Product Description

Build user friendly Web 2.0 Applications with JavaScript and PHP

• Create faster, lighter, better web applications by using the AJAX technologies to their full potential
• Leverage the power of PHP and MySQL to create powerful back-end functionality and make it work in harmony with a responsive AJAX clientWrite better JavaScript code to enable powerful web features
• Understand the complete client-server mechanism by following complete, step-by-step case studies

In Detail

AJAX enables interactive interfaces that can replace traditional user interfaces. Enhance the user experience of your PHP website using AJAX with this practical and friendly tutorial! This book is the most efficient resource you can get to enter the exciting world of AJAX with PHP. Based on numerous examples and detailed case studies, this AJAX with PHP tutorial will build your foundation knowledge for creating faster, better web applications.

The best AJAX tutorial for PHP developers has been completely rewritten to be your friendly guide to modern Web 2.0 development techniques! AJAX and PHP: Building Modern Web Applications, 2nd Edition covers every significant aspect of creating and maintaining AJAX and PHP applications.

This book will teach you how to use PHP, JavaScript, MySQL and jQuery to build modern, responsive web applications. After building a strong foundation, the book will walk you through numerous real-world case studies covering techniques you'll be likely to need for your own applications:

• Learn how to write unobtrusive, degradable, portable, SEO-friendly AJAX code
• Understand the object-oriented model of JavaScript and JSON
• Learn how to use the jQuery JavaScript library by going through two complete case studies
• Debug your AJAX and PHP code using modern tools
• Assess the security implications of writing AJAX code and avoid security risks such as cross-site scripting
• Learn advanced AJAX and PHP patterns and techniques such as predictive fetching, progress indicator, graceful degradation, cross-domain calls, and more
• Understand the complete client-server mechanism by going through complete, step-by-step case studies, including AJAX Form Validation, and AJAX Online Chat and AJAX Editable DataGrid with jQuery

What you will learn from this book

• Create faster, lighter, better web applications by using the AJAX technologies to their full potential
• Learn to use PHP and MySQL on the server, and Javascript and jQuery on the client, to build real-world AJAX applications
• Combine client-side and server-side functionality to enhance the user experience of your site using AJAX
• Learn to simulate private, instance, and static class members in JavaScript
• ld an AJAX-enabled form validation page, which is safe to work even if the client doesn't support JavaScript and AJAX

Approach

This book is a step-by-step, example-driven AJAX tutorial, featuring complete case studies. Each chapter contains a friendly mix of theory and practice, so that your journey through the book will be pleasant, yet efficient. You'll be coding your first AJAX application at the end of the first chapter, and with each new chapter you'll develop increasingly complex AJAX applications featuring advanced techniques and coding patterns.

Customer Reviews (1)

Good introduction to Ajax
This is a good introduction to AJAX.Starts our very basic and very easy to understand.
Even covers using AJAX with jquery. ... Read more

Product Description

This book is for intermediate programmers interested in building AJAX web applications using jQuery and PHP. Along with teaching some advanced PHP techniques, it will teach you how to take your dynamic applications to the next level by adding a JavaScript layer with jQuery.

• Learn to utilize built-in PHP functions to build calendar tools.
• Learn how jQuery can be used for AJAX, animation, client-side validation, and more.

What you’ll learn

• Use PHP to build a calendar application that allows users to post, view, edit, and delete events.
• Use jQuery to allow the calendar app to be viewed and edited without requiring page refreshes using built-in AJAX functions.
• Learn the power and versatility of PHP's object-oriented programming style.
• Learn the various forms of security available and how to best apply them.
• Learn jQuery plug-in development patterns and create modular, reusable jQuery plug-ins.
• Learn the basics of jQuery effects, including fading elements, generating HTML markup on the fly, and creating modal windows.

Who this book is for

This book is intended for programmers who want to bridge the gap between front- and back-end programming. It does not cover HTML or CSS except where absolutely necessary, and it focuses on taking intermediate PHP developers to the next level while getting comfortable with AJAX and the power of jQuery.

Customer Reviews (2)

Spagethi
This guy is a smart. Obviously has some great great ideas. His programming style, however, is very messy. His codes are scattered all over.


Modularity is good to a certain limit. You don't make codes that go left and right.



Its hard for others to follow. Also the code provided from the website has some errors in it. His programming style makes it hard to trace the error(s).

Quick start to OOP and PHP
What is so good about Jason's books are that they dont waste your time on 10 pages of what is a variable. It gives your a concise guide into the world of jQuery, arms you with the tools to continue educating yourself, and then moves on to using it.

As far as PHP and OOP goes, this book picks off where Jason's last book left off. It gives you an detailed and succinct explanation of PHP and its OO concepts. Then he guides your though these waters helping you navigate ambiguous concepts.

BTW, he also has some great tuts on netttus. You can get a taste for his teaching style there. :) ... Read more

Product Description
This book covers the basics of PHP and MySQL along with introductions to advanced topics including object-oriented programming and how to build Web sites that incorporate authentication and security. After you complete this course, you will be able to use PHP and MySQL to build professional quality, database-driven Web sites. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Not for Beginners
I was scared silly when I read the reviews about this book.I sent an email to my teacher who informed me that she had used this book and her classes liked it.The reason that the reviews for the book are so low probably has to do with these folks have not had very much experience with programming languages before using this book.
PHP is a very powerful language and that is another way of saying if you don't know what you are doing you are apt to get into trouble.
Before taking this PHP course I have had Visual Basic, C++, XHTML, XML and Java Script.If anything this book helps me understand better some of the things that I found confusing in earlier classes.However, with that said, this book does not go into all the detail that a person needs to understand concerning the fundamental basics of programming.
So if you understand how to program in other languages this is an EXCELLENT book to learn PHP from.If you are just starting out learning to program maybe you would be better advised to search for a different book.

I hate this book!
This is a terrible book.I've had to buy several Thompson Course Technology series books written by Don Gosselin and I have not liked one.They are riddled with errors.Gosselin's approach to teaching the subject matter is mediocre at best and I'm not the only one that thinks this.Just read reviews of this book and you'll realize how bad it is.After my course was over, I had to buy another book and reteach myself the subject.It looks like I will have to do the same for PHP.Gosselin creates examples that you have to copy verbatim, but he doesn't really explain why you're doing what you're doing, so in the end I don't really learn anything from the examples.Even worse, many of the examples have errors, and since I don't know how to code works, it's very difficult to fix the error.

Everything was as it should be
The book was in great shape, as is to be expected.The delivery was free, great bargain.Thank you

Lacking in content, painfully priced
Unless you are required to buy this book for a class, I would save the 75+ bucks. There is very little detailed information in here, and the most extensive sections are the exercises at the end of each chapter. There are many other books out there for a fraction of the price that will serve as reference volumes long after you've gotten everything you can possibly get out of this one (check out O'Reilly press). All of these "Course Technology" editions by Thompson/Cengage are so pretty to look at on your bookshelf, but so lacking in useful content. Good info for someone with little or no programming experience, but even then - just not worth the price. Unfortunately many of us college students are like sitting ducks to these publishers, easy targets for their marketing scams.

Useful to a Point
It seems like a fairly thorough text on all the various aspects of PHP. How would one know, however, unless one studies another book along side? One major flaw which is very serious: there are typographical errors in coding examples AND explanatory texts. For a programming language that is an unacceptable feature. As a learner, one is dependent on the text being correct. Another pedagogical shortcoming is that some of the exercises ask the user to type in a block of code with mistakes in it. Then it asks the user to correct them. Personally I think that gives the user the opportunity to learn bad coding practice. ... Read more

Product Description
With over 3 million users worldwide, Adobe's Dreamweaver is the most popular web development software in the world, and it just took another step forward with CS3, the new version released in 2007. Having come a long way from its humble beginnings as a simple web design tool, CS3 allows you to rapidly put together standards compliant web sites and dynamic web sites with server-side languages and Ajax, and much more.To complement this great new application, David Powers has written the ultimate guide to itThe Essential Guide to Dreamweaver CS3 teaches you everything you need to know about the application, from setting up your development environment environment to publishing your sites and applications on the web, and everything in between.

• Takes you through your development environment set up
• Covers everything you need to create both standards compliant web sutes, and dynamic web applications
• Teaches several real world techniques using a series of step by step tutorials

What youll learn

• How to set up your ideal development environment, using Mac OSX/Windows, Apache (and IIS on Windows,) Apache, MySQL, and phpMyAdmin
• Creating standards compliant web sites using CS3's XHTML and CSS features
• Creating dynamic web applications using CS3's PHP and Spry Ajax server behaviors
• Building several real world web site functions, such as form validation, random quote generator, search function, user management/login pages, dynamic Ajax gallery, and much more.
• Creating an interface design in Fireworks CS3 and importing it into Dreamweaver CS3.
• How use Dreamweaver CS3's XML functionality, to consume RSS feeds, and create Spry data sets
• Using includes, templates and master detail pages.
• How to publish your site after you've created it

Summary of Contents

• Chapter 1: Dreamweaver CS3Your Creative Partner
• Chapter 2: Building Dynamic Sites with Ajax and PHP
• Chapter 3: Getting the Work Environment Ready
• Chapter 4: Setting Up a PHP Site
• Chapter 5: Adding a Touch of Style
• Chapter 6: Creating a CSS Site Straight Out of the Box
• Chapter 7: Building Site Navigation with the Spry Menu Bar
• Chapter 8: Sprucing Up Content with Spry Widgets
• Chapter 9: Building Online Forms and Validating Input
• Chapter 10: Introducing the Basics of PHP
• Chapter 11: Using PHP to Process a Form
• Chapter 12: Working with PHP Includes and Templates
• Chapter 13: Setting Up MySQL and phpMyAdmin
• Chapter 14: Storing Records in a Database
• Chapter 15: Controlling Access to Your Site
• Chapter 16: Working with Multiple Tables
• Chapter 17: Searching Records and Handling Dates
• Chapter 18: Using XSLT to Display Live News Feeds and XML
• Chapter 19: Using Spry to Display XML
• Chapter 20: Getting the Best of Both Worlds with PHP and Spry

Customer Reviews (31)

The Guide
Anything that David Powers puts his pen to is worth reading (and in this case following). Excellent. I also bought his PHP Solutions which is equally valuable.

Excellent Presentation
I have been a software developer for over 25 years, and have learned virtually all languages and technologies informally, through reading books and/or spending time with others versed in a particular discipline.Prior to purchasing this book my experience has been in traditional language development and operating systems, with only very limited HTML, CSS and web development knowledge.

I originally purchased and use Adobe CS3 for the design products: InDesign, Illustrator, PhotoShop, and never gave much thought to Dreamweaver.However, after stumbling across this book on Amazon, my interest was piqued and I wondered if I could leverage the power of a tool like Dreamweaver (sorry, hard-core HTML hackers!) without sacrificing the ability to control my own destiny in terms of going beyond the basics of a WYSIWYG tool with programming of PHP, JavaScript, and AJAX.

I am very pleased to report that not only is the product, Dreamweaver, capable of delivering both efficiency and power, but this book is a nearly perfect way to learn both.The author works with you like an experienced teacher throughout, often repeating steps and concepts early in the book so that they "stick", then about the time you think, "OK, I know this already", he lets you know he believes you probably get the concept and spends progressively less time on the rote, focusing on the issue at hand.

I recommend this book for anyone who is looking to explore using Dreamweaver as a web development tool.You will quickly be creating sites that are powerful and configurable using CSS, AJAX, and PHP.

Dreamweaver CS3 etc - David Powers
Great book, had me up and running and using PHP for forms quickly, but most importantly gave me understanding!

Great book if you are learning Dreamweaver, CSS and PHP
David Powers really knows how to present this topic in an easy to understand way. The book is very helpful in learning how the items fit together. This book was recommended on the Dreamweaver forum by many of the people who post to it and after purchasing, I can see why. This book is a must if you are learning Dreamweaver, CSS and PHP. It's not only for beginners, but for anyone. Polar_bare

Good book
Very good book. I am at intermediate level and this book showed me exactly how to build php enabled web sites. Highly recommend it for users who have used Dreamweaver before and has a developer background. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (6)

Misses every possible audience
"The Good Parts" series, as established by Douglas Crockford, set a high standard that helped any JavaScript developer move up one or more levels in their craft by gaining a clear understanding of what was good _and bad_ about JavaScript. As an experienced JS developer with over a decade of pure JavaScript experience I found almost nothing to criticize about that book and was reminded of a few subtleties I'd forgotten over the years. It was a perfect refresher for me and a great introduction for anyone less experienced in what to avoid.

This book does nothing of the sort.

Unlike JavaScript, I'm completely new to PHP. I've never written a single line of the stuff. Going on the basis of my experience with Crock's book I had hoped to get a useful introduction to PHP and a clear view of the minefield that experienced programmers realize exists in every language. This book blew smoke in every direction; the author even wasted my time by claiming he couldn't really think of any bad parts. I wish I'd seen that comment when scanning the book in the bookstore, I could have saved myself a lot of time and $.

From a pure beginner perspective simple things like the '.' operator for string concatenation are never explained, they just start appearing in code samples. In terms of language introduction there's fragmented coverage of the core language constructs, scattered coverage of basic string and array functions with no summaries or API/signature examples, and no coverage of generally accepted PHP coding standards (the samples in the book don't use "fully bracketed ifs" for example). Idon't feel like reading this book allows me to do anything other than go in search of another introductory book on PHP armed with some idea of what _not_ to buy.

If I were an experienced PHP programmer I can't imagine I would have found anything of value in this book. The language coverage is so basic I presume it's common knowledge to anyone who's used PHP for any period of time. At the same time there are no minefield topics worth discussing with the possible exception of the discussion around the admittedly questionable decision to add 'goto' to PHP 5.3.

As someone who's done OO development in a half-dozen other languages I'd have to say Chapter 6, on OO in PHP, should be torn out and run through a shredder. It's the worst coverage of OO I think I've ever seen in print. Unfortunately, subsequent chapters refer to Chapter 6 as if it taught you something that you'd need to know.

All in all this book has to be one of the worst O'Reilly titles I've ever read...and I've read over 100 over the years. Admittedly ORA has been disappointing me more and more often in recent years, but not all of what's wrong with this book can be laid at the publisher's feet.

Perhaps this is all just a reaction to expectations set by the title which were completely unmet. Consider yourself warned however. If you think this book is going to give you the same meaty-yet-concise treatment of PHP that Crock did for JS you're going to be very disappointed.

Author missed the point
The author clearly never read Crockford's Javascript: The Good Parts, or at least if he did he missed the point entirely. Crockford's book served as a map to guide you through the best ways to use Javascript without falling into pitfalls. Javascript, a language programmers have been raised to detest due to shoddy examples abusing the worst parts of the language, started to see its reputation turn around when Crockford's book hit the shelves. Crockford made a strong case that underneath it's Bad Parts lie a beautiful language that programmers can find joy in.

No such case is made in this book. In fact, a good chunk of this book is dedicated to building some project involving an SMS gateway instead of talking about the language semantics that make PHP what it is. The author's claim that he doesn't think there are any Bad Parts to PHP (in the "Bad Parts" appendix) shows he has not worked with many other programming langauges, if any, than PHP. I have a hard time believing the choice for the title of this book was meant for any reason other than to sucker people in (like myself) who loved Crockford's book and expected a similar "clean slating" for the other much loathed language of the web, PHP.

I was hoping for an in-depth discussion of the details of the language, the design choices its author made, and how to avoid common traps when writing PHP code. I wanted to see what functions and constructs to avoid, and what patterns were common enough to use idiomatically. Instead what I got was a basic introduction to the simplest concepts in the language ("Objects" being the epic crescendo of this grand tour) and many pages of rambling on about some SMS project. I would have read through it in more detail if it weren't for the author's ridiculously bad security through obscurity advice peppered throughout, which I'll spare him the pain of seeing reprinted here.

If you want to learn PHP, pick up another book. If you want someone to dissect the language for you and tell you how to write Good PHP instead of Bad, well, I guess we'll just have to wait for that book to be written. It's a shame someone has already taken the title it'll need.

Good for PHP beginners, but a misleading title
This book is a reasonable concise introduction to PHP for developers of other languages, but I was expecting more. The title gives the impression that it will be the PHP equivalent of Douglas Crockford's seminal JavaScript: The Good Parts. It's not. Many of the topics discussed aren't necessarily what many PHP developers would consider to be good.

Read my full review here:
[...]

A winner for any programming collection
Peter B. MacIntyre's PHP: THE GOOD PARTS provides an easy introduction perfect for any newcomer and for any library that seeks a basic coverage of the programming language's syntax, variables and more. From using strings and PHP's special functions to understanding how it interacts with databases and hot to prevent security breaches, this includes PHP 5.3 Good Parts and is a winner for any programming collection.

Knowing the Good Parts requires understanding the bad
O'Reilly's "The Good Parts" series began with Crockford's outstanding "JavaScript: The Good Parts," which established a very high standard for a book claiming to detail the good parts of a technology. In "The Good Parts," Crockford detailed a great many things that were fundamentally wrong in the definition and practice of JavaScript and how it was possible to carefully use a well-chosen subset of the language, "the good parts" to achieve more professional results.

If there's any modern programming language that's more synonymous with bad architecture and poor real-world practices than JavaScript, it's PHP. The top tier of PHP programmers acknowledge this and work in environments that rigorously enforce coding standards meant to protect them from the bad parts of PHP.

I turned to "PHP: The Good Parts" with the hopes that it might detail these kinds of standards and practices. Instead, I found a through-the-looking-glass view into a cheerleader world where PHP is "nothing but good" and the author is at a loss to think of anything wrong with the language.

One could blame this on the author, but I'm inclined to blame it on the publisher. O'Reilly, did you really not know that you had something special going with "the good parts" and that the title promised a book by a master showing the benefit of a lot of experience? Or, did you cynically think that the general level of PHP programming expertise is so low that nobody would notice the difference? ... Read more

Product Description
In just a few years PHP has rapidly evolved from a small niche language to a powerful web development tool. Now in use on over 14 million Web sites, PHP is more stable and extensible than ever. However, there is no documentation on how to extend PHP; developers seeking to build PHP extensions and increase the performance and functionality of their PHP applications are left to word of mouth and muddling through PHP internals without systematic, helpful guidance. Although the basics of extension writing are fairly easy to grasp, the more advanced features have a tougher learning curve that can be very difficult to overcome. This is common at any moderate to high-traffic site, forcing the company hire talented, and high-priced, developers to increase performance. With Extending and Embedding PHP, Sara Golemon makes writing extensions within the grasp of every PHP developer, while guiding the reader through the tricky internals of PHP. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

expect your head to hurt
This book is, rightfully so, the definitive guide on creating your own php extensions.Golemon definitely knows her stuff and by the end of this book you will too!Just be prepared, it's a LOT of information, really fast...expect your head to hurt while reading.

Just about the only book for a long time
I work at a company where looking at source code is not an available means to decipher how things work.This book was the only way that I could accomplish my job of writing a custom PHP extension for connecting to our database product.In short, if it weren't for this book, I honestly don't know how I would have accomplished my job.

Very well done!
I purchased this book based on an immediate need at my job, and have since created two nice PHP extensions.I found it to be extremely helpful at getting started into an otherwise poorly documented area of PHP and the Zend API.It does lack depth in some areas, such as PHP5 objects.I found that consulting the source code of several existing PHP extensions was necessary to fill in some of these gaps. ... Read more

Product Description
...if you have seen true object-oriented development, and have had trouble using these concepts in PHP; don't despair any longer. Matt (Zandstra) has done all the work for you--all you need is a weekend or two to do a little reading.While being an easy read, Zandstra's introduction to the object-oriented features is, I believe, perfectly adequate to get started with object-oriented PHP programming.

— Lasse Koskela, JavaRanch Bartender

PHP 5 Objects, Patterns, and Practice is a practical design and management book devoted to exploring object-oriented programming in PHP 5, the latest and most powerful version of PHP. Using a wide variety of pattern examples, this insightful text explores the principles underlying design patterns, focusing largely on those patterns collected by the "Gang of Four." Veteran author Matt Zandstra further addresses the needs of PHP users by providing practice and examples on topics including unit testing, documentation, version control, and automated building. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (31)

Great
This is the best book I've got on this topic so far. I strongly recommend getting this.

A first-rate book
Apress publishes some great books (definitely check out Pro JavaScript Techniques and Pro JavaScript Design Patterns if you're working with AJAX). This book definitely lives up to that high standard.

The first part of the book provides a concise but very informative treatment of PHP5's object-oriented functionality, providing some valuable context for those less familiar with OO and demonstrating some of the more exotic features for veterans.

After discussing what patterns are, why they're useful, and some of their basic principles, the book then dives into the patterns themselves. Each pattern is presented according to a standard format: The Problem (what architectural nightmare you're trying to escape from), Implementation (the structure of the pattern, with plenty of explanation and sample code), and Consequences (the advantages and disadvantages of the pattern in various situations).

For the most part, the patterns are presented in a sensible order, starting with more basic patterns, and moving on to more complex ones which build on those concepts. Where appropriate, the book introduces a pattern with less-than-optimal code, and then shows you how to refactor it to improve the pattern. This way, you understand *why* the patterns are designed in particular (and sometimes less-than-intuitive) ways. In essence, you're starting with sloppy code, and then working through a series of refactorings to get the pattern to emerge.

All the usual suspects are here: Singleton, Factory, Composite, Decorator, Facade, Strategy, Observer, Visitor, Command, etc. The writing is clear and to-the-point, uses good examples (with a few exceptions), and addresses possible points of confusion from the get-go. Throughout, the basic pattern principles are emphasized and reinforced, especially when you've just seen an example that exemplifies them.

To be honest, I haven't finished the book--I'm on chapter 12 (Enterprise Patterns, which covers MVC)--but I've already learned so much that I have no qualms giving this a five-star review.

I have noticed a few errors in the code examples (mostly typos--misnamed methods and the like), but as long as you're paying attention to the text, you'll be able to spot them, and this has probably been fixed in the second edition.

By the way, don't pay the going rate in the Amazon Marketplace for this first edition--you can get the second edition for ten bucks cheaper.

Clear and well worded, very instructional
great book. clear and well written intro to objects. removes the mystery from the subject and puts it into good English. cheers!

Sometimes it moves to fast.
If your PHP is rusty from extended non-use (like mine these days) or if you are still new to PHP, this book can lose you.In chapter 4 the author assumes you are current with the PEAR database classes and throws out an example with no explanation of the code.If this book aims to help you become an advanced PHP coder, then it fails because it assumes you already are one.In my opinion, the book moves to fast and skips over to much explanation to be a good book to learn by, and is obviously not a reference book.I'm sure Zandstra knows his subject, he just needs to sharpen his teaching skills.4 Stars for knowledge, 1 star for explanation & teaching.

I have found religion
I bought this book because I wanted to get a quick start into PHP5 and I had heard of patterns and thought that I could mess around with patterns as I learned PHP5.In the following, note that web-development is just my hobby, not my job.

OMG... I have found religion.My previous attempt at coding up a large website was one that a friend and I coded up 7 years ago with PHP2/3 which was crushed under its own weight and we quickly reached a point that we could not progress any further without breaking something.What Matt does in this book is to bring together many different ways of approaching enterprise and other common PHP problems as far as how do you represent/create/organize data objects in your PHP program and how do you organize program and customer flow.

At first, I approached the "Practice" portion of the book as an afterthought, but have since learned that rigorous testing and test cases saves your behind as I have broken my code in unexpected ways multiple times which I would never have caught had I not followed the advice presented in this book.There are lots of other good hints on how to conduct the business of coding which will save you lots of time in this "Practice" section.

My only gripe with the book was that the learning curve was steep in the "Patterns" section as the examples were interwoven and built highly upon eachother.This required me to go through the book a couple times before I actually understood everything... But this may just be an artifact of my slow brain which has not had any real deep foray into any programming for about 5 years.

This book opened my eyes to a whole new world of programming.Thank You Matt! ... Read more

Product Description
This is the second edition of David Power's highly-respected PHP Solutions: Dynamic Web Design Made Easy. This new edition has been updated by David to incorporate changes to PHP since the first edition and to offer the latest techniques--a classic guide modernized for 21st century PHP techniques, innovations, and best practices.

You want to make your websites more dynamic by adding a feedback form, creating a private area where members can upload images that are automatically resized, or perhaps storing all your content in a database. The problem is, you're not a programmer and the thought of writing code sends a chill up your spine. Or maybe you've dabbled a bit in PHP and MySQL, but you can't get past baby steps. If this describes you, then you've just found the right book. PHP and the MySQL database are deservedly the most popular combination for creating dynamic websites. They're free, easy to use, and provided by many web hosting companies in their standard packages.

Unfortunately, most PHP books either expect you to be an expert already or force you to go through endless exercises of little practical value. In contrast, this book gives you real value right away through a series of practical examples that you can incorporate directly into your sites, optimizing performance and adding functionality such as file uploading, email feedback forms, image galleries, content management systems, and much more. Each solution is created with not only functionality in mind, but also visual design.

But this book doesn't just provide a collection of ready-made scripts: each PHP Solution builds on what's gone before, teaching you the basics of PHP and database design quickly and painlessly. By the end of the book, you'll have the confidence to start writing your own scripts or--if you prefer to leave that task to others--to adapt existing scripts to your own requirements. Right from the start, you're shown how easy it is to protect your sites by adopting secure coding practices. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (18)

Some good hacks, not a lot of PHP
The book has a lot of hacks, to be sure!And if the author presents a hack that EXACTLY fits your need, then the book is worth a read (not a buy).WAY too often, though, the 'hack' is "How to use some other, non-PHP product to get PHP to do what you want."

The book is like bizarre combination of "Look what I can do!" and "Buy this book where I tell you, quickly and poorly, how to use someone else's product that really IS great!"

The book is barely worth checking out at the library.

Good book.
All in all, this is a pretty good book.

It covers many advanced things that most people would be able to think of, but it is a very good way to spark the lightbulb in your head into thinking up something really useful. For example, after reading the chapter about HTML bar grapsh, I thought of using one-pixel table elements to use a line graph.

I would suggest this book to anyone with a functional background in HTML, XHTML, CSS, JavaScript, Ajax, XSLT/XML, because this book is not really about the cool stuff of PHP itself, it's about what you can produce with it.

Filled with good ideas
The code in this book definitely lives up to the "hacks" title, but that's okay because it's filled with lots of good ideas and useful snippets.

PHP Potential Unleashed
There are a lot of ways to learn a language, and PHP is a popular one because it's dynamic.If you truly want to unleash the potential of this dynamic language than you need to get this book!Jack goes into detail and even provides scripts for hundreds of uses with the perspective of a seasoned veteran, it's easy to use and reference different sections.

doesn't keep what it promises
when I saw the title I was sure it is exactly what I needed, some special tips and tricks, something that you can't find easily on the internet. But it was nothing more.

The good thing is now I have some good ideas in a book and don't have to search every time online. ... Read more

Product Description

Want to assert yourself as a cutting-edge PHP web developer? Take a practical approach, learning by example from author Quentin Zervaas, and discover how to bring together the many technologies needed to create a successful, modern web application.

In Practical Web 2.0 Applications with PHP, PHP, MySQL, CSS, XHTML, and JavaScript/Ajax development techniques are brought together to show you how to create the hottest PHP web applications, from planning and design up to final implementation, without going over unnecessary basics that will hold you back. This book includes must-have application features such as search functionality, maps, blogs, dynamic image galleries, and personalized user areas. The Zend Framework is used extensively to build the application, allowing you to focus on developing the application rather than on reinventing the wheel.

Topics covered include application planning and design; setting up the application framework; using CSS for easier styling; adding dynamic effects the easy way using JavaScript libraries such as Prototype and script.aculo.us; and implementing several must-have web application features such as user login, blogs, dynamic image galleries, search functionality, mapping with Google Maps, and much more. Zervaas covers everything in a practical, tutorial style so you can start working on your own projects as quickly as possible.

• Create cutting-edge PHP/MySQL web applications.
• Implement must-have functionality such as blogs, maps, search functionality, and dynamic image galleries.
• Master styling with CSS and dynamic effects using Ajax/JavaScript libraries.

The Practical series from Apress is your best choice for getting the job done, period. From professional to expert, this series lets you apply project-motivated templates (or frameworks) step by step in a very direct, practical, and efficient manner toward current real-world projects that may be sitting on your desk. So whatever your career goal, Apress can be your trusted guide to take you where you want to go on your IT career empowerment path. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (20)

Good stuff
I've developed web pages professionally for several years now and was looking for a good guide on how to use MVC with PHP.Practical Web 2.0 Applications with PHP gives you examples (evey one of them) that use the MVC model with the Zend Framework.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking to learn the Zend Framework with MVC.

Defiitely NEEDS an update!
Not good.Only a third of the way through chapter 2, yes, chapter TWO and I'm seriously considering retiring this book.Things had not been working as they ought to (as he said they would) until I got my hands DIRTY.Dirty as in "retro-fitting" my server to use an OLD version of the Zend framework.Only then did things "start" to work.This author simply moves TOO FAST even for an intermediate programmer.Also, there are NO "workarounds" for common problems a user may run into. It's not good for difficult subjects like ZEND.

I got so much use from the code in this book.
This book has great examples, and great explanation of the code. I can't remember getting as much mileage out of a tech book before.
I particularly liked the intro to the Zend Framework and Prototype/Scriptaculous. I was very, very impressed.

Needs an update
What attracted me to this book is that, instead of vomiting out a bunch of technology choices and disparate code snippets, the author focuses on a project using his favorite toolset.But I also know that critics believe books like this are kind of a 2-edged sword, because while the principles can be distilled and applied to other tools, it's not always easy.Say you want to use the Zend Framework but choose to use the PHTML-based view scripts instead of Smarty.Well then you are going to have a rough ride through this book in places.Still, I appreciate this kind of put-it-all-together approach.

That said, I can't give this book a higher score.One show stopper in 2009 is that the Zend Framework is quite different today than it was when this book was published.So, as early as chapter 2, you'll find deprecated methods (like Zend_Loader::registerAutoload()).In fact, because of ZF 1.8 and Zend_Application, I would not recommend implementing any of the bootstrap approach employed in the book.It is so much simpler now.I really hope that Mr. Zervaas publishes an updated edition that takes some of these updates into consideration.

I also agree with other reviews here that question the choice of the custom DatabaseObject class.There are a number of problems with this class, even after refactoring in some Zend_Db functionality.I won't repeat the arguments, but here is another opportunity for an update.

Excellent Book on PHP using Zend Framework, and Web 2.0 Technologies
This is a great book that deserves 5 stars. First, let me say that I don't normally give reviews but this book has compelled me to.

First, the guy who gave it 2 stars doesn't understand that the whole point of the Zend Framework is that you don't have to abide by a strict set of rules. It's a glue framework.

The author uses some custom abstract classes for interacting with the database and handling forms.He doesn't explain how they work but the whole point of OOP is encapsulation. Your using thoseclasses (extending them) but you don't necessarily understand how they work completely. I mean do you understand how everything in the Zend Framework works?NO and thats the point of using a frame work because you extend from it.All his custom code has been unit tested as well too.

I understand that Zend Framework has classes for interacting with the database and form processing and eventually will look into them.

That being said, I have had the time to work through this book ( I'm half way into it) and the authors writing style is great and very consise.There are a few typos (errata) which can be found on the Apress web site to fix as you go along.People have posted solutions to a minor few bugs because of newer code being used like Prototype as well.

You will learn a great deal from this book.I have a background in front end web development and some Jquery.I studied Java, Ruby so I had some knowledge of OOP and most recently before I started this book I studied a lot of procedural PHP.That helped before diving in OOP PHP and the Zend Framework.

So, I guess I'm trying to say that this book is very approachable and satisfying because you are building something that you can use as a library of code for your own projects.

Although, you should prepare yourself with knowedge of OOP PHP, maybe do a Zend Framework Tutotial which can be found at the official site.Also, having some knowledge of a Javascript library and CSS as well as investigating what Smarty templates are would be beneficial if you are totally new to how modern web applications are built.

Definitely by this book.You want be disappointed!!! ... Read more

Product Description

• Offers hands-on tips and numerous code examples that show Web developers how to leverage content and feeds from today's top Web sites-including Google, eBay, PayPal, Amazon, Yahoo!, and FedEx
• Introduces APIs (Application Program Interfaces) in general and uses real-world examples that show how to produce and document them
• Explains how to use the popular scripting language PHP to create APIs that interact with unrelated applications over the Web
• Examples take readers through each stage of the API process, from basic test implementations to integration with existing sites

Customer Reviews (10)

Terrific Treatment of a Difficult and Complex Subject
I really said it all in the title to my review. This is an enormously useful book that opens the expansive (and still rapidly expanding) world of APIs to PHP programmers like myself. His writing is meticulously clear, the examples work (or at least get you nine-tenths of the way there), and the chapters on actual APIs (PayPal, eBay, FedEx, Google, etc.) are useful. Of course, I'd have loved even more chapters on still other APIs (there are so many), but you'll probably learn enough about Web APIs from these examples to tackle any not covered. Easy download access to the source code is also appreciated.

I was personally less interested in the section on Web Feeds, but this is also well presented -- interestingly in context as a counterpart of Web APIs.

One final word: To get the most out of this book, you need to be an intermediate level PHP programmer. (If you're not, I recommend "PHP and MySQL Web Development" by Welling and Thomson as a good way to get there -- particularly if you're interested in tapping the power of MySQL along with PHP.) But back to the book in hand: 5 stars with thanks to Mr Reinheimer.

It is a collection of examples.
If you are looking for quick reference and example of each listed topic, then this book is a good start.

It is not a terrible book, just not such a great resource. You can find the same information if not more in couple of hours online, and chances are you won't use it much.

The book covers how to connect to each of the services and retrieves the data. I purchased it mainly for the Amazon API, and I can say it was lacking at best.

It pretty much explained REST and SOUP calls, what the parameters to pass with few examples. Something you can find anywhere online and there are definitely better books out there.

If you want quick reference to different type of services and how to make REST or SOUP calls in one book, then get a used copy of it, but honestly I would not buy it again, and I am a book junkie who collects books for reference.

Nice for beginners
Web APIs will become more and more interesting as they provide quick and easy access to data and functions from widely known web service providers auch as Google, eBay and others. However, this book can only provide an overview - "making the first API call". It is therefore useable for beginner s.
The book is easy to read, helpful for the first steps and conatins enough scripts and examples to understand the features and see the possibilities for extension.
All together, useful but not detailed.

Very useful book for any PHP developers library
This book does what I like in a book.Deliver great information on a specific topic without trying to be the do-all-end-all book.It focus's on API's with PHP and does a great job at doing so.Different chapters cover different API's with a catch all chapter at the end to cover additional popular API (like National Weather Service and Flickr).

This is the kind of book where its just fun to play around with and see what you can come up with.

Well-written tech book with substance and flavor
I approached this book expecting a reasonably good tech cookbook with some code examples I could put to use.This book is that, plus more.The book gives a very good background of web APIs, plus thoughtful discussion about -why- certain items are done a certain way.For example, discussion about non-trivial security matters, and various reasons why you wouldn't want to produce a web feed (followed, of course, by how you would produce a web feed, in various flavors).
For me, this book very successfully balanced the dual goals "give me the nuts and bolts" and "tell me the background behind it all".
This book will not teach you PHP, so if you are a beginner, start with a more general PHP tutorial.Beyond that, I recommend this book.
... Read more

Product Description
Covers the latest major release of PHP, the most popular open source Web scripting language, in the friendly, easy-to-understand For Dummies style

• PHP is installed on nearly nine million servers, and usage has grown at the rate of 6.5 percent per month for the past two years
• PHP is easy to learn, well suited for Web development, and can be embedded with HTML, making it a good choice for creating dynamic Web pages for e-commerce sites and other Web applications; a database-friendly language, it connects easily to Sybase, MySQL, mSQL, Oracle, and other databases
• Explains how to acquire and install PHP, how PHP's features make it a useful scripting language, and how to use PHP for three of the most common applications: interactive Web sites, database storage, and common operating system tasks

Customer Reviews (11)

Misleading.
This is one of those cases where what I thought I was getting in fact is NOT WHAT I GOT!. Honestly, the book seems to be ok, but as a learning refrence it's not anywhere close to what I thought it was going to be. I bought the book because it said it was aimed towards beginners and pros, and that it was a good place to start. NOT> If you already have some PHP knowledge, it might be useful as a refrence guide. But it covered stuff like navigating the files on my computer and I just don't know why I would ever go through the trouble of writing a script for that. If your knowledge is intermediate, this book might be ok for you, but if your beginning your knowledge from day one like myself. stay away from this book, it's not what your looking for.

never recieved it
I never recieved this item, so I couldn't tell you of the product specifically, but the seller / shipping is not good it appears?

very good work
This book is a very well prepared for its purpose and target readers... This is for the beginners and guides you through to intermadiete level in PHP. If you have some background in PHP, then I would suggest other works for intermediate and advanced coders.

There are some printing errors that corrected by the author at her web site.. www.janet.valade.com/php5errors.html Please do not forget to go there to print the table out, so you can keep with the book.

Good, but tooooo many typos
It is a good book for beginners, but there are just too many typos, which can cause a beginner to be more confused at times.

The errors make this "how to" book somewhat useless
I have to repeat what others have said. This being a programming book, it is inexcusable to have _ when the programming language wants a "

Terrible experience trying to learn a programming language when several symbols are just plain wrong in the text. What's the point? I'm paying money to waste my time figuring out typos in a programming language I do not know.

So why did I give my money? Never again. The publisher should be recalling this book but they haven't done so.

Other then this tremendously horrid mistake which is throughout the book there is some good information. There is also a lot of senseless rambling. The author goes on and on about PHP numerical functions. All she had to say was you can perform calculations and a few examples. Her rambling text is painfully dry. Maybe she should have spent more time proofreading rather then the obvious page filling.

I'm angry that I had to translate code I'm trying to learn. Maybe the author and publisher should be paying me to teach them. Refund please.
... Read more

Product Description

Taking care to focus solely on those topics that will have the most impact on experienced PHP developers, Pro PHP is written for readers seeking to take their understanding of both PHP and sound software development practices to the next level. Advanced object–oriented features, documentation, debugging, software patterns, and the Standard PHP Library are just a few of the topics covered in extensive detail.

Author and noted PHP expert Kevin McArthur also examines emerging practices and trends such as the MVC architecture as applied to PHP, with special emphasis placed upon the increasingly popular Zend Framework.

With Ajax and web services crucial to the success of todays web applications, the book concludes with several chapters covering JSON, the SOAP extension, and advanced web services topics.

If youre seeking to go beyond the basics, Pro PHP is the book for you.

Customer Reviews (14)

havent read it yet
dear amazon, please stop harassing me to review my purchases. I'll review them when i'm good and ready. thanks. p.s. i love you

Better off on php.net
First of all, by no means am I an expert programmer, but I'm plenty competent enough to concur with another reviewer that you could get better info on the contents contained in this book via Google or php.net.

I bought this book to learn about patterns and frameworks and, having read the book in its entirety hoping to glean some pearls of wisdom, am now left totally disappointed.

Yes, SPL chapter has some interesting tidbits, that's about it.Patterns? Maybe 25 pages max in the entire book.MVC? Outside of Zend, the example MVC provided is a few pages, cursory at best. Obviously I should have read the table of contents and some of the reviews first. I think I'm going to buy O'reilly's Headfirst Design Patterns as that has @300 reviews most them overwhelmingly positive.

Advanced collection of -- tutorials
While Mr. McArthur seems to know what he is talking about, this book doesn't have much substance over the plain documentation you get with PHP and the Zend Framework. If you learn well by watching over somebody's shoulder, with little explanation as to WHY things are bein done the way they are. If you do what this book says, you will create working web applications. But this book will NOT make you a better programmer.

Terrible book
Please, do NOT spend your money on this book. It does not cover any of the topics in good detail.A simple search of each of the topics by google could give more information.

A PHP eye-opener
When I first learnt PHP - I learnt it in less than a day.Serious, I was able to write simple web pages, db operations, AJAX ...I thought I knew PHP.

Until I read this book and I realized that PHP is a very powerful language and needs to be learnt and applied well if you really want to make the most out of the language in your project.

What the book covers:
(1) object oriented patterns : the book discusses object oriented programming and patterns in a simple & lucid manner that anyone can understand.As I read through the book, I worked a couple of samples that came with the book and this made my understanding very clear
(2) Frameworks : The author starts off by writing a new framework - to make you understand how a framework works and why you need it and then goes into Zend framework which is the most popular
(3) Testing, Web Services and lots more :Testing using PHPUnit is very modular and avoids a lot of repetitive testing, the book describes PHPUnit, Web Services in a fair amount of detail

PHP originated as a script and now become a full fledged programming language.If you are still programming in a traditional scripting manner - you are missing something. Give yourself some time with this book and it will change your perspective about PHP.

What the book lacks:
(1) Security: The author should have discussed about PHP security - register globals, file upload security risks ...
(2) Comprehensive project : A comprehensive project to wrap up all the concepts would have been helpful ... Read more

Product Description
If you are new to programming with PHP and MySQL and arelooking for a solid introduction, this is the book for you. Developedby computer science instructors, books in the for the absolutebeginner series teach the principles of programming through simplegame creation. You will acquire the skills that you need for morepractical programming applications and will learn how these skills canbe put to use in real world scenarios. Best of all, by the time youfinish this book you will be able to apply the basic principles you’velearned to the next programming language you tackle. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Not for beginners. Confusing.
This book is not for beginners, and it is absolutely not for "absolute" beginners. It's badly written and jump for one subject to another. It doesn't make sense whatsoever. It introduce tags and codes without any explanation and then they move on to more code using information that was never explained. Don't buy it. Save your money and time.

Save your money, mine is going back!
As always, another book for beginners that makes no sense. If you are like me trying to learn PHP/MySQL it looks like the NET is the way to go. Find tons of tutorials and read them. I only read the first 100+ pages and was not happy. It appears that they DONT KNOW what a beginner is! I'm still looking for a book to get my feet wet, so far I've read the "in easy steps" books from BN, and they were simple to grasp. But not enough.

This has been one of my biggest complaints with books for beginners... Are they really for some one who knows nothing about the subject? Or is it marketing? You make the call. I have complained forever about this! It appears they start out good then lose it, and you are now stuck.

PS This is my first review and I wanted to write it so you can see it really does not help the newbie. Good Luck in your PHP/MySQL learning.

Wonderful for Beginners !
One of the Best books I have ever read ,not only in Computers but in general.The author has brought out the exciting world of PHP/MySQL to a dumbo like me..!!

To put in a nutshell when I finished reading the book I felt that someone who has guided me over is gone !

Needless to say that I strongly recommend this book for beginners..! :)

Good but not great- it has unusable code
This book has been good for several things- teaching basic code, reusing snippets of scripts- but in Chaper 6- Working with Files, I haven't been able to get the code to work. Loading it from the companion CD, it didn't work off the bat. I went online for support and there is NO errata souce for the book which is really frustrating! I finally figured out the first problem in the code, but now I am stuck again. I like to use the book as a reference to work on a problem at hand, so this book isn't one for that. Also, the code that it suppllies should work without any tweaking needed (or tell you what tweaking needs to be done) and this book isn't one for that either. Therefore, I suggest borrowing the book from a friend or the library before purchasing, or buy it used. It is helpful at points, but en errata source would have made this perfect for me. For an example of a great book/resource on PHP and MySQL, see Larry Ullman's PHP & MySQL for Dynamic Web Sites.

Good, but doesn't help much designing the actual page.
Good, but doesn't help much designing the actual page. I was hoping to learn to make the actual design of a page, but its mostly all about scripts. I like how you do get examples though. ... Read more

Product Description

Until recently, building interactive web-based mapping applications has been a cumbersome affair. This changed when Google released its powerful Maps API. Beginning Google Maps Applications with PHP and Ajax was written to help you take advantage of this technology in your own endeavorswhether you're an enthusiast playing for fun or a professional building for profit. This book covers version 2 of the API, including Google's new Geocoding service.

Authors Jeffrey Sambells, Cameron Turner, and Michael Purvis get rolling with examples that require hardly any code at all, but you'll quickly become acquainted with many facets of the Maps API. They demonstrate powerful methods for simultaneously plotting large data sets, creating your own map overlays, and harvesting and geocoding sets of addresses. You'll see how to set up alternative tile sets and where to access imagery to use for them. The authors even show you how to build your own geocoder from scratch, for those high-volume batch jobs.

As well as providing hands-on examples of real mapping projects, this book supplies a complete reference for the Maps API, along with the relevant aspects of JavaScript, CSS, PHP, and SQL. Visit the authors' website for additional tips and advice.

Customer Reviews (11)

Needs improvement
I haven't had a lot of luck with Apress. And this book is no exception. .kmz format inclusion use in chapter 1 not adequately described.
The recommended [...] site is a unusable, can't find Phoenix, Arizona and doesn't explain how to format your lat longs. Code samples are in tar, instead of zip format. Not a show stopper, but another annoyance. And lets face it, there are enough annoyances just learining a new API.

Practical help
This book has a lot of very practical examples. With this book and the API docs you can make just about anything you like. Good, clear code and comments. Get this book if you want to make Google Maps.

Must buy
If you are going to get one book to learn or improve your Google Maps skill, this is the book. This very well organized book introduces you the basics and then moves on some advance staff that you have to learn if you want to develop serious Google Maps application.
You can check out the table of content and sample chapters from its website.
I enjoyed reading it and therefore I highly recommend it for Google Map developers.

From a Web Programing Instructors point of View
Wow and Kool are the first words that come to mind after reading just the Into and Chapter 1.

As a Web Programming Instructor, I am always searching for easy ways to get my students motivated.Page 2 of Chapter 1 shows an XML and XHTML strict - but the code is so straight forward - that you are not in the least intimidated with the strict XHTML.To find something students can relate to that gives a solid example of two abstract things - is great.There is nothing to be intimidated with, the explanations are clear and the web site - give corrections.Each chapter offers a lot fore each level user.

Chapter 1 is fun for a wide range of web skills:Web Development, Digital Photographers, Digital Imaging, and more advanced.

Chapter 2 - gives the JavaScript, XHTML developer's lots of detail on what is going on in the script.Each exercise builds on the previous one, until by the end of the chapter you have a robust program, you can use immediately.

Chapter 3 - adds user input, it begins the discussion of adding to a Database & Ajax.You have a dialog wit the authors of why they did what they did - it's insight to working with a database.The chapters keep getting richer and draw you in.You hate to put it down!

Appendix B has a generous 28 page summary of the important API commands, making learning Google Maps API easier.

I am adding this to my Reference Book list
and it will defiantly be a required reading for Advanced PHP classes.

Jil MacMenamin
http://JilMac.com

Very clear and focused in real solutions
This book is very well written. Very concise, clear and focused in the real world problems and solutions. Following the advices and codes of the book, you will can afford most of your google maps projects knowing exactly what to do, and how to do it. I specially find very interesting the chapter dedicated to how to code a map with multitude of markers. Very clarifying.

Must have-read book if you are working in a Google Maps project. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (5)

Brilliant Book
Coming from a PHP background, this book makes it very simple to understand the Rails mentality and idioms behind the framework and Ruby itself.I really enjoyed the author's style and the way he brings up techniques.The flaw I've found is that there are small editing oversights, such as a variable name mistyped in one spot, but not another.Overall a great book which I highly recommend!

Perfect for PHP Developers
All languages have goals.C - speed.Java - portability. PHP - easy web programming.The goal of Ruby is perfection and elegance (for the programmer), and Rails is a a great framework built upon Ruby.The things Ruby and Rails can do to save you time will constantly have you saying "wow".

I was a PHP programmer for 7 years before reading this book, and I could not be more happy that I read it.Rails is so different than PHP that someone so stuck in the PHP world needs a book like this.

The organization of this book is very nice: first a quick Rails site just so you can see it work. Second a side by side comparison of PHP versus Ruby commands to get you comfortable with the Ruby language.Then the majority of the book is a detailed guide on how to create a Rails site with accounts and meeting postings.The book ends with a what could be described as a PHP to Ruby translation directory.

It is straight forward and gives a side by side comparison of PHP vs. Ruby code any time it is relevant (easing out of showing you PHP as the book progresses).The authors of this book are such good PHP developers, the book will probably improve the way you write PHP (as it did for me).If you are web developer and your job (or hobby) gives you the option of using Rails, buy this book!

Excellent resource for web development
This book is not only an excellent guide to Ruby and Rails for PHP developers, it is, quite simply, an excellent resource on professional web development. It offers insight into how to properly manage a product and customer expectations, from the planning stages to site delivery. I cannot recommend this book enough.

Great For PHP Developers!
Pragmatic has truly become the #1 resource on the market today for great Rails reference books and with 'Rails for PHP Developers' that tradition continues.With ~400 pages of material spread over 13 chapters, you will learn to get Ruby working with PHP and you will find that it's one relationship that is a happy one!

Rails is one of the newest "hot" technologies in the marketplace and it's due to ease of use and rapid deployment.PHP has been a web technology long popular for dynamic content.If you are an existing PHP developer that is looking to add Rails support to your web app, this is a great resource to have by your side. Content is good, and the "all bells no whistles" design serves well for the reader.

Easy to recommend, great to learn from.

***** RECOMMENDED

*The* Rails book to get if you're a PHP developer
This is one of the first practical books to be published that is entirely Rails 2.0 focused, but its real strength is in the terrific, direct comparisons to how to accomplish the same tasks in PHP. By directly linking specific features, functions, and other programmatic process in PHP to Rails, this book lets you learn something new (Rails) by revealing the similarities (and differences) with something you already know (PHP).

The author is clearly an expert PHP programmer, and while you will certainly come away with an appreciation for the elegance and parsimony of Ruby the programming language and Rails the web application framework, the book is by no means "down on PHP." Indeed, I learned a couple of PHP tricks, that let me do a few (simple) Rails-like patterns in PHP.

In all, this is a terrific book, and if you're a PHP developer interested in learning about Rails, this book is *the* way to do it. ... Read more

Product Description
If you are new to programming with PHP 6 and MySQL and are looking for a solid introduction, this is the book for you. Developed by computer science instructors, books in the for the absolute beginner? series teach the principles of programming through simple game creation. You will acquire the skills that you need for more practical programming applications and will learn how these skills can be put to use in real-world scenarios. Everything you need to complete the tutorials is on the companion CD?there?s no software to buy and you can get started right away. By the time you finish thebook you will be able to apply the basic principles you?ve learned to the next programming language you tackle. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Not for Beginners
This book should not have been released yet.It is filled with errors - even beyond the errata sheet.The introduction says "I do not expect you to have any previous programming experience."Then on page 3 is says "make sure you can write solid HTML by hand."Isn't that programming?If I didn't have prior programming experience, I would not even be able to read the book.I tried to follow the examples in the book, but could not, there were three errors in chapter 3 alone.There are so many codes within the programs that are not even explained - this book is not for beginners.I am now purchasing additional books and referring to several different web pages to get through my class.

Good book but not a teacher for a beginner!
I am giving this two stars because this is actually not a good book for beginners but really a book for more intermediate PHP users or those programmers interested in gaming development. It suffers from too much reliance on arcane examples plus a first couple of chapters that really provide more frustration than value to a real beginner.

Chapter one actually does nothing to really help you set up a php server.The book assumes that you know a good deal about local server technology and that you are comfortable setting up a local server on your machine.It assumes that you know the subtleties of how a local host file system works.It also assumes extensive experience in static web page developmentxhtml coding, CSS,etc.

In chapter two the book jumps from being very basic to using some advanced tools as examples.The concepts used require that you spend some extremely careful time reading the provided code used in the examples to understand the relevance of specific functions.The examples are interesting but are not directly applicable to a beginner.

In chapter 3 the book becomes a reasonable teaching tool yet its reliance on dice games as examples makes it somewhat irrelevant for what most users are studying this to do on the web.It does provide the new programmer, and even more experienced ones, with some foundation of how php code works but not in a web related context.It does develop good practices and explains how and why the programming works. It explains very well the differences in control structures, and where one shines over another. It makes arrays accessible but not friendly and provides a basic introduction into MySQL.With very careful study you can probably actually put all of it into practical applications but many times you will be left cold when applying it to more day to day web applications.

My advice is if you already have this book then use it as an auxiliary in conjunction with another book that will give you a more grounded perspective without so detailed reliance on complex game type examples.My personal recommendation is "PHP Visual Quick Start Guide Third Edition" by Larry Ullman. This is a real beginners book that actually teaches and will have you proficient in PHP in no time.

Immaculate Literature
Just the book I was looking for. Great price and fast shipping. What more could you ask for? It even came with the CD/DVD and I've tried using it and it works 100% fine. Thanks!

Newbie beware!
I'll admit, I haven't even made it through the first chapter yet. I have high hopes for this book, but the Amazon description left out one crucial detail: you need to REALLY know your XHTML 1.0 strict before hoping to handle PHP. The book makes this very statement on page 3. That would have been really nice to know before I bought the book, since I don't know the first thing about XHTML. Guess if I'm going to get my money out of this, I'll have to buy a book on XHTML first! >:/ ... Read more

Product Description
Our original Foundation PHP for Flash title was rightly regarded as a must-have title when it came to wanting to learn just how to make your Flash sites make use of backend technologies, that was published way back in the days of Flash 5 and PHP 4, and things move pretty fast in the world of web design!This latest, completely rewritten, edition again brings together three of the web's hottest technologies--Flash, the server-side language PHP, and the MySQL database system. We've brought things bang up to date, using ActionScript 2.0, PHP 5.0, and MySQL 4.1, the book has been designed to be version-neutral. In other words, you can be confident that you're working with the latest standards, but that your applications won't break if deployed on an older server. The book also provides a brief introduction to an alternative database system, SQLite, which is now automatically bundled with PHP 5 and requires no installation.At each stage of the book you'll be given an overview of a new area of PHP/MySQL, introducing you to the syntax while showing how it compares to ActionScript, and how it integrates with Flash to produce increasingly complicated applications. For example, earlier chapters cover things such as getting data from PHP to Flash and back again, variables, arrays, string manipulation, validating user input, and feedback forms. Later on, it moves on to more advanced subjects such as creating databases via the MySQL console and via phpMyAdmin, manipulating database data via a Flash interface, displaying data from an RSS feed in Flash, persisting data with sessions, and creating a full blown content management system.In addition, to get you up and running, the book features a detailed guide to setting up your environment - PHP, MySQL, and the Apache web server - along with extensive troubleshooting information.PHP is the language of choice on nearly 18 million domains, and MySQL has more than five million active users, including industry leaders like Google, the Associated Press, Sony, and NASA. They're open source and free; and with the help of this book, you'll see that they're easy and fun to learn. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

php et flash pour les deux
Vraiment bravo Mister David Powers. Vraiment puissant ce livre. Progressif mais précis, ce livre aborde intelligement la relation entre Flash et PHP pour réaliser des applications robustes et évolutives. Pratiquant l'as2, la mise en parallèle de ces deux langagespermet de progresser dans l'un et dans l'autre.Et puis il y a une introduction à MySQL, bon un très bon investissement pour progresser. Le livre est dans un anglais très simple à comprendre... donc surtout n'hesitez pas!

An excellent book for flash and php developers
I have read and studied a lot of books on web development. So far this is the book where I found how the author explicitly and clearly explained every aspects of details. I should have purchased this book much much earlier. Now my flash and php mysql skills and knowledge had extremely improved. This is the best buy for me and I am now searching for other books by David Powers.

JUST FOR PEOPLE WHO KNOWS PHP BUT NOT FLASH BEGUINERS***READ THIS BEFORE PURCHASING
THE BOOK IS EASY TO FOLLOW BUT THE FLASH DESIGNS HAVE TO BE DOWNLOADED SO COMMONSENCE IS IF YOU DOWNLOAD THE WHOLE THING AND THE BOOK DONT TEACH YOU TO DO IT YOURSELF THEN YOU DINT LEARN ANYTHING,,,, YOU WILL LEARN PHP BUT I ALLREADY KNEW PHP SO I GOT THIS TO LEARN FLASH***THE PHP FOR FLASH PREVIOUST TO THIS IS BETTER SINCE YOU HAVE TO MAKE YOUR OWN FLASH BUTTONS STEP BY STEP SO YOU CAN LEARN, IF ITS TO LEARN FLASH I COULD GIVE A 0 STARS BUT FOR PHP I COULD GIVE 6 STARS OUT OF 5,,,,, ONE LAST THING IM JUST RATING THIS ACCORDING TO FLASH SO I GAVE 1 BECAUSE THE WEBSITE DONT PERMIT ME TO GIVE CERO

Great Overview of PHP and MySQL, with even some gotchas for your ActionScript
I came to this book with a basic knowledge of ASP and Microsoft SQL Server.Using back end technologies with Flash is quite a change from (X)HTML, and this book really helps you get your head around the change in logic needed to effectively use Flash with a back end.

I haven't quite finished the book, but everything I've read so far has been great.Highly recommended.

Everything I was looking for
I'm a Flash developer transitioning into creating RICH applications and decided you use PHP for that technology.I wanted a book that would guide me from the ground up with integrating PHP into Flash.This book did the job!!!!

It showed me step by step how to create my own local Apache and MySQL servers with ease, and clearly explained the configuration woes a newcomer when face.Very impressive!!!

The book then guides you through several examples of using Flash and PHP together.In fact you'll end up with a pretty cool game on HangMan once you're done.
... Read more

Product Description
Offering a step-by-step walk through understanding the three key open source technologies that form the basis for most active web servers, this book demonstrates how to quickly create a professional-looking, functional site using Apache Web server, the MySQL database system, and the PHP scripting language. You’ll take an in-depth look at why the combination of PHP, MySQL, and Apache has become so popular: flawless interaction, flexibility, customization, and cost, as well as their ability to run on both Linux and Windows servers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

This book could have been so much better
If you are easily frustrated or do not enjoy debugging other peoples code, this book is definitely not for you. There are many, many places in this book where you will complete the tutorials and then attempt to execute the code only to find that you are (a) not getting the results the authors say that you should be getting or (b) you are not getting any results at all (except maybe an error message). I was able to work my way through this book by making frequent visits to the Wrox user forum for this title to see what fixes others have come up with for the bad code and by trolling the internet for solutions to some of the problems not discussed in the forum. I also wasted almost a month trying to get the PHP mail function running on my windows machine before giving up and migrating all my files to a unix server.
I don't know who is to blame for all the errors in this book - the authors or the publishers - but there are lots of them, especially in Chapters 13 - 16. Yet I feel like I learned a lot from this book, because I have a hands-on learning style, and if everything worked right the first time, there would be no challenge to the learning process.
This book has some really good tutorials and covers a lot of ground, but it could be a whole lot better if the authors and the publishers would get their heads together and fix some of the errors.

Good And Bad
I will say that this book is good that teach how to build various application like login system, forum, send mail and etc.
but what make me rate this book 3 is

1)It use table in html, even thought this book is not teaching html, but at least use simple/standard css than using table where many tr and td cause confuse.
2)Many grammer error and use wrong word.
3)it dont use php efficiency like this book try to incorporate all php code in one php file.
4)It seem like focus on php 5 instead of php6, well maybe i wrong in this.

Best book for real applications
If you are looking for a book that gives you real world applications this is it. However, this book does not go through every little detail and then say make an application. It actually gives you an application then goes into how it works. So if you are a person that likes to learn everything upfront and then tries to make applications from what you have learned then this book might not be for you. But, if you are like me and like to see how these applications are built and learn from "reverse engineering" then this is for you. I have yet to have a problem with the code; however, I do agree with others that it is a must, when learning a new language, to draw from more than one book as a learning tool.

Good book but small imperfections in code
First, I want to say I received this book as a gift so I can't complain too much. Second, I am new to PHP/MYSQL coding and this book has taught me a lot. The only problem I have with the book is that some of the code they use has errors or small imperfections. For example, in chapter 6 the book shows you how to write or edit to a database. The code is all written for you so basically all you have to do is copy/paste the code into your editor of your choice.
I use Dreamweaver and I like to type the code myself, so I can understand how it works.

After finishing and bringing the page up with Apache I noticed that the drop down lists, that connect to the database and let you choose the lead actors and directors displayed them in doubles. The actors and directors are placed in the same table, which has a total of eight values. The code was reading all the actors but it was counting the director's spots and placing the actor's names in the places again. I have tried everything to figure out how to get the extra names off the list but nothing worked. I checked the code over and over but everything looked good.
I even thought they meant to do this on purpose, to show an example. But that wasn't the case either.

There are many small examples like this through out the book. In a way, it's a good thing because it forces the reader to debug the code or improve on it. It also can be annoying. Either way, the book gives a lot of information but read additional PHP/MYSQL books because as I found out, everyone codes differently.

Frustration
The details of the chapter on utilizing PHP and an email server was vague and I didnt find that as a beginner I would be able to figure it out without looking up additional resources.I bought this resource to answer my questions and this peticular chapter caused confusion.

I am rating the book at one star because its not a minor flaw its an entire chapter rendered useless. ... Read more

Product Description

PHP 5 Recipes: A Problem-Solution Approach supplies you with complete code for all of the common coding problems you are likely to face when using PHP in your day-to-day work. The book begins with an in-depth discussion of PHP 5 object-oriented techniques and methodology, and gets you up to speed on OOP with PHP: where and where not to use it, and how to use it.

This invaluable guide includes over 200 recipes and covers numerous topics: math, arrays, automation, security, graphics, regular expressions, web basics, HTML forms, database access, date and time, variables and functions, and internationalization and localization. Help yourself achieve a winning edge with this one-of-a-kind cookbook.

Customer Reviews (9)

Not bad from what I've seen
Instead of reading this book from front to back I read the sections as needed.PHP isn't the only language I dabble in so I haven't had many opportunities to go through the book but the sections I have read are very well written, informative and easy to read.

I would say this book could be utilized by a novice or experienced PHP programmer.The author covers topics starting advanced enough not to bore the hell out of the experienced and thorough enough not to loose the novice.

Very pleased with this book
I'm a bit of a novice PHP programmer still, and I found this book accessible and useful. The scripts are well commented, well explained, I have found them to be secure thus far (I have limited knowledge here but they seem to adhere to best practices), and I can find what I want quickly. When they have special needs like JavaScript or something, they explain why afterward.Each script also has a "How It Works" section afterward. Before each script, they have intro paragraphs saying what is needed in order for it to work, such as a pre-created directory or something.

I can recommend this book to other PHP programmers at the novice/beginner level as well as the more advanced levels.

Excellent
Generally, I'm not a big fan of cookbooks (for programming!) but this one is really good. A great reference to have as you are coding and think "oh... how do i do X again?" or just to read and review. Another use - give a copy to your friends who STILL are writing PHP 4 code!

Extremely useful, well written, and very few errors
I highly recommend this book.It covers all aspects of PHP 5, including OOP, without getting bogged down.Though this book consists of contributions from four authors, it comes together as one smooth read.Its full of examples and hits its mark very effectively.It makes a great companion to the Zend PHP 5 Certification Guide.Well done!!

Excellent Book for new and experienced PHP programmers
I normally don't write reviews unless I had a bad experience.However, in this case, the PHP 5 Recipes book is an exception!I love this book!The examples are CORRECT!! The information I need is very well organized - I really love the way that the book was organized!I wish all of my tech books for other languages were arranged in this problem-solution manner.The information you need to build a robust and well organized and valid website is here in the book!I definitely highly recommend that you get THIS book if you are thinking about doing some php work.The php code they have is on the mark!The authors included more than I needed by including a section on XML/XSLT with PHP.Definitely get this book! ... Read more