Books for/about - php

PHP and MySQL Web Development (3rd Edition) (Developer's Library)

Publisher: Sams
Authors: Luke Welling Laura Thomson

ISBN: 0672326728
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Summary: Peter Henrik Stæhr Albrekt
So far it has been an efficient learning tool. This book is clearly written by authors who deal with teaching and learning strategies. Details are thoroughly explained and you are carefully lead from one step to the next.

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

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

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Programming PHP

Publisher: O'Reilly Media
Authors: Kevin Tatroe Rasmus Lerdorf Peter MacIntyre

ISBN: 0596006810
List Price: $39.99
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Summary: Better - What you would expect from a 2nd edition
Spent an hour examining this 2nd edition. I've also spent some time reading the reviews of the 1st edition and you are right on the money, Nathan Torkington. Many of the reviews show that the reviwer did not take much time or care going thru the book. When you've got the kind of talent and writing experience shared by the two authors, you have got to be one doozy of a PHP person to find the kind of faults some reviewers report. O'Reiily does a great job of maintaining an ERRATA page for each of their books. You never made a typo, guys ? In general this is a nice cleanup of the book. Very good for starters & intermediates.
And thank you to David Wall, who says it all: "The authors use a Talmudic (JBC adds:For readers not familiar with the TALMUD, check out Wikipedia)style to explore PHP's capabilities and explain them to their readers, meaning that they like to present code and commentary in close formation, with each enhancing the other. Typically, they'll present a capability generically and show the relevant code. Then they'll dig into variations on the theme, calling attention to required code alterations as they go. This is a book about PHP itself, so practically no attention is paid to PHP Builder or other development tools. Regardless, this book will help you solve programming challenges with PHP, and enable you to write efficient, attractive code."

Summary: nice book
Like many people I know, I have to use multiple programming languages, and php happens to be one of them. Programming PHP is a great book for PHP speakers and the excellent php function reference in appendix A is really adequate value for the book.

Take heart, you can do without the book, if you don't already own a copy, but owning a copy is also a great way to support the community, so go get on.

Summary: Lack of Examples
This book lacks examples. It describes a function in English words but rarely gives an example of how to invoke it. If you're trying to do File I/O this book is NOT for you.

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	Mastering Regular Expressions, Second Edition Publisher: O'Reilly Media Authors: Jeffrey E F Friedl
ISBN: 0596002890 List Price: $39.95 Amazon Price: $25.17 Usually ships in 24 hours Buy this book from amazon.com or from amazon.co.uk	Avg Cusomer Rating: 4 Reviews: Summary: Deep study of a deep subject Regular Expressions are a powerful pattern matching process built into many programming languages (but often hidden and not fully exploited). If you are verifying input from a form or analyzing an HTML page or engaged in any other sort of pattern matching, Regular Expressions are something you should master. The problems addressed by this book are (a) regex is poorly documented in general and (b) it has grown up ad hoc: every language's implementation is different from every other, sometimes very different. The book does a good job of documentation and explanation in the early chapters. But in the later chapters it falls prey to the problem it is trying to solve. If you use Perl or Java or VB.NET, then this book gives a lot of very important information not easily found elsewhere. On the other hand, if you use PHP, MySQL or JavaScript (as I do) you have to look elsewhere for the advanced topics. Summary: No summary or synopsis, only good for thorough detail. Get the small pocket reference guide instead of this book! It is difficult to find what you want if you don't know exactly what you are looking for. I admit it covers the subject very well, but if you don't know Regular Expressions thoroughly, you have to read every word of the book or look forever to find what you want. Just buy the pocket reference guide and go to the library once a year when you need this thing. Summary: The regex bible The only book to explain regular expression in a clear and exhaustive manner, covering differences between the most important programming language in which regex are used. A "must have". Summary:

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PHP and MySQL for Dynamic Web Sites: Visual QuickPro Guide (2nd Edition) (Visual Quickpro Guide)

Publisher: Peachpit Press
Authors: Larry Ullman

ISBN: 0321336577
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Summary: Larry Ullman may well be the most patient man on Earth
First off, I'm an outright dullard when it comes to coding. Let's be clear about that. But I'm smart enough to know a good thing when I find one. This book is just such a thing. Not just because of what's inside the book, which is excellent. And that it's well-written and easy enough for a simpleton such as myself to follow. But also because there is a companion web site to the book with a forum that the author moderates himself. The author doesn't know me from Adam (scout's honor), but he's spent the past three days walking me through a snag I encountered while installing MySQL and PHP on my computer. I am truly humbled by how generous the author has been with his time. And how well he explains things. These are all abundantly clear in the book. It's just surprising that he's so committed to making sure his readers understand the material he covers that he would also devote so much time to fielding questions from the book's forum. I've purchased many Visual Quickpro Books over the years; there isn't a finer one on its respective subject than this. In my opinion that is. And I'm just a dullard. Don't be one too. If you're new coding dynamic websites, buying this book would be a smart first step.

Summary: The best start to learn PHPand MYSQL
PHP and MYSQL for dynamic websites for Larry Ullman is another member of Visual Quick Pro Guide series that gives you a fast efficient way to learn. The book covers PHP 5 and MYSQL 4.1 for beginners, intermediate and advanced users.
The introduction of the book gives you a fast definition for some important terminology about dynamic websites, what is PHP, why use PHP, how it works and what is MYSQL.
The first chapter is an introduction to PHP language, the basic Syntax, sending data to browser, writing comments, variables, strings, numbers, constants and quotation marks.
The second chapter covers the programming with PHP such as creating forms and validating forms data. The next chapter covers dynamic websites.
Chapter 4 and 5 covers SQL and MYSQL. And using PHP with MYSQL is covered in chapter 7.
The following chapters covers different related issues such as web application developing, cookies, sessions, security, CMS example and ecommerce example.
The book is good start for beginner to learn web developing with PHP and SQL.

Summary: Excellent guide to using PHP and MySQL
This book has a ton of practical tips and examples for the real-world usage of PHP and MySQL. It is not the book to get for a basic introduction to the languages, or for an in-depth tour of esoteric constructions. Where it excels is its coverage of a broad range of issues relating to installation, layout and security of your website; database design, layout and manipulation; and lots of particular examples of PHP to solve intermediate-complexity problems. For one small example, every security cheat-sheet says you should strip_tags when processing most form inputs, but how many discuss the problem of making sure the data really came from your own form, not someone else's?

The examples are not just a grab-bag of esoterica, like the "<Stuff> Cookbook" series. They build up as solutions to problems which arise in the course of implementing the usual examples (shopping cart, CMS, etc.). The real "value-added" is that Ullman goes beyond the basics necessary to get a minimal example running. He then goes into the practical follow-on problems that most books never mention.

Minor quibbles:
(A) It uses two-column layout. This makes some of the code nearly unreadable, as the listing comes out almost vertical.
(B) There does not appear to be a companion website of the code.

I have a shelf of PHP and MySQL books, sorted from "shouldn't have bought" to "check first". This one goes directly into the check-first end! Considering the time and frustration saved, it's worth far more than the price.

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Web Database Applications with PHP & MySQL, 2nd Edition

Publisher: O'Reilly Media
Authors: Hugh E. Williams David Lane

ISBN: 0596005431
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Summary: Disappointingly poor index
I'm new to PHP and MySQL, but a programmer for over 3 decades. I'm customizing some PHP code, using code examples for ideas. When I (a) see something I want to understand better or (b) want to find the PHP analog for basic functions, I naturally turn to the index to try to find the information I need. However, I found the index very disappointing because of what it doesn't have. For example, simple and basic keywords are not in the index: "comment", "logical operator", "and", "or", etc. I'm going to have order a different book as a PHP reference.

Summary: The best starting point to php and mysql
I bought this book with the hope I could learn just enought to get me started with web application development. I only had little programming experience at that time, I I didn't even have any experience with databases. Well. This book was the perfect introduction to web applications. From security to authentication, from php basics to multi-table join sql queries, this book got me into this world, and I appreciate it so much because I am working now in web development, thanks to what I learned from here.

Altough this book is not for the absolute beginner, it teaches you just what you need to know to get you started, and even more. It lacks some subjects, like caching, or some advanced php 5 language constructs. Its focus is in real world development, without too much emphasis in application design or php/mysql internals. It teaches you just what you really need to know, and it teaches you that extremely well. You will learn php, from its basic syntax and usage, to object oriented programming basics. Then the book takes you to mysql, with a great introduction to sql, and how to use mysql from php. The following chapters deal with typical database concepts you must grasp, like concurrency issues and even performance tunning. It doesn't get too deep in php as a language, rather it focuses on php and mysql interaction, with an eye towards constructing a real world web application (which finally gets its parts joined in the final chapter).

Things I dislike are its use of templating systems over many chapters. That was not a subject I was interested in. Althought a serious php developer can't simply ignore this topic, it is not crucial in understanding the fundamentals, and it, in turn, adds a source of difficulty to the examples from chapter 7 on. Other thing I didn't like was the development of a complete application that I didn't have time to study, altough fortunately I managed to ignore it as much as I can, without losing too much.

In summary, I love this book, it is not perfect, but it's just what I needed and I give it 5 stars because it is a really well written and focused book.

Summary: Excellent Introduction Book & Reference
This book is an excellent introduction to PHP, MySQL, and the interaction of the two. It has a few chapters introducing PHP, then a few introducing MySQL, and then walks through the steps necessary to build a functioning dynamic website. They also include an elaborate and detailed case study of a Winestore application the author's developed.

Whenever somebody tells me they are interested in PHP and web programming, this is the book I tell them to get. Many friends have borrowed my copy since I got it.

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	Beginning PHP and MySQL 5: From Novice to Professional, Second Edition Publisher: Apress Authors: W. Jason Gilmore
ISBN: 1590595521 List Price: $44.99 Amazon Price: $28.34 Usually ships in 24 hours Buy this book from amazon.com or from amazon.co.uk	Avg Cusomer Rating: 5 Reviews: Summary: Great bit of technical writing. Very useful I think everyone knows that computer language books usually lean towards one of two extremes; either 1) the author cuts-and-pastes his doctoral thesis into Adobe, leaving everyone more confused than if they hadn't read the book at all, or 2) the book is apparently geared towards six-year-olds and the elderly, leaving you with 3 useful pages out of 800. (Also the books that somehow do both by covering basic variables on page 3, and polymorphing classes on page 5). This book really does a good job of finding the middle ground. The content is extremely useful and it's well organized. The transitions between sections have a gentle slope, so you can read the book front-to-back, or pick out specific chapters without feeling lost (This will definitely be a reference book for me.) It's also written with personality, making it (I'm embarrassed to admit) decent late-night reading for the technically obsessed. When I was researching the book for myself, I noticed some people commented that this book was too advanced to be called a beginner book. I agree with that, but only if you don't have any previous experience with programming in general. If this is your first time writing code, you should look for a general programming book first (but THEN get this one), but if you have any kind of programming experience, this book is a no-brainer! Summary: Not a good beginning book I really don't get the high praise for this book; other than the fact that most of the reviewers have programming experience already. I really think that book is way overated and, despite the claims of the title, is not suited for the beginner or the novice. This book includes example code snipets about the use of individual functions, but does not have larger projects or exercices demonstrating how to bring things together. Once I realized this, I thought, "well at least I can use it as a reference." And it does succeed at this to some extent. However, even in this capacity it seems a little shollow. Further, one gets the impression that it is basically a rewording of the existing documentation that is already available with PHP and MySQL. To give just one example of all the above... Chapter 2 talks about configuration options in the php.ini file - PHP basics aren't even covered until Chapter3. Anyhow, let me open randomly to one of the excepts from the book and compare it to the .ini file: ----------- register_long_arrays(On, Off) Scope: PHP_INI_SYSTEM; Default value: off This directive determines whether to continue registering the various input arrays (ENVIRONMENT, GET, POST, COOKIE, SYSTEM) using the deprecated syntax, such as HTTP__VARS. Disabling this directive is recommended for performance reasons. ----------- And a cut and paste from the .ini: Whether or not to register the old-style input arrays, HTTP_GET_VARS and friends. If you're not using them, it's recommended to turn them off,for performance reasons. register_long_arrays = On ----------- Again, at this pointt in the book (Chap2) a beginner/novice is still coming to grips with PHP basics (Chap3), let alone Arrays (Chap 5). Even after which, this is cryptic at best. How is this remotely geared towards either the 'beginner' or the 'novice'?! I could go on and on with examples from all parts of the book. The sections on MySQL and the integration between it and PHP is thick, but lite. I consider this book mainly a rehash of the vendor documentation and lacking in real tutorials that are often crutial for novices to learn new skills. And, again, i think that the the book is completely mistitled. Normally, I really like the Apress books; however, in this case I am benefiting much more from Wrox and Sams. I might have given it a 3... but so many others scored it to high - even those who remarked on some of the same things. -My 2 cents Summary:* Great! Jason wrote this book with the idea in mind of the real developer. By covering subjects such as security and alternative methods where it is needed and recommended, true applications can be developed using PHP and MySQL. Summary:

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Pro PHP Security (Pro)

Publisher: Apress
Authors: Chris Snyder Michael Southwell

ISBN: 1590595084
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Summary: Unless you're already well-versed in the topic ...
Unless you're already very well-versed in the subject matter, ( sql injection, cross-site scripting, session hijacking, remote execution, sanitizing user data/input, ssh, encryption, ssl, dangers of shared-host scenarios, bulletproofing db installations, user verification, captchas, remote procedure calls ) this material is relatively comprehensive and valuable. Well-organized, well thought out, I won't hesitate to recommend this one.

Summary: Finally a good book on PHP security issues
PHP applications written without a concern for security risk cross-site scripting, SQL injection, session hijacking, and a multitude of other potential problems. This book examines how to setup a secure environment including encryption, hashing, SSL and using PHP to connect to SSL servers. The authors also examine how to install and configure OpenSSH and using it with PHP applications. Of course they also deal with the usual concerns of user authentication, permissions, restrictions, validating input, preventing SQL injection, preventing cross-site scripting, preventing remote execution (including PHP code injection and embedding), security for temporary files, and preventing session hijacking. The Pro PHP Security is written specifically for PHP programmers working in the Apache, MySQL, and PHP 5 environment and is highly recommended

Summary: Good information with lots of links to addtional resources
This book is great because it's thorough and on each topic it gives lots of links to additional resources. It's easy to read and it's organized well so you can find what you're looking for.

One of the main things I appreciate about this book is that it gives just the right amount of information. It focuses on practical usage of security techniques but I also like to know the high-level picture of how and why things got to be the way they are. This book tells me exactly what I want to know. A good example is the the section on hashing and encryption. It gives some simplified examples of how the algorithms work and talks about where they came from, which ones are better and why, and how to use them. But it doesn't dive too deeply into encryption theory which would only be interesting to someone wanting to code an encryption routine.

Some of the interesting things I learned from this book are:

1) I learned about the various hashing and encryption algorithms. Which ones are good and just how good are they. Before reading this book I couldn't have told you which is better between md5 and sha1.

2) I learned all about protecting against cross-site scripting and sql injection. I thought I had already taken enough precautions on my latest website, MarsBookmark.com, but this section pointed out some attacks I wasn't aware of. It also had links to sites with sample hack attacks you can run against your own website to see if it's vulnerable.

3) I learned how to do captcha screening to make sure people registering for my site are real humans and not robots (I haven't actually implemented this yet but I will soon). The book also pointed out something I never thought of - a hacker with a popular site can proxy registrations from your site to real people trying to register on his site and defeat your captcha by tricking people who think they are answering a captcha for his site. As usual, the author provides lots of links to other sites for more resources on captcha.

I've never before focused on security as much as I should have. Probably because all the information was not readily available in a single easy-to-digest book until this one. I'm really glad I found this book.

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MySQL Cookbook

Publisher: O'Reilly Media
Authors: Paul DuBois

ISBN: 0596001452
List Price: $49.95
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Summary: MySQL For Applications Server
Excellent text well written and logical sequencing of chapters.

Very good for students in their second or third semester of RDBMS studies.

I do not recomend for beginning relational databse students.

Summary: Solves a lot of problems! (That's how it's organized)
I had a recent perl+mysql project and flipped between the Cookbook and the author's other work, MySQL, mentioned in other reviews. ( also referred to the O'Reilly Perl books _Programming Perl_ and _Perl for System Administration_. I don't usually have time to master any topic or skillset; I need to get in, get it going, and move on. This book is perfect for that. "How do I get the date?" There's a recipe for that. "How do I get perl to connect to the database and insert stuff?" There's a recipe. Also for PHP, python, etc. It's really focused on problem solving, and the problems are really well chosen. This book will save you hours of effort.

Summary: Lucky Me!
I am a big fan of hands-on books. I especially like the `From Scratch` and `Cookbook` type titles.

Well, lucky me. When I attended the 2005 MySQL Users Conference in Santa Clara CA in April '05, I received the "MySQL Cookbook" by Paul DuBois as a reward for early registration.

The day after I returned back to work from the conference, one of my co-workers came looking for some guidance in regards to a MySQL database issue he was having. His description sounded familiar to one of the recipes I skimmed in the cookbook. Sure enough, I found the resolution within two minutes, and had sent
another satisfied customer on his way.

The great aspect of this book is that it is written to provide solutions to over 315 real-world problems. Whenever I come up against an obstacle in regards to MySQL, I head straight to the table of contents and scan for a recipe that looks like it might be a match.

One topic I wish was covered somewhere in this text is the concept of derived tables, which are basically sub-queries used as tables in a join.

(...)
The "MySQL Cookbook" and "MySQL in a Nutshell" books are permanent fixtures in my office ... except for when my co-workers borrow them.

-Brett Berry
PERL/PHP/JavaScript/MySQL
(...)

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