn't understand at all what objects and classes are, what they do, how they do it and so on.
Overall I can't judge if the book is better or worse than other PHP books, this is my first on the subject, so I give it a 3 stars.
I wish Bruce Eckel would write a book on PHP :)

I had hoped this book would help me with my site, but much of the code DOES NOT WORK. At least with my setup of PHP 4.4, MySQL 4 and MS IIS. You can get all this information and more just by searching the internet. What a waste of money.

This book will help you understand everything you want to understand about PHP and MySQL, period.

This is the second book I've read by Luke Welling and Laura Thompson, and I have to say that they produce incredibly well-organized and well-conceived books that teach whatever subjects they tackle remarkably well.

I have read many other PHP books on the market, and this book is covers the topic, both in breadth and depth, far greater than any other book I've read.

You may have heard that MySQL and PHP come with significant security considerations. Try to find a plain-english explanation of these security considerations in any other popular PHP book out there, and you'll be disappointed. After reading this book, you will be able to make informed security decisions that don't simply parrot the prescriptive security measures described in other texts.

Beyond simply recommending this book, I recommend the authors. If you're considering *any* topic that this writing duo has addressed, I recommend them, hands down. Their writing style is clear, the examples are methodical and concise, and their explanations are extremely informative!

These people know how to write concisely and very clearly. Their explanations were ordered in a manner which allowed me to learn the most content the quickest. Right now I'm on page 255 of 864 and they still have my attention. Because of this book I want to do more PHP and MySQL programming than I wanted to before.

Specifically their explanations were not over-filled with emotional cracks and fillibusters like many other books I've read on Web Design (note that Web Design and Development are different things). At the outset of reading this book I had very little programming experience (took a college course in C++ about 3 years ago) and a I had worked on 2 or 3 mid-sized (10 to 20 tables) MS Access databases. This book went at exactly the right pace for my experience level.

Thanks Welling and Thomson!!!

This book walks you through some very applicable examples of PHP and MySQL. This and SAMS Teach Yourself PHP in 24 Hour have taught me so much about PHP. I used them to create a gaming website back in high school (knowing nothing about programming to creating a website with a database of users, a calendar, message board, and even a score and ranking system).

I now write PHP code for a living through college. This book was DEFINATELY a valuable asset to my learning PHP. (also, for you newbie PHP people, be sure to use PHP.net if you can't find a function... it is like a function dictionary - it's amazing).