Product Description

Build Your Own Database-Driven Website Using PHP & MySQL is
a practical guide for first-time users of PHP & MySQL that
teaches readers by creating a fully working Content
Management System, Shopping Cart and other real-world
applications. There has been a marked increase in the
adoption of PHP, most notably in the beginning to
intermediate levels. PHP now boasts over 30% of the server
side scripting market (Source: php.weblogs.com).

The previous edition sold over 17,000 copies exclusively
through Sitepoint.com alone. With the release of PHP 5,
SitePoint have updated this bestseller to reflect best
practice web development using PHP 5 and MySQL 4.

The 3rd Edition includes more code examples and also a new
bonus chapter on structured PHP Programming which introduces
techniques for organizing real world PHP applications to
avoid code duplication and ensure code is manageable and
maintainable. The chapter introduces features like include
files, user-defined function libraries and constants, which
are combined to produce a fully functional access control
system suitable for use on any PHP Website.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #36324 in Books
• Published on: 2004-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 373 pages

Synopsis
Build Your Own Database-Driven Website Using PHP & MySQL is a practical guide for first-time users of PHP & MySQL that teaches readers by creating a fully working Content Management System, Shopping Cart and other real-world applications. There has been a marked increase in the adoption of PHP, most notably in the beginning to intermediate levels. PHP now boasts over 30% of the server side scripting market (Source: php.weblogs.com). The previous edition sold over 17,000 copies exclusively through Sitepoint.com alone. With the release of PHP 5, SitePoint have updated this bestseller to reflect best practice web development using PHP 5 and MySQL 4. The 3rd Edition includes more code examples and also a new bonus chapter on structured PHP Programming which introduces techniques for organizing real world PHP applications to avoid code duplication and ensure code is manageable and maintainable. The chapter introduces features like include files, user-defined function libraries and constants, which are combined to produce a fully functional access control system suitable for use on any PHP Website.

Customer Reviews

Great for an absolute beginner, but not cutting edge enough for novices
This is the second book I bought on the topic, after Beginning PHP and MySQL: From Novice to Professional, Third Edition: From Novice to Professional (Beginning from Novice to Professional).

I'm an established novice in Object-Oriented programming in Java as well as PHP and MySQL. I bought this book because I specifically wanted to learn how to apply my knowledge to make a "content management system" with PHP and MySQL, as this book promises. Whilst it accomplishes this, I'd say the methods used are slightly outdated, Web 1.0 methods and ideas.

Yes, it certainly gets the job done and I cannot recommend this book highly enough to absolute beginners in the subject who want to make something very simple (such as a guestbook for their site, or a directory for a company intranet), however if you are like me and were looking for something that involves cutting edge Web 2.0 with AJAX, using Zend Framework and Smarty, then I'd go for something a little bit different.

To summarise:- If you're a beginner and have never tried using PHP and MySQL before, then this is definitely for you, you won't be disappointed. You can use this book as a foundation and then move onto something else.

However, if you're like me and looking to create something that utilises cutting edge Web 2.0 technologies and ideas, I'd probably look elsewhere.

Happy coding :-)

Great PHP study guide!!
This book is ideal for those who really want to get right in programming in PHP and MySQL. This really helped me during my dissertation project!! A great reference point for PHP..what there to lose go for it!!

Not For Beginners
I have a steadily growing library of 'Sitepoint' books which have so far taught me the basics of html and css. Having had good experiences in the past with 'Sitepoint', I decided to give this a try without hesitation.

It went ok for the first 3 chapters, then the terminology and increasingly fast pace of the book threw me for a loop. I got a grasp of the very basic principles of php from the first parts of chapter's 3 and 4, but after that the book dives into a world of techno-jargon and the author moves from one thing to the next at an alarmingly fast pace. Chapter 6 doesn't even include the completed source code at the end for you to review, as the author feels you should have a good enough grasp of the language to complete it yourself. I ended up having to download the source code from the internet and copy and paste that page into my project folder just to continue on to chapter 7, and that's on the 3RD edition book! After this, it just gets worse, as the author switches between various projects to show different examples for more complex websites, losing the reader for good. This book should be for the intermediate level, however, the first seven chapters of the book should be known to that level of user already, rendering the book useless to them anyway. I am now learning from what my brother tells me and from examples on the internet (which is how HE learnt everything in the first place! It does not cost me a thing and actually make's sense.

Perhaps the book will make sense to some, however I strongly recommend against purchasing it, the book is only 350 odd pages anyway and covers two subjects, which should indicate the very steep learning curve the author sets for the reader.

Very, very disappointing, especially for 'Sitepoint'.