Product Description
MySQL is the leading open source database on the market and PHP continues to dominate the server side of the scripting market—together, they are the most popular and common team for creating dynamic, database-driven web sites. This comprehensive book covers the newest version of PHP and MySQL and is packed with extensive code examples, full working applications, and valuable troubleshooting advice. You’ll explore installing, developing, and debugging the latest versions of PHP and MySQL and get insight on advanced topics such as error handling, debugging, PEAR, security, HTTP, cookies, and OOP. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Great Reference Book
This is a great reference book for PHP and MySQL.I wouldn't recommend it if you are wanting to use it as the soul purpose of learning from scratch, but it is great for someone who is a least somewhat familiar with PHP and MySQL.

Authors and Publisher should be Ashamed
The Title says it all that they have no idea what they are publishing or what is being written about "PHP6 and MySQL Bible (Bible (Wiley)) (Paperback)" PHP6 does not exist the 'just barely recent released' version is 5.3.x - where do they get that 6 from ?

This is not the only book that offers PHP6 (which again 'Does Not Exist') they are mislead and they are business people writing books who have no idea what they are writing about.

Anyways stay away from a book that teaches a version 'non existing'

Good Luck

Great, but not a "bible"
Hello.

I am a web developer with experience in multiple languages.

I'd say, this book is good, but not "great", and definitely not a "bible" (if you consider the bible a good thing).

PROS
---Part 1(PHP) is very well organized, and gives you an ordered path to learn PHP.
---The same goes with part III(advanced PHP).
---It gives a chunk of useful PHP things at the end in part V.

CONS
---Part 2 was nearly horrifying. Seeing as how this book was written even before PHP 6 came out, you would assume the authors would stop using deprecated HTML tags. Also, when is says "PHP and MySQL", it means exactly that. The author is assuming you already know SQL, and tries to throw in the whole SQL language in maybe a chapter and a half.

YOU PICKS (Things I don't care about, but some people might, I didn't read most of these)
---Part IV has a bunch of chapters explaining how to work with other databases (postgreSQL, Oracle, etc)
---Part VI has some case studies(which I read, but you know...)
---The appendix has some references for C, Perl, Pear, and HTML backgrounds.

All in all, I think it is worth getting, but don't bother getting a $70 new copy thinking it will be a life-long reference... get the $5 used one, and when you're done, it probably won't have a very prominant place on your bookshelf.

psychic authors
PHP 6 and MySQL 6?

The problem with that is that PHP is about to release their major update (5.3) and MySQL just released theirs (5.1). Both of these versions took years to develop. Neither MySQL nor PHP have even finalized their plans for their version 6, and in the case of PHP they've made changes to the PHP 5.3 API in just the last couple of weeks.

Because it would be completely idiotic to try to predict what the results of a huge update are going to be years in advance, I can only come to one conclusion- our authors are psychic.

We should give these authors a round of applause- I know that if I could predict the future, I wouldn't be using my talents to get sneak peaks on my favorite web development tools, I would be going for the lottery tickets and superbowl wins. This way I can afford to spend money on quality books put together by top notch marketing departments and clueless authors. ... Read more

Product Description
PHP In Easy Steps shows you how to write web pages using PHP scripts. Exchange of data between a web browser and a web server, both on Windows and Linux. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Learn by example with this short book (great for reference too)
It's a very short book, and it teaches you by example.If you have previous programming experience with something that uses a similar syntax (C++, for example), you can learn the basics of PHP/MySQL in a casual week with this book, after which you can use it for a very useful reference.It doesn't delve into classes much, nor into security, but it serves as a great quick-start into PHP/MySQL regardless and will have you writing your first useful PHP-enhanced websites within a week or two.

There is a newer version of this book now, updated for PHP 5, so you will likely want to buy that instead of this one.

Useful book for beginner and beyond
This book is just great. Unlike previous books I have looked at it offeres really useful, easy to understand and practical guides for working with PHP. Great for someone like me who just wants to start with the basics. The topics covered are very usful and easily applied to real projects.

The only PHP reference and start-up book you need
This book is simply marvelous. It is straight forward and deals with all essential topics on PHP. This book begins with installation, configuration and testing of Apache and MySQL for the purpose of PHP. The rest of the book deals with basic PHP programming to advanced topics such as PHP & MySQL together. Every chapter of the book comes with tutorial and working code examples. Other topics includes 'Sending Email with PHP', 'File Handling with PHP' and 'User Authentication'. Mike McGrath did a good job by making this book concise, practical and handy. As an experience programmer, I find it the only book I need to get started with PHP. It gets you to understand how PHP works conceptually through the examples given. Highly recommended. ... Read more

Product Description

In Detail

Este libro te ayudará a comprender cómo funciona AJAX y cómo se integra las tecnologías necesarias para hacerlo funcionar. Tras presentar las nociones básicas, el libro te invita a aprender con ejemplos reales que cubren una amplia variedad de tareas que te serán de gran utilidad en el desarrollo de tus aplicaciones:

• Validación de formularios desde el servidor
• Desarrollo de una herramienta de chat online
• Sugerir y autocompletar en cajas de texto
• Gráficas en tiempo real utilizando SVG
• Acceso a una base de datos mediante tablas editables y configurables
• Construcción de un agregador RSS
• Desarrollo de una aplicación de gestión de listas con soporte para arrastrar y soltar utilizando JavaScript y el toolkit script.aculo.us
  La traducción al castellano de este libro supone una referencia acerca de las tecnologías más demandadas del momento en el desarrollo web donde, hasta ahora, apenas existía documentación rigurosa en nuestro idioma.

Who this book is written for?

Este libro está destinado a principiantes y a programadores de nivel intermedio, donde unos conocimientos mínimos de PHP, XML, JavaScript y MySQL siempre son bienvenidos. Sin embargo, el conjunto de temas y casos prácticos incluido será de gran ayuda al desarrollador web de cualquier nivel.

Customer Reviews (3)

los ejemplos no funcionan
no me gusto este libro porque se supone que te ensena a como usar ajax, y ninguno de los ejercicios funcionaron en mi mac, asi que no termine de leer el libro no tiene caso adquirir un conocimiento que no sirve

buen libro y recomendable
Es Practico y bien redactado. trae los ejemplos mas utilizados de ajax y los mas básicos.
se explica paso a paso lo que se hace y porque , dando a entender lo que escribió.

ademas se tiene ayuda en linea que es proporcionada por la editorial y eso colabora mucho.

se recomienda a los que ya programaron en php u otro lenguaje para web y quiera agregar ajax a sus sitios

Interesante y ameno
AJAX han sido las siglas más de moda en estos últimos años en el mundo del desarrollo web pero... ¿sabemos realmente qué significa?. ¿Cómo surgió?. ¿Realmente hacía falta?. ¿Ha supuesto realmente una revolución o ha sido otra moda más?. Con estas provocadoras preguntas comienza el primer capítulo de un libro que promete ser ameno desde sus inicios.

El segúndo capítulo también nos lleva a la reflexión y al conocimiento de técnicas de amplio uso en la web que contribuyen a tapar esos agujeros sueltos que nos suelen quedar en las pequeñas tareas de siempre: JavaScript avanzado en los navegadores, DOM, CSS, XML y el objeto XMLHttpRequest. Y, muy importante, las diferencias y sutilezas de estas tecnologías al enfrentarse a los diversos navegadores de actualidad (Firefox, Opera, Internet Explorer...).

El tercer capítulo se centra en la parte técnica ya de manera más práctica construyendo un pequeño framework para la realización de peticiones asíncronas y aplicación práctica de PHP y DOM, bases de datos (MySQL) y recomendaciones generales de cara al código.

A pesar de lo que parece con estos primeros capítulos, no deja de ser un libro práctico para todos los públicos. Con la información técnica básica separada en los apéndices acerca de la preparación del entorno (instalación de PHP, Apache, MySQL...) bajo Windows y las diversas variantes de Unix que será de gran utilidad para el neófito, es un libro que se disfruta a todos los niveles.

El resto de los capítulos se dedica, uno a uno, a transmitir los conceptos fundamentales para dominar este conjunto de tecnologías de una manera amena que realmente engancha. En cada capítulo se construye una aplicación web diferente de la mano de los autores y acompañada de una explicación detallada:

* Validación de formularios
* Chat basado en AJAX
* Sugerir y autocompletar
* Gráficas en tiempo real con AJAX y SVG
* Presentación de datos en grid con AJAX
* Lector RSS
* Arrastrar y soltar con la biblioteca script.aculo.us

Todo el código está escrito en inglés, igual que el original, salvo los textos de la intefaz y los comentarios, que están en castellano. Sin duda una excelente elección por parte de la editorial.

El libro dispone de un microsite (de momento únicamente para la versión original) con información extra donde también puede descargarse el código, algunos capítulos de ejemplo y comprobar la calidad general que respira el libro y la editorial. ... Read more

Product Description
Learn to develop high-quality applications and frameworks in PHP

Packed with in-depth information and step-by-step guidance, this book escorts you through the process of creating, maintaining and extending sustainable software of high quality with PHP. World-renowned PHP experts present real-world case studies for developing high-quality applications and frameworks in PHP that can easily be adapted to changing business requirements. . They offer different approaches to solving  typical development and quality assurance problems that every developer needs to know and master.

• Details the process for creating high-quality PHP frameworks and applications that can easily be adapted to changing business requirements
• Covers the planning, execution, and automation of tests for the different layers and tiers of a Web application
• Demonstrates how to establish a successful development process
• Shares real-world case studies from well-known companies and their PHP experts

With this book, you’ll learn to develop high-quality PHP frameworks and applications that can easily be maintained with reasonable cost and effort. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (5)

Brilliant introduction to PHP from a RPG perspective
As a result of the approach followed and the structure of this book, we have added this guide as part of the formal curriculum for IBM i programming (graduate) students in South Africa. The structure is such that people coming from a RPG background will quickly become productive, as it uses terminology and concepts they are familiar with. A brilliant piece of work easing you into PHP, frameworks, taking a decidedly more OO approach and introducing the MVC model.

Highly recommended.

PHP for the System I
I bought this about a year ago and used it to learn PHP along with "PHP and MySQL".It was very informative and allowed you to develop PHP programs using DB2, Zend commands and MySQL.It assumed that the reader knew nothing of PHP and walked you through the process by constantly referring to the differences and similarities between RPG and PHP.He also shows you how to call RPG programs from PHP and to call PHP programs from the I.The one caveat that I have is that the reader should also learn HTML which will give a broader understanding of developing screens to be used by different users of the programs to be developed.

A great book - wish I'd written it!
I've been teaching PHP to IBM i programmers for more than two years (as at Aug 2009) and my only complaint about this book is that if Jeff and Kevin had written it a few years earlier it would have saved me a lot of time and trouble.

The book does a great job of highlighting the PHP language from an IBM i programmers perspective - taking the beginning PHP programmer all the way from the basics to integrating their existing programs and other resources with PHP.

One of the reasons I often recommend that RPG programmers learn PHP rather than (say) Java is that it makes it easy to slide into the world of OO without having to completely change your programming paradigm. That is to say that you can easily use Objects in PHP (for example when using web services) without having to switch to a completely OO style. In this regard the section of the book on OO programming in PHP is "just enough" to give the reader a good feel for the topic and give them the confidence to move ahead into the world of OO.

Highly recommended.

Must Read for IBM i RPG Developers
I have read this book from cover to cover and can honestly say that it is a great reference for anyone looking to move into PHP on IBM i. The topics are well organized, the examples are informative, and the information is easy to understand. This is a must read.

As the webmaster of [...]. have been around the block a few times using PHP on IBM i.In my opinion, PHP will become the web language of choice on IBM i.If you have not explored PHP, you need to do it NOW.This book is the perfect way to get started.

IBM i Programmers Guide to PHP
I read this book on my flight back from Common 2009, it is a must read book for the IBM System i RPG programmer who is interested in learning PHP on the System i.This book guides the RPG Programmer thru the basic steps of learning PHP, and includes many examples of PHP code to try.Each chapter ends with a brief test to verify knowledge of the PHP language just learned.Also included in the book is a chapter on OO to get the RPG programmer thinking along the lines of Object Oriented PHP classes.Overall it is an easy to read book and the authors have addressed the basic skillset levels needed to get started with PHP.An IBM System i RPG programmer who wants to extend there programming skills will want to get a copy of this book - hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
... Read more

Product Description
Wouldn't it be great if you could get on any web browser, go to your favorite site and start playing a game of hearts or canasta; or even watch a riveting game of chess, or better yet, play a riveting game of chess? All of this without needing custom software to connect you to servers; it would all be done through the web browser. People on cell phones, palm pilots, lap tops, any device that could get on the Internet would be able to play your games. PHP is a powerful, dynamic programming language that gives you the ability to make some killer Web-based games. It's portable, allowing for quick development cycles. As a result, even a beginning PHP programmer could have great games running in no time at all. Starting with a brief overview of HTML and web servers, PHP Game Programming gives you everything you need to know to become a master of PHP. The only thing missing is a programmer with the skills to make it happen! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Money down the drain...
I found this book extremely hard to understand the author has rushed through everything. Does not explain the code, it's just been printed on the page for you to look at which is just ridiculous. I feel I didn't learn much from the book and had to keep referring to other text books and the internet. Don't recommend it at all.

I'd also like to add, I wish I had listened to the above reviewer. I thought I'd still give it a try. I regret this.

Ultimately...
... not that good.It's unfortunate that the only book dedicated to php game programming really falls short on many levels.The main problem with this book, is it jumps from the very basics of php and mysql to extremely advanced topics all within a matter of a few pages... entirely omitting users of intermediate php/mysql knowledge.The book has a chapter about creating a MMO (my sole purpose for buying the book).. yet it doesn't tell you anything about HOW to make the MMO.The source code for the MMO has 150+ files, yet the chapter is only 20 pages long...

The author does a great job explaining how to use php and mysql.. including great instructions for installation... the problem is that other books dedicated to learning these subjects do it better.This book should be about learning how to program a game in php/mysql, and it's not.This book is a book about learning the basics of php/mysql with some source code WAY more advanced than anything the book will cover.If you're advanced enough to decipher the authors code, then you don't need this book in the first place becaues you could already make games if you wanted.This book contains no content on game planning or design.

The author write effectively..I'd love for him to take a second pass at writing this...perhaps sit down and write a book dedicated to teaching you how to program a game.The MMO that comes within the book is certainly complex enough to deserve a book of it's own.Ultimately, this book is 280 pages long.. you cannot teach someone how to make a game in php/mysql in 280 pages.

I'd love to see an author write a book that illustrates making a game from concept to design to code... the how and the why of the processes, and have it return a good game you can use as a foundation for creating other game.

I really looked forward to getting this book before it was published.Now almost a year later, having been through the book 3 times fully, I can say I'm no closer to having any idea how to make a game than when I started. ... Read more

Product Description
* Covers why users need PHP, how to get started, how to add PHP to HTML, and how to connect HTML Web pages to MySQL or Oracle databases.
* Authors have extensive experience using PHP and provide case studies of how and where to use PHP.
* Covers advanced topics, such as HTTP, cookies, Web services, redirection, building graphics, and sessions. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

Awseome
This book is everthing you need to know about PHP!
Very nice examples!

Needs Updating for PHP 5 / otherwise good.
This is one of the books I used starting in 2004 to learn PHP.I still find myself returning to it from time to time.There are easier books for the PHP newbie such as Larry Ullman's PHP for the WWW, but this book can work OK for a newbie.PHP Bible (2nd) is way too big to read cover to cover, but functions well as a refresher & reference.I believe it is a decent basic to intermediate level PHP book.It covers subjects with a good balance of direct information & good short examples, without being too verbose.

I find the official PHP manual difficult at times, with no other simple straight forward reference books available.That probably makes PHP Bible the best reference for a beginning to intermediate PHP programmer.Anyone who is truly an advanced PHP programmer will find this book too simplistic and rudimentary.

The biggest problem is that PHP5 has been out for about two years and PHP Bible has not been updated yet.If there was another good PHP reference around, I would rate PHP Bible 3 stars, but under the circumstances, it gets 4 stars.

I do not love this book, but it functions well, and makes a good investment for anyone serious about PHP.

Simply Great!
This book is simply GREAT!
All your doubts about PHP will disappear... it contains absolutely all that you want to know about PHP to make great applications related with your website.
One of the best things about this book is that you can start from ZERO. You don't have to be an expert computer engineer nor know anything about PHP, it is explained here from the most simple variable to the most complicated and advanced technique between PHP and MySQL.

It contains a lot of information (well, it's a big book... more that 1000 pages) and a lot of examples that are so simple that anyone could understand.

Also, this book talk about many other issues related with PHP, like Data Bases, XML, etc...

Buy it, I really recommend it for ANYONE...

A LITTLE WARNING:
If you want to use this great book, you have to know at least a little bit of HTML, because PHP is a language that improves HTML... If you don't know anything about HTML, you'll not love this book as much as I love it... so, I recommend that before you get this book, you study some HTML : )

Worked for me
I was very pleased when I received this book (and ,in general, am very happy with most of the "______ Bible" reference books).

As an experienced ASP, VBScript, PERL, etc... programmer, when I was appoached to write a site in PHP, I needed a book to get me up to speed in this language with the quickness.

Explains everything from deployment to security concerns in an easy to read fashion, covers all of the usual suspects (POST, GET, ODBC, fair amount of mySQL, etc...) and common PHP conventions/algorithms.

Comprehensive
This book has a wealth of information, even though its organization of the subjects leaves something to be desired.Some reviewers state it is good for beginners, I refute it.Except for a few chapters, the book is definitely not for beginners.There is so much information on so many pages that important concepts get lost amongst those which are less important.Possibly, the connotation of calling the book a Bible inspired the extensive subject coverage.

Reading this book, I often had the impression that examples had some details lacking, when partial scripts were given.It was impossible not to compare this book to Larry Ullman's PHP for the World Wide Web, which had its examples presented in the clearest possible way.

In spite of some comments detracting from the value of the book, it is comprehensive, and covers more subject areas than other PHP books.Between this book and the PHP Manual a student can make up his or her own examples, and learn that way.If I had more ambition I would, with the author's and the publisher's blessing, write an adjunct book with detailed and tested examples to complement this Bible.I find it difficult to decide whether I should rate it three or four stars.Knowing the monumental work it had taken to write this book, I give it four stars.
... Read more

Product Description

Beginning PHP 5 E-Commerce: From Novice to Professional is an ideal reference for intermediate PHP 5 and MySQL developers, and programmers familiar with web development technologies. This book covers every step of the design and build process, and provides rich examples that will enable you to build high-quality, extendable e-commerce websites. Take a peek at an actual book example!

Furthermore, this book covers site building in three phases. Phase one results in a live website, with an attractive interface and fully searchable product catalog. Next, phase two explains adding facilities to increase sales through cross-selling, upselling, and enhancing customer service. Finally, phase three seeks to reduce costs through automated order processing and integrating with other systems via XML Web services.

Customer Reviews (26)

A comprehensive book with fully working code
I did a couple of pure HTML sites years back, but beyond that I have done no other web apps.I have some background in C and PERL, but this was the first time I have ever touched PHP or SQL.

I worked all the way through this book from front to back, and the end result was a fully working website.There are no bugs in the code in this book. However, that being said, getting my Linux installation fully functional with it was a real chore.But that has nothing to do with the authors and is not the point of the book.Some posters claimed the book has problems.I struggled here and there, but at the end, I always found the problem wasn't with the book.It's user error or various annoying behaviors of PHP, MySQL, or the Apache web server that always end up being the culprit.I did install Zend studio and set it up for remote debugging so I could single step through the code.This was HUGELY helpful.I also configured my web browsers with debug modules so I could see the messages being sent back and forth.While interesting, it's no match for the power of the zend debugger.

After working through the code, I integrated this engine into our existing website.We are not doing ecommerce from that site at the moment, but all the product information, FAQ's, and the news module are now under the content management system developed in this book.I of course had to add new modules for the news and faq management.Products, news items, and FAQ's can easily be changed by anyone capable of managing the web interface.The front page graphics and for that matter pretty much all the graphics on the site except the logo can also be changed through the web interface as well.I had to dig around and learn more PHP here and there.But in general, the book is pretty thorough and can't be expected to teach you advanced PHP as well.

The complexity of the three-tier implementation is a bit daunting at first.I have to admit that.But once you start trying to extend it to meet your sites specific needs, you really begin to see the power of the OOP approach it uses.Other reviewers have mentioned the methodology as well, and I have to strongly agree with them on that.The methodology is first rate.It results in clean, manageable, extensible code that someone can actually figure out and modify.I recently integrated a custom PhPBB3 implementation into our website.I can tell you that code is MUCH harder to understand.

The real hard part with this book is finding the right readers for it.If you are serious about wanting to code a PHP/MySQL site, AND you are actually capable of learning how to do it vs wanting to cookie cutter it, then I highly recommend this book.Of course if you have already made five PHP/MYSQL E-commerce sites, then it's not the book for you.And it's not for a true "novice" either.This is reasonably complicated stuff.The authors have made it about as simple as you can, but you can only make it so simple.The "novice" here means someone with a reasonable programming background that's new to PHP and MySQL.

No longer useful
I've been using this book for the past few business weeks. Yes, weeks.

First and foremost, this book is extremely well written, well cited, and clear. Examples are concise, and it rarely leaves you floundering to understand a topic. The ideas are presented in a logical order, proceed clearly, and generally, consist of helpful hints and instructions.

UNFORTUNATELY, all of the code in this book is pretty much worthless. Every bit of it is outdated, and in the 134 pages of the book that I have suffered through, I have had major problems at every step. From having major issues with integrating PEAR (installation has completely changed since the writing of this book, and the major database functions it uses have changed, and the documentation in the book and on the PEAR website are not clear on this), to having to track down irregular and outdated code, not a single feature has been implemented easily or correctly on the first attempt (even ignoring any errors that I made myself due to my inexperience).

I have wasted hours on this book, thinking that it will eventually get to the point where I'm not running into compatibility issues. This may end up being the case, but taking several business days (2.5 weeks invested in just this book) worth of my time to get through 134 pages (mainly spent debugging and perusing forums to find solutions) is just not worth it.

I will be buying the second edition, and I hope that it fixes these issues.

It's really a shame, because the theory in this book is truly awesome. Implementing it, however, is a nightmare, especially for a beginner.

Great
Although I am having A LOT of trouble implementing all the code, this is the only book I have seen that will actually walk you through all the steps. And the author actually does reply to his emails. I would definitely recomend his second edition of this book.

Update: Get the 2nd Edition.

Introduction to E-Commerce and the Smarty Framework
I've read, and enjoyed, other books by Cristian Darie.This book is no different.This book shows how to use PHP 5 and the Smarty framework to produce an E-Commerce site.The Smarty framework is a good choice for PHP developers seeking to implement a good template.This book fills a gap by being a good introduction to this framework as well.

If you are not familiar with Smarty, the following description is from their web site:

Smarty is a template engine for PHP. More specifically, it facilitates a manageable way to separate application logic and content from its presentation. This is best described in a situation where the application programmer and the template designer play different roles, or in most cases are not the same person.

This book guides you as the author develops an advanced E-Commerce system.Think of something such as Amazon, complete with product reviews, customer and catalog management.Once the user is finished reading the book they are left with working catalog order system that they can modify to suit their needs.Or completely create their own similar system.

The table of contents for the book follows:

Chapter 1: Starting an E-Commerce Site
Chapter 2: Laying Out the Foundations
Chapter 3: Creating the Product Catalog: Part I
Chapter 4: Creating the Product Catalog: Part II
Chapter 5: Searching the Catalog
Chapter 6: Receiving Payments using PayPal
Chapter 7: Catalog Administration
Chapter 8: The Shopping Basket
Chapter 9: Dealing with Customer Orders
Chapter 10: Product Recommendations
Chapter 11: Customer Details
Chapter 12: Implementing the Order Pipline: Part I
Chapter 13: Implementing the Order Pipeline: Part II
Chapter 14: Credit Card Transactions
Chapter 15: Product Reviews
Chapter 16: Connecting to Web Services

Misleading
I have purchased a multitude of books from Amazon over the years.However, I have never written a book review, no matter how bad the book turned out to be.But, there is always a first time.This is one of the worst - if not the worst - tech books I have ever read, and with over 25 years of Engineering and Software development experience I have read a lot of books.

Now I know why Apress doesn't let you look inside their books on the Amazon website before you purchase.If they did there might not be an Apress at all.First, there is nothing "novice" about this book.Second, you had better know how to use Smarty, and I mean use it well.Don't rely on the Smarty website documentation to help and there are not many definitive books on the subject either.I only found one title devoted to Smarty on Amazon and that would cost another 39.99.

I typically like to review books in the local bookstore and take a gander at Amazon "reviews" before purchase.However, I couldn't find the book locally (which should have told me something) and I failed to pay proper attention to the reviews, i.e., take a look at Michael Brand's review. The editorial book review doesn't even mention Smarty which is a major part of this book.

This book reviews at 4.5 stars.From this, I can only assume the large majority of those reviewing the book work at Apress or are kin to the authors.After the first three chapters I was seeing stars.Don't be suckered in to buying this book unless you are thoroughly familiar with Smarty.

So, if your an experienced -not novice- php/mysql programmer and Smarty wizard, and love to read(and debug) code with little useful explanatory info, then by all means buy this book.Oh, did I mention it makes a great coaster for coffee?

JC. ... Read more

Product Description
* This comprehensive tutorial and reference covers all the basics of PHP 5, a popular open source Web scripting language, and MySQL 4.012, the most popular open source database engine
* Explores why users need PHP and MySQL, how to get started, how to add PHP to HTML, and how to connect HTML Web pages to MySQL
* Offers an extensive tutorial for developing applications with PHP and MySQL
* Includes coverage of how to install, administer, and design MySQL databases independently of PHP; exception and error handling; debugging techniques; PostgreSQL database system; and PEAR database functions
* The authors provide unique case studies of how and where to use PHP drawn from their own extensive Web experience ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

Great deal
The book was in great shape and great price!Thanks for a great experience.

Frustrating
This book is full of faulty grammar - spelling and style -but no matter how annoying, you'll find out that's not the worst that can happenwhen trying to learn PHP from a book. Far worse is that even some of the most basic, three lined examples of code contain fatal errors.

Unfortunately, most examples of code are unnecessary long and complicated and seem to be chosen randomly. I agree with other reviewers that the first few chapters about the history and variables are OK but from then on it gets really hairy.

I can't believe this book still gets 3 out of 5 stars. I would never buy this book again, or recommend it to others. In fact, I'm on Amazon to order a different book on learning PHP. I have bought other books from this 'bible' series in the past but after this one I will think twice before picking up another 'Wiley bible'.

Great Book
The book was exactly as described. Is in great condition and saved me a bunch of money instead of buying it through my campus bookstore. Delivery was fast. Will order from them again.

Help - I'm in Purgatory reading this Bible
This book doesn't give the nuts and bolts.There are no real examples, it's all a bit esoteric for me.I have web experience and database experience, but this book hasn't put it together.

I should have bought a "For Dummies" book.

Worth every penny
Most of the Bible series of books are worth the money you pay for them, and this one is no exception.

Good informative book, great for the beginner and a good read for the advanced.

Not good for reference, but then it isn't supposed to be.
... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (28)

super handy
Trying to remember the subtleties of all of the different implementations of regex is no longer a problem with this around.Whip it out and instantly you've got access to all of the meta-characters, etc., etc., etc.

What more can I say?

Good except more Linux/Sed/Awk examples needed
It is a very good guide. But I have to borrow the notes in the Vi section to use it with sed when I need to use a Regex.

A more practical guide on regex's and shell scripting would be better!

Regular Expresions OReilly - book review
One of the better OReilly books.Very well written, great examples and explanations.I highly recommend.

Great reference to an arcane subject
I'm scared of regular expressions. They vex me constantly at work whether trying to figure out someone else's Apache RewriteRules or Perl or just trying myself to do mildly clever things in vi and sed. They are a headache.

A coworker let me browse his copy of this wonderful little book and I was hooked. I actually tried to buy one that day on the way home, but they were out of stock and so I permitted Amazon to ship me one.

In addition to brief explanations of the different types of regexes in the wild (based on the comprehensive Mastering title, also from ORA), there are detailed quick references to all of the different implementations including several common languages (Perl, PHP, C#, and several others) and software packages (including sed, Apache, vi and many others). All of their various quicks and "features" are explained briefly and there are some examples.

No one hacking around in Unix or doing much programming should be without this book, unless they are already a regex wizard, and I think even they'd find it handy.

Just a mus have
Most developers know how to write regular expressions, almost none of them can read them. And if you are saying that you can. Well congratulations to you. You are one of the 0.1% of developers that can or you are one of those who think they can.

The books physical appearance is so compact that it has become a permanent item on my working desk. And is often used. ... Read more

Product Description

Enhance the user experience of your PHP website using AJAX with this practical tutorial featuring detailed case studies

There is a newer edition of this title available. Search for: Building Modern Web Applications 2nd Edition

• Build a solid foundation for your next generation of web applications
• Use better JavaScript code to enable powerful web features
• Leverage the power of PHP and MySQL to create powerful back-end functionality and make it work in harmony with the smart AJAX client
• Go through numerous case studies that demonstrate how to implement AJAX-enabled features in your site such as: real-time form validation, online chat, suggest & autocomplete, whiteboard, SVG realtime charting, whiteboard, web data grid, RSS reader, drag & drop

In Detail

Assuming a basic knowledge of PHP, XML, JavaScript and MySQL, this book will help you understand how the heart of AJAX beats and how the constituent technologies work together. After teaching the foundations, the book will walk you through numerous real-world case studies covering tasks you'll be likely to need for your own applications:

• Server-enabled form-validation page
• Online chat collaboration tool
• Customized type-ahead text entry solution
• Real-time charting using SVG
• Database-enabled, editable and customizable data grid
• RSS aggregator application
• A server-managed sortable list with drag&drop support using the script.aculo.us JavaScript toolkit

Customer Reviews (30)

good primer but not much meat
It was easy to follow the first few chapters then they expect you to already know several other subjects before you can even understand the rest. I used [...] tutorials to get through the stuff that wasn't covered. Even after that it really didn't dig deep enough into fancy effects associated with AJAX.

Great Introduction
AJAX and PHP by Cristian Darie, a book that takes us on a journey through a now MUST when you develop web applications. If you are developing anything on the web platform page refreshes are a thing of the past, integrating AJAX is now a standard. This book will help give you the basics on the interaction between AJAX and PHP. This book covers the nitty gritty of JavaScript and their implementations, not using a JS Framework like Prototype.

This book will give you a great background in how AJAX functions work in most of the popular frameworks and allow you to build great Web 2.0 application without the need for them. The last chapter however does talk about Drag and Drop using script.aculo.us which is built on Prototype.

Some things that can be helpful in this book however include, using the Document Object Model, DOM and CSS, Charting using SVG, and AJAX RSS Readers. Good book overall if you are looking to build apps without frameworks.

Straight forward and to the point!
This book on AJAX and PHP address a wide range target group that allow the reader to skip sections that you're familiar with, and dig down into topics you need to read up on.
Furthermore, you're guided through some fun examples that really take you into the world of AJAX, and leave you hungry for more with a nice toolbox of reusable applications... Thank you Christian!

not worth the price
This book does offer good insights into php and ajax. It however tends to not teach as much as redirect. It points to a lot of free resources on the web to explain things it should have had as it's own chapter.

I also spends way to many pages showing duplicate code. For example in the 2nd chapter it spends significant time creating a function called createXmlHttpRequestObject. This function is about 1/2 a printed page. then in every later chapter this same function is printed at least twice per chapter. This isn't the only example and in ends up that you have 10-15 pages of code for each section most of which is duplicate from previous sections. You could easily cut 50-100 pages from the book by removing the duplication.

The book also doesn't spend any time on security. Specifically it doesn't show how to create a secure login or to validate that the javascript on the client is authorized to get the data that it is requesting. Everything is free and open with only basic validation that data is in the correct form.

That being said it does provide a broad range of ways to use ajax. I would happily spend $10 on it again. Unfortunately i spent over double that :(

Ideal book for those who currently have some PHP, XML, JavaScript and MySQL already under their belt.
AJAX and PHP: Building Responsive Web Applications is the ideal book for those who currently have some PHP, XML, JavaScript and MySQL already under their belt.Little time is spent on the basics of these technologies other than a brief history of the Web and predictions for future Web applications making this book a great segue for those looking to take their basic skills to the next level. The code is well documented and commented so if you are the type of person who prefers to jump right in and work with code, then this book is for you.

The biggest strength of this book is that is provides practical code examples that teaches the reader how to combine and use these technologies together.Some of the most handy examples are server-enabled form validation, an online chat tool and an RSS feed reader.Even if you only need to know one of these items, though there are plenty more, it's well worth it to pick up this book. No only will you be able to create these applications yourself, but you'll learn best practices and understand the why and how of each program as well. Additionally, the book's companion website is quite good and allows you to download all of the code.This can be especially helpful if you find yourself getting stuck somewhere and want to do a side-by-side comparison of the your code and the book code. There are even five free additional PDF chapters for download including an updated version of Chapter 5 - AJAX Chat - which uses JSON instead of XML.

However, if you're the type of person that is looking for a very concise, step-by-step book, you may find yourself frustrated. Just as its strengths are in letting you jump right into the code, if you're not at the stage where you're comfortable with any of the included technologies, you'll quickly find yourself overwhelmed with a lack of direction and an abundance of code.Additionally, while the use of bold type clearly indicates emphasis on specific code lines, if anything could improve this book, just for readability's sake, it would color-indicated code.

In conclusion, if you've already gotten your feet wet with PHP, XML, JavaScript and MySQL then AJAX and PHP: Building Responsive Web Applications will help you get to the next level with real-world code examples and projects.You'll not just "copy code" but gain an understanding as to the "why and how" of creating AJAX Web applications.
... Read more

Product Description
Learn to create Web pages quickly and easily with PHP?no prior programming experience required! PHP 6 Fast & Easy Web Development provides a step-by-step, learn-by-example path to learning through easy-to-understand language and illustrations. Unlike the verbose text-only chapters found in most programming books, the Fast & Easy Web Development style appeals to users who are new to PHP, or to programming in general. The first three chapters are dedicated to getting Apache, MySQL, and PHP up and running on your Windows or Linux machine. You?ll be surprised at how simple it is, and how quickly you?ll be working. From there, you?ll learn how to create multi-part scripts, display dynamic content, work with MySQL databases, restrict access to certain pages of your site using PHP, create contact management systems, and work with XML. After completing this book, you will have a strong foundation in the basics of Web-based technologies and application design, and will be prepared to learn more advanced topics and programming methods. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

The book came fast and included other material
The book came very prompt. I was surprised by how fast they ship the book so i will definitely buy from them again in the near future. great thanks alot

Why must you do this?
Julie c Meloni. After 3rd publication and
you still didn't take serious enough about
your previously readers review. By 3rd
edition you should have already corrected
if not all, some critical negative, bad response
or error about the book. But seems here; you're NOT.
This proves that the author didn't care at all (so
why should you?).
If this kind of attitude still goes on and the
4th publication came out (PHP 7?), then the
author is not to be blamed but the publisher.
(And if it does happen, probably the publisher
is mad...soon, he/she will run his/her business dry.)

Nice Attempt But I Need More
I don't remember if I bought this book on amazon or via my local bookstore. I usually look at reviews but my thought process was since I'm learning I'll start with PHP 6 so by the time it's released I will be ready. At the time I recall that there wasn't much of a selection. So I purchased this book and the best of hopes.

I'm about half way through the book now and discovered 2 errors in the code examples already. I'm sure this wouldn't be a problem for someone familiar with PHP but since I'm just learning I had spent hours looking over my code trying to figure out my mistakes. After searching online I discovered the error was not in my code but the example which was very frustrating. An additional problem I have encountered is there is not enough description what certain parts of the code does nor how the syntax works. So I'm going through the examples but not sure what every piece of code does.

Since I'm half way through I'm going to continue but I doubt that when I'm done I will have a good foundation to write my own code. While I hate writing bad reviews because of the time and effort put into a book I can't help but advise someone starting out in PHP not to purchase this book.

Okay, but overly simplistic reference with annoying mistakes
I have to say, this book is not horrible, but it's also not worth the money.Though the book does cover a handful of common and helpful code samples such as creating tables, inserting data into tables, adding users, working with sessions and creating simple mailing lists, I can't remember a single code example in this book that I didn't find a better, more detailed version of for free online.

The book is solid, they make a good effort guiding the reader and the examples are useful, but in a world where the internet is loaded with the same free simple code samples, a book like this doesn't serve much of a purpose.Go ahead and charge more if necessary, but I would have liked more complexity and explanation in the code samples.Don't be fooled by the number of pages - this thing could have easily been half the size.

533 pages of horrible PHP and 31 pages of index
I picked this book up at my local library since it was the first PHP 6 book they carried.I have to say, I completely agree with Michael Diamond's review.This book is why PHP code and PHP coders have a bad name.I would absolutely not hire someone who wrote any code like the examples in the book.The book is full of examples of how to make completely broken, utterly insecure and just downright awful PHP scripts.Throughout the book, examples take user input directly from $_POST or other user provided variables and either call functions provided in the variable, use the variable directly in SQL.

If the code could throw a warning, it is often preceded with an @ sign, which in PHP just suppresses the warning.Rather than show or explain to the reader how to either prevent the warnings from appearing, checking code to make sure the values passed to the function won't cause a warning or any of the other correct, standard, and not dangerous ways of preventing warnings from showing to the user, it just includes the @ sign with no explanation.

Throughout the book I don't recall seeing a single place where array variables are accessed correctly.For example,
if ($_SESSION[valid] != 'Yes') ....

Unless the word valid is a defined constant, PHP will try to find a constant with that name, not find any, issue a notice, and then try to use valid as a string. The correct way to do this check would be
if ($_SESSION['valid'] != 'Yes')...

Additionally, for a book that is supposed to be about PHP 6, very little PHP 6 is actually discussed anywhere.Unicode will be one of the biggest additions to the PHP 6 code, yet the only place that even mentions unicode is page 68 which has a little 3 line text box.The text in the box mentions that with PHP 6, unicode will be on by default, and then tells you how to disable it by changing an ini setting!

The code examples in this book are aimed at a beginner PHP programmer.However, a beginner PHP programmer may not know how wrongly they are being presented.I urge you, if you are a beginning PHP programmer to avoid this book.If you are a beginning programmer, avoid this book.If you are an intermediate to expert PHP programmer, avoid this book, or borrow it and laugh at the horrible examples of how to not code PHP.

I read a lot of PHP books.Since I've been coding PHP since 1997, there's usually not a lot that I learn from the PHP books.However, I usually also don't have such a strong reaction against a book that I have to immediately write an Amazon review urging others to avoid a book.In fact most of the other PHP books I've read or own do have a lot of good.

Please, stay away from this book.If you don't know PHP already, it will ruin you as a PHP programmer. ... Read more

Product Description
Build an online catalog and a members-only site

Everything you need to know to create a dynamic PHP and MySQL Web site!

Been thinking of creating a high-quality interactive Web site? This book is just what you need to get started! Here's the fun and easy way(r) to develop a Web application in PHP 4, 5, or 6 and MySQL 5, test your software, enable your Web pages to display, change, and move database information, and much more.

Discover how to
* Plan and implement a Web database application
* Design and build a MySQL 5 database
* Build dynamic HTML forms
* Create scripts that store, retrieve, and update database information
* Display database information in a Web page ... Read more

Customer Reviews (21)

Good solid read for those wanting to learn
I don't normally buy into books like this but it's been a valuable resource for my website building.

Incomplete Book with Incomplete Information
This is the first book I have ever felt the need to review.I am writing this because I am back on amazon to try to find a book that actually teaches me what I am trying to learn.The book has halfass examples with incomplete information to work from.When you do run into a snag during part of the examples, there is no guidance on how to resolve common errors.In short the book sucks and makes me not want to ever buy another book from the "for dummies" series.If you buy this book, you truly are a dummy.

Least Helpful Book Ever
I had a little experience with both PHP and MySQL before I bought this book. While the first few chapters make it seem easy enough, I found that using most of the information in the book - even copied letter for letter - led to error after error. Frustrated, I finally used my DREAMWEAVER textbook which, with as little information as it provides ABOUT both PHP and MySQL was a lot more helpful.

Extremely confusing at times, leaps of logic
Picked this up after reading two worse books (there are many) and found the first explanations clear, possibly because I was already familiar with some of the terms.
After the first two or three chapters, however, Valade gets complacent, doesn't explain minor issues which can leave you puzzled.
The examples are not very useful and, although she explains some of the steps, she leaves out details. Again, confusing.
The book has numerous errors, one which left me reading the same page for about half an hour. Rather than approaching the topic for beginners, she does assume some programming knowledge at time.
After reading the explanations of object oriented programming (classes), I nearly gave up.
The author is not a good teacher. There are scripts on her own web site with corrections.

OK but confusing...
Unfortunately the author of this book is so engrossed in her knowledge she isn't able to step back and tell the beginner (after all this is the Dummies guide) what to do step by step. She informs you 'about' PHP and MySQL with little comprehensive instruction on how to build a database website in a logical clear step by step order.

Overall in my opinion this book is far from 'even a dummy can do it if they follow the steps' guide but more of a poor attempt by an expert to teach people a complex topic without the understanding of what is means to be a beginner. ... Read more

Product Description
Computer, Science, Technology, Languages, Program, Design, Scripting, Langauges, PHP ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Excellent!
This is truly an awesome guide to writing your own PHP extensions. I would like to add, though, that the book only covers PHP4 - not PHP5.

Valuable resource
This book will save you a lot of time if you have to implement
a serious PHP extension for the first time. It's definitely
worth it -- not so much because the book is so great (it is
very good overall) -- but more because there isn't any other
resource quite like it out there.

Having said that, it could have had a more discussion
of the overal environment of PHP extension programming, including:

- how/when zvals are garbage collected (how can you verify
you're not creating memory leaks?)
- when zvals are created and consumed and who "owns" them
as they are passed around between functions
- threading issues: what are you allowed to do/not do wrt.
threading?
- Many PHP macros are written dangerously, e.g. they hardly
ever use constructs like "do {..} while (0)" or extra parens.

Obviously if you get these issues wrong you're likely to
have some trouble - and hard to debug trouble at that.

In other words, the first chapter is "First PHP extension"
but an overall introductory chapter about the funny little
world that PHP extensions live in before that would have
been nice. But overall a great book and glad to have found it.

A real life saver
If you ever want or have to build your own PHP extension, there's only one serious recommendation: read this book!
It's well written, the examples are easy to use and it's just fun working with it. Building your own extension has never been that easy.
This book saved me weeks of research in bad commented source codes. Thanks!

Amazing detailed book for extending PHP
This is a great in-depth book for extending PHP.Clear concise examples throughout for customization and PHP extensions.A must have in any advanced programers library. ... Read more

Product Description
Flex is a very powerful and versatile technology for creating web application front-ends. But what every good web application needs is a robust data source, be it XML, or a database. Flex is very adaptable in terms of connecting to data sources, and that is the main focus of this book.In Foundation Flex for Developers, Sas and Koen assume that you've got the basics of Flexdown already, and explores in detail how to create professional data-centric Flex 2 and Flex 3 applications. In the first half of the book, she starts off with a brief exploration of Flex and ActionScript 3.0, before looking at application essentials in detail—creating custom components, user and web browser interactions, binding, formatting, and validating data, debugging, and more.In the second half of the book, the focus is on connecting Flex to data sources, and covers XML, LiveCycle Data Services, PHP, ASP.NET, and ColdFusion in detail, via a series of step-by-step case studies.

• Covers Flex application basics
• Covers connecting Flex 2 and Flex 3 to a variety of Data Sources
• Includes several complete case studies.

What youll learn

• How to create custom components
• How to handle user and web browser interactions
• How to debug Flex 2 applications
• How to bind, format, and validate data
• How to load and write external content
• The essentials of XML, and working with it in Flex 2, including E4X
• The essentials of Flex Data Services
• How to build up data-driven Flex 2 applications with PHP, ASP.NET, and ColdFusion backends

Who is this book for?

Customer Reviews (5)

Not about Data-driven application
I didn't enjoy this book for two reasons.
Firstly, if you are at all familiar with Flex, it was very wordy and basic. This meant that you had to spend a lot of time scanning over stuff to make sure it wasn't covering anything that you didn't already know.
Secondly, it really didn't explore the XML/AMF options or validation or data integrity or performance or data dictionary techniques. I was left with the feeling that the authors had never been involved in a large data oriented software development project.
So on the hole, rather a waste of time for me. I suspect that if you come from a Flash design background and want to move across to systems development, this might be a useful resource.

Good resource if you're migrating from Flash to Flex
This book a great way to get you working in Flex fast... if you already have a good understanding of AS3 from a Flash background. If you're not familiar with AS3 than there are some sticking points that slow you down. But if you're goal is to transition form working in Flash to working in Flex, then this book is an excellent place to start.

Great Coverage of Flex with Decent Case Studies
This book was an in depth coverage of the Flex technology, from creating custom components to how to build data driven applications. There is a great chapter on integrating with the web browser using javascript or an Ajax-Flex bridge.

It goes very in depth in covering XML in Flex builder with detailed information on understanding E4X expressions. Which I will refer back to many times in my development process for these great techniques. And great best practice information for MXML.

I would have liked more coverage of how to integrate Flex with the Flash IDE type workflow. Other than creating components. There's a good but brief overview of AS3.

The case studies for connecting to data-driven applications are pretty short but useful. The PHP chapter walks though a Flex blog management system with a tabbed interface. It walks through how to set this up in with PHP code and how to connect to a MySQL database. With all the sample files available for download on the Friends of Ed website.

The book is very long (over 500 pages) and most useful for me as a desk reference when needing assistance while working with particular items in Flex. It tries to cover so much in terms of data driven technologies that the individual case studies feel a bit shallow.

Overall, I recommend this book to anyone that wants to learn or improve their knowledge of Flex and best practices using AS3 in Flex.

Not a good book
This is not a good book to learn from unless you learn best by thinking very deeply about what the teacher says and correcting errors.
I am up to Page 27 and have worked through the first example with FlexBuilder3. The book is riddled with problems, including typographical errors, imprecise explanations, and even a conceptual error.

Example page 21:click="txtResult.text= = String(cboUnit.selectedItem.data ..."
While reading this I wasted about two minutes trying to puzzle out why there would be two equals signs in a row before deciding that this is probably a typo.By working the example on my computer I confirmed this.

Example page 23: The book refers to both a NumberValidator and NumericValidator.
An engaged student will have to wonder, are there two different kinds of Validator, or is the teacher lazy?No one wants a lazy teacher but that appears to be the case here.

Example page 23: "The CDATA declaration prevents Flex Builder from parsing the contents of the..."
I believe this is an imprecision that can seriously throw someone off who is trying to learn this stuff.In fact the CDATA declaration prevents the *compiler* from parsing the contents of the...Flex Builder only gets involved because it happens to invoke the compiler, but the compiler is a separate agent here, and the critical one that should have been named.

Example page 26:"This event object will also be dispatched when the user clicks the Convert button because the validator uses the click TriggerEvent."
I don't mean to be an impertinent student, but I would suggest that this is just plain wrong and it reveals a conceptual misunderstanding on the author's part.In fact, in the code the author presents, the validator is invoked by an explicit call to a validate() method; the correct validation is done because the NumberValidator object has its source property set to the TextInput object.The TriggerEvent is not necessary, as I verified by commenting out this part of the author's code.

To be generous, this book is indeed teaching me Flex, but by a very peculiar pedagogical approach.Maybe indeed one learns better by being forced to think very hard about the validity of every single statement and sentence. What worries me is if this author launches off on the wrong track with regard to coding style and program architecture. Since I now know that I cannot trust this author, I'm not sure how much longer I'll stick with the book.

My recommendation: find a better book.

Nothing special
To be honest, i was really excited when i saw that title "data driven applications with php, asp.net, coldfusion and lcds". what do you expect from a 600 page book that contains less than 90 pages on the topic it portrays. i have always liked the author but she disappointed me this time. its a good book yes...but if you are looking into getting deep into data driven flex applications using server side technologies like php, coldfusion etc...look else where. ... Read more

Product Description

The PHP language is in use today at over 12 million Internet domains worldwide, and continues to grow in popularity at an astonishing rate of almost 400,000 domains a month. The latest version, PHP 5, is in beta and is expected to reach final form by Q1 2004. It is a significant new release that speeds up performance, improves XML and streams support, and includes many new functions. PHP 5 increases the appeal of PHP to serious programmers who have not used it before, and it requires current PHP users to re-learn many things as to how they have approached PHP in the past.

PHP Developer's Handbook provides a complete, practical, and authoritative guide for both the experienced programmer who is considering PHP for the first time and the current PHP user who wants to learn more about PHP 5 and how to fully exploit all its new capabilities. The book begins with a detailed summary of the basics, and then quickly moves on to more advanced topics such as working with data, outputting graphical data, interacting with messaging servers, and building complete applications.

Customer Reviews (4)

Not for Beginning PHP Coders
I am using this book for a college course I am taking.Having no experience with PHP, this book leaves a lot of questions for a beginner and can become very frustrating very quickly.Even following the code in the book and using a site set up to run PHP script, a lot of times the script that is written in the book does not run nor does the book do anything to show what the results of the script should do.Again for a beginner this becomes very frustrating and not very helpful to learn PHP code.

I am actually learning more from an older SAMS book, "Teach Yourself PHP4 in 24 hours", the only problem is we are trying to learn PHP5.

This is also become a problem for other students in the class as I have quickly learned. (Ranging from not knowing to use the .php extension to not knowing the code has to run on a computer or server with PHP installed)As I stated before, we are all Beginners dealing with the PHP script and what may seem obvious for more experienced PHP coders is not for first time coders, and this book does not even discuss these basics.

alot of good stuff
This is your basic huge book of php concepts from the basics to the advanced. It reads more like a manual than a demonstration or tutorial.
I would recomend it to anyone looking to get a good overview of php 5

Confusing presentation of sessions
I have another "unleashed" book and was very happy with it, so immediately picked up this book when needing to work with PHP. What I needed to learn about was session usage.

Unfortunately, this book is not very good for that, for a novice learning to use sessions. The reason why is not because it is too advanced--I'm adept at reading computer textbooks and parsing the info--the problem is that it is a best practice in terms of security to turn register_globals off in PHP, that is the standard config for PHP after 4.1, and yet they provide all of their examples with this being enabled.

They even mention that it isn't best practice, but they go ahead and do it anyway with an occasional caveat here and there for those who are not using it. What that means is that somebody in my position is not only trying to understand the code, but also accound for everything that doesn't apply to me.I have to translate, then interpret. Why should I have to do all that for basic "best practice" functionality?!

I've since picked up other books (PHP 5 recipes, Wicked cool PHP) that are much better.I gave this book the stars it has because it is very informative and useful. In the case of sessions, it is just very confusing.

An Excellent Book For The Intermediate PHP Programmer
After reading a PHP5 book in the past I was happy with it. However it was for beginers. I searched for something more advanced. This was it. PHP5 Unleashed goes over several advanced topics. In example there is Regular Expressions (aka. Regex), Advanced MySQL techniches, accessing the OS's programs (Like dd, cp, etc) and more. One thing I should note as that there are some parts that can't be done on Windows. To get the most of this book you need Linux. ( If you want Linux download the ISO image of Fedora Core 4 at fedora.redhat.com. It is great for beginers to Linux. You can also use Mandrakelinux ([...]) but it isn't as simple to use.) Also note that this book has a section for new users but it is small and you should buy a book for beginers first. Might I recommend "PHP5 Fast & Easy Web Development" for novices.

A little disappointment is that this book shows you only how to INSTALL PEAR. It doesn't show you how to use it at all. ... Read more

Product Description
The demand for rich Internet applications (RIAs) such as complete storefronts and interactive surveys is skyrocketing, as is the pressure to create these dynamic apps overnight and at low cost. This in-depth Bible provides the step-by-step instructions you need to quickly create RIAs in Flash using cost-effective, open-source PHP programming tools. You'll learn how PHP works, when you should use it in Flash, and above all, vital security techniques for keeping your interactive sites secure. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Great book.
I bought this book essentially to learn Actionscript 3. I had used AS2 before and was quite adapted to it, but with PHP and MySQL my experience was zero. By reading this book and really taking time to go through the examples taught in it, I can say that I now feel comfortable with both AS3 and PHP + MySQL. I think the most important thing is to not just read and understand, but to actually try the things by yourself. Modify, try things... trial and error, guys. That's how we learn, and this book gave me a really good base understanding to start from.

A handy resource
I found this book very helpful and a good reference resource to add to my collection. I like the no nonsense approach to writing and the fact that it gets right down to real world examples and code you can reuse. I appreciate the non linear format rather than having to read it cover to cover and have used it (and will continue to) to find specific information for my projects.

I do agree with an earlier review that the title "Bible" would be better changed to "Cookbook" but having read the editorial review I already had the impression that's what it would be and was not disappointed.

Overall a very solid reference book with lots of useful examples and code that will fall into the "keep it handy" section of my bookshelf.

Flash and PHP Bible - Code does not work
I am on the 4th chapter of this book and so far, NONE of the code examples have worked.I know I have Apache Server, PHP and MySQL installed properly because I have found other tutorials online and they work.Whoever wrote the positive remarks about this book must either be the Author or friends thereof because it's not a good book.Then I get on here and find others who are having the same issue, so I know it's not a coincidence.I would like a refund Mr. Keefe, or atleast a free version of one with working code!

A Good Book If Not for All the Errors in Examples
I bought this book about four months ago, and have tried to use it quite a lot.I agree with one of the other reviewers in their assessment the book is not for beginners.A have no problem with that.Also, I have no problem with the book's structure.It is loaded with what look to be interesting examples.

But the book has an absolutely unacceptable flaw.Many, many of the examples do not work.And be aware, the publisher and author have not taken the time to post any errata.So you are on your own in identifying and fixing the glitches you will encounter in many of the examples!It is very clear the book's publisher went to print without validating its contents (or maybe knew about the issues but published anway).It is also clear the author, Mathew Keefe, could not be bothered to check his own work.Otherwise, he could not have considered the book to be finished!

Here is just one example, in chapter 14 the author has a "Poll Application" example.Everything in the example should work, but the author seems to have apparently got tired of this one and did not complete the actionscript that is needed in his Flash for it to work.You can build the code following the book or download the code for this example from the publisher's site.Either way, you will see the author simply stopped before the example was done.There is no way the author could have thought they had finished the example.That is totally exexcusable.

Not for beginners, but great for experienced developers
This book is not for beginners, but full of real world examples if you understand the basics of PHP, MySQL, and Actionscript already.I liked the fact that the book doesn't treat you like an amateur and gets down to the working examples right at the start (after a short part about creating a server).Its full of code that's usable right out of the book, like a shopping cart and a user login service and many more advanced topics. ... Read more

Product Description

If you were traveling in Spain, but couldn't speak Spanish very well, you'd probably carry a Spanish dictionary with you. If you are a PHP developer who needs a portable reference guide for frequent use in your job, the PHP Phrasebook is perfect for you. The PHP Phrasebook is actually a pocket guide that is jam-packed with useful and essential PHP code "phrases" for the PHP developer's everyday use. The code is flexible, so it can be easily adapted to your needs and mulitple situations, and your time isn't wasted wading through chapters of tutorial lessons and extraneous information. The phrasebook covers PHP 5 and is relevant for PHP 4.

Customer Reviews (9)

Digging and Hunting through blocks of code
I gave this book a trial run for a day of programming, in an effort to find a handy little reference book I could refer to when I forgot syntax or needed a function but couldn't find the name.
I found the index suitable, but the descriptions of functions made lots of assumptions about what you should do, rather than present a clear explanation. Then, a large chunk of code is presented as an 'answer', with the inclusion of a lot of confusing parts. This is not a good phrasebook, but more of a skimpy tutorial book with a slant.

The perfect format for programmers.
It's kind of like having a Reader's Digest version of an O'Reilly Cookbook title, butmore oriented to learning the language instead of just listing the solutions to odd problems.

The Phrasebook series gives me everything I need to know to use my existing knowledge in a new language. Sure, they are not comprehensive. But too much information slows down the initial learning process, and makes the book less likely to be read. Read one of these books and you'll know enough to get started, and make smarter Google searches when you get stuck. Best of all, it fits in your back pocket.

If you're already a programmer and simply want to start using a new language, buy a Phrasebook. The PHP Phrasebook was my first one, and I "learned" PHP while I was in the waiting room of the mechanic shop having my car inspected.

PHP Phrasebook
I am fairly new to the world of PHP. Most of what I have learned about these scripts has been self-taught through trial and error or gleamed through articles or scripts found on the internet. Even with my limited knowledge, I have always seen great practical usage of PHP scripts and am always trying to learn a little more on the subject. Therefore, I was really excited when I got the opportunity to review this book.

I have to admit that, at first, I was a little bit lost in reading this book. PHP Phrasebook: Essential Code and Commands is definitely not a book for beginners. However, once I started actually writing the script out and using the examples scripts as a sort of tutorial system, I quickly figured out what each set of scripts actually did. Then, I started to get ideas on how to make practical use of this new information. Moreover, as I continued through the sections, I found a good deal of solutions to problems such as manipulating strings to check usenames and passwords; protecting email addresses; pre-filling forms; and creating a secured area that I didn't have the knowledge to solve before reading this book.

PHP resource for beginners
My first book on PHP was Sams Teach Yourself PHP, MySQL and Apache All in One (3rd Edition) (Sams Teach Yourself) which was great to get me started.But once I started designing and writing in PHP it was not very helpful.I have had this phrase bookon only 2 days and already I have used four examples (uploading a CSV file, saving form data, and two string manipulation funcitons).The index and organization are laid out like I think ..."how do I load a CSV file?"... look up CSV and there's real examples plus cautions on how tolook out and deal with problems. When I am writing now, this book will be next to me!

Very handy little book
This book is one of those that you like to keep at arms length.It has a lot of useful code that comes in handy.I liked it so much I purchased the MySQL Phrasebook as well. ... Read more

Product Description

A step-by-step guide to building PHP web sites and applications using the Smarty templating engine

• Bring the benefits of Smarty to your PHP programming
• Give your designers the power to modify content and layout without PHP programming
• Produce code that is easier to debug, maintain, and modify
• Useful for both Smarty developers and users

In Detail

Smarty is a templating engine for PHP. Designers who are used to working with HTML files can work with Smarty templates, which are HTML files with simple tags while programmers work with the underlying PHP code. The Smarty engine brings the code and templates together. The result of all this is that designers can concentrate on designing, programmers can concentrate on programming, and they don't need to get in each others way so much.Even if you are developing a site on your own, Smarty is a powerful way to make your code clearer to you and others, as well as easier to debug and modify later.

What you will learn from this book?

Customer Reviews (10)

Interesting
I am fairly familiar with PHP, and love the way you can weave it through HTML pages.SMARTY was a concept I wasn't very familiar with, since most sites can achieve a template look and feel via CSS.I found this book to be interesting and informative, to the point where I think SMARTY is a good addition to a web designer's arsenal. I recommend this book as a good starting point to understanding and using SMARTY.

This book is awful
In the process of learning web development, you read a lot of technical books.This is the worse technical book, Ive tried to read. To start, the book is written by three authors, not a good sign. The prose is poor.They tend to talk down to the reader. The writing is all over the place, one minute their assuming the reader is a developer, and the next minute their defining terms like: cache, and debugging for the completely unknowing designer.And that's the main problem with the book.It lacks a unified direction.It tries to be all things to everyone. It tries to cater to the technical level of every reader, the designer, the developer, the web administrator, and at the same time be a Smarty variable reference.In the end, if fails at all of them.Your better off just going to the Smarty website, and reading their documentation.Unfortunately, this is the only book currently on the market that focuses on Smarty.Don't expect to learn Smarty from this book, you'll be disappointed.

Good Start
This was the only book I could find for Smarty. I know some people may enjoy the adventure of learning software from the help menu, but I personally prefer to have some written details to eliminate a lot of the trial by error that will frustrate me no end.

This book gives you all the facts to getting a good start using Smarty templates.

Good intro to templating with Smarty
The authors do a good job of introducing you to the Smarty templating system. You'll need to have knowledge of PHP if your a programmer or XHTML & CSS if your a designer in order to make use of the Smarty templating system. As the authors state; you don't need both skill sets unless you plan on doing your projects single-handedly. I like the fact that they stick to Smarty & don't try to teach PHP, XHTML & CSS. I have very strong XHTML & CSS skills & very basic PHP & MySQL skills & find that by using Smarty you can greatly simplify looping through arrays & calling variables. I'm impressed by the apparently non-English speaking authors writing skills. I wonder if they have plans of authoring a book on PHP/MySQL & maybe even the Cake PHP development framework? The publisher PacktPub supports Open Source software development with donations from sales to Open Source projects which I consider a plus. Hopefully Open Source will take more market share from the Microsoft monopoly & promote a more innovative & prosperous internet community! Make a donation to the Smarty project if you find it useful.

Good Reference but not everything
I found this book to be a good reference if you are not already familiar with Smarty. It gives you the basics but doesn't get too involved.
I would recommend having some PHP experience first before you buy it.
I bought it to be used as an additional programming help guide to work with X-Cart. It's been good for that.
Overall, it's worth the price. ... Read more

Product Description

PHP MySQL Website Programming: Problem - Design - Solution shows the development process for a website using a specific set of technologies: the Apache web server, the MySQL database system, and the PHP scripting language. It gives you a completely hands-on experience and guides you through the construction of a complete application-driven site from design to deployment.

Each chapter in the book is broken into three parts:

• Problem: The authors analyze each task and identify areas that may be particularly hard to implement.
• Design: Once the problems have been identified, a proposal is sketched out for solving them.
• Solution: The code is developed and deployed to accomplish the task at hand.

Throughout the book, good object-oriented PHP coding methods are used where appropriate. The site you construct features a modular design, so the individual chapters are generally focused on designing and building a specific piece of the site's functionality.

This invaluable tutorial provides a lot of insight into the ways you can implement web applications with PHP and MySQL in real-world situations.

Customer Reviews (13)

Solid, even for non-php people; a lot of interesting design concepts.
Chris Lea et al., PHP MySQL Website Programming: Problem - Design - Solution (Apress, 2002)

I've been bulking up on PHP/MySQL books recently as I transition my household machines to Linux and prepare to implement a webserver to hold my book database and the painfully simple font-end I've designed to work with it. The more I read, the more convinced I am that PHP isn't exactly what I need (though since that's an issue of preference, I won't be addressing it in this review), but MySQL has always seemed the way to go for Linux databases, and so I'm still devouring these things. I have yet to come across one that really gets into intricate databases on the web (the book database is currently thirty tables without factoring in logins, permissions, and the like), but this is the most complex of the lot so far. Unfortunately, it sticks with MyISAM, and indicates that's the usual convention when dealing with webhosts. This does answer a few questions I've had for years about why website updates sometimes seem inconsistent, anyway (MyISAM, at least at the time this book was written, didn't support foreign keys, leaving the programmers to make sure relations were enforced in code; the possible problems should be obvious). Still, this book covered a lot of ground I haven't come across in other PHP/MySQL web design books before, and that was easily worth the price of admission.

Lea and his cohorts take the reader through the construction of a complete website, with a number of features one would expect to see (discussion fora, polls, basic ecommerce, etc.). As a side note, the website used as an example in the book is still out there on the web as of this writing, though I did get a number of unspecified database errors while wandering through it (and it hasn't been updated in a long, long time). In any case, the layout of the book, and much of the code used in it, is simple and straightforward. While that makes a great deal of sense from a teaching standpoint, it does tend to exacerbate some of the inherent problems with using MyISAM as a database scheme for web development, and the authors seem to dismiss some of those problems (such as the lack of foreign keys I mentioned; yes, it's certainly good programming practice for the programmers to check for errors before the data gets passed, but having another layer of built-in error checking isn't ever extraneous) rather than discussing them rationally. More importantly, however, the book discusses building a home-rolled content management system. With the recent rise (and explosion in popularity) of out-of-the-box CMSes like Joomla! and Drupal, this might seem like overkill, but let's face it: how many people out there building websites are actually going to need even 20% of the features you find in a CMS written for the purpose of trying to please everyone all the time? Lea et al. offer a much lighter-weight option that even the novice web-building geek can easily extend and customize.

All in all, a lot here of worth. I actually picked this one up at the store instead of getting it out of the library, and while I'm not sure how much of the actual code I'm going to use, some of the design concepts made it worth the price of admission by themselves; everything else is icing on the cake. *** ½

Its a good book, but....
The book is great. It comes with layouts of code on how to do pages like forums, creating ads, and taking polls. The only problem I had was using PEAR DB. As far as I know Pear is relatively new and it was way too hard to try and figure out how to incorporate that into my Database. I was using MySQL on CRUX, and for me it was difficult to figure out. They also use a lot of require_once lines. I know what they are used for, but the code was so long that for one page they used require_once for multiple different pages. I think for a beginner, this book is not the way to go. For people who have no dea what PEAR is or how to set it up, this book Not the way to go. If your experienced somewhat in PHP and know Pear, knock yourself out!

For me, the book was too advanced, I have done some web sites in PHP but not at this level. Hope I helped some people with their decision.

Not for the beginner orintermediate programmer
There is absolutely no PHP or My-Sql teaching in this book.If your looking to see how a professional group of programmers use functions and how they outline their sites then this book is for you.BUT if you're looking for a book to learn any PHP My-Sql programming, don't buy this book.But if you do buy it, buy it used... It's not worth the new book price.

Don't bother with this useless book
It appears as if most of the earlier reviews for this book were for the first edition. (Which brings up a good question - WHY is this book now useless?)

As with essentially every other book I've spent $40 - $50 for, this one is filled with poor content and code that does NOT work. If you look at the "sample" website for this book that uses the code that this book is supposed to help you build (which is now gone), many people hit a roadblock by page 28! The site is filed with comments from others who have been stuck on the same problem and can't move on. Perhaps the most revealing question there is "has anyone been successful in getting all the way through the book?" Not surprisingly, no one has answered.

The publisher's site still does not include an errata sheet (that would be asking too much), six YEARS after this book was first published.

Don't bother buying this one - unless you enjoy throwing another $50 down the toilet. I bought this book based upon the positive reviews found here - little did I realize that the second edition must be worse than the first!

Maybe Not So Hot...
I know all of the other reviews are glowing, but I was actully disappointed by this book. While it is very thorough, I found the structure of the book to be haphazard and unintuitive. There are a lot of occurances of "but first, lets go back a bit," a sure sign of poor writing. While trying to keep to the problem-design-solution framework, the authors often introduced ideas in the problem phase, but never clearly addressed them in the design and solution phase -- often vaguely tying it all together with a statement like "and we took care of this problem as well" without really referencing it.

There is a great deal of information in this book, but I found it very difficult to extract coherently. And saying "but its not for beginners" is no excuse for poor writing. ... Read more