Product Description

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

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #376058 in Books
• Published on: 2004-05-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 1080 pages

From the Back Cover
If PHP5 and MySQL can do it, you can do it too...

PHP and MySQL form a powerful team, and if you have some fluency with HTML, this comprehensive guide will have you creating database–backed, PHP–driven Web sites in no time. Along with the new features of PHP5, you’ll learn to install, administer, and use MySQL 4.0 in database design. From getting started with PHP to connecting HTML Web pages to MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Oracle®, you’ll find what you need to take advantage of all this dynamic duo has to offer.

Inside, you’ll find complete coverage of PHP5 and MySQL

• Resolve common "gotchas" with a series of symptom/diagnosis/fix patterns
• Discover how to use PHP with Oracle and PostgreSQL as well as MySQL
• Integrate PHP with Java™, JavaScript™, and XML
• Use PHP to embed code fragments in normal HTML pages
• Find out how the new PHP5 parser supports genuine exception handling and a more complete object model
• Understand Zend Engine 2 and the new object model, with support for private/protected members, abstract classes, and interfaces
• Install MySQL and learn to administer it successfully, including backups, replication, and recovery
• Write MySQL–backed PHP applications
• Learn from case studies how to design and implement a Weblog, a user identification system, and other applications

About the Author
Tim Converse has written software to recommend neckties, answer questions about space stations, pick value stocks, and make simulated breakfast. He has an M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Chicago, where he taught several programming classes. He is now an engineering manager in the Web search group at Yahoo!.

Joyce Park has an M.A. in history from the University of Chicago, and has worked for several Silicon Valley startups including Epinions, KnowNow, and Friendster. She is a co–lead of the Mod–pubsub Open Source project.

Clark Morgan is a Web application and educational software developer with more than five years’ experience writing PHP. He works primarily with medical clients and related businesses. Originally from Boston, he now lives and works in Jacksonville, Florida, with his wife and two children. Clark spends entirely too much of his free time reading other people’s computer books.

Customer Reviews

Great Starting Point
Purchased this book as a starting point for learning PHP and MySQL.

I've learnt other languages (some albeit unsuccessfully!), and have bought plenty of material to try and aid my learning to some degree. I turned to PHP and MySQL for my final year project at uni, and wanted an 'all in one' book which will make sense to me from the beginning.

This book has been everything i've wanted it to be. Its given me a full briefing of the languages and where they came from, how they interact, how they compare to ASP, JScript, Oracle etc. If you want to learn these two languages in a clear and concise way, this is the book for you. I've read 'Sam's Teach Yourself PHP in 24 hours', and it didn't have half as much information or help as this does.

If you're in two minds bout this book, get it on this recommendation. You will not be disappointed.

Beginners guide.. NOT a bible.
This big chunk of a book has some very in-depth texts about PHP covering practically all areas of it's use, unfortunately, I was mislead about the MySQL part and on the back of the book where it says "in-depth" unfortunately this isn't so, infact, the only real information you're going to get from the book regarding SQL is basic "joke of the day" databases and doesn't even cover important areas like stored procedures, infact it has a paragraph saying you should look into stored procedures to speed up database access, I assume this to mean buy another book. Rule of thumb here is look to Addison Wesley books before even contemplating any other books, especially the bible series otherwise you will be disappointed when important features are left out, so the PHP side gets four stars but the book is dragged down by the lack of SQL information.

Indepth but Lacks something
First of I would like to say this is a great book and covers ALMOST everything for PHP. However it lacks something and that is continuity. Right from the start the book throughs are you extremely complex examples even for the form handling stuff. Which shows you how to make a newsletter manager.

This is not ideal for a beginner. I suggest you get other books, and use this to expand on points.

It does give you case studys at the end, but I do not feel they are explained enough. Buy other books, and if PHP still interests you get this. Otherwise leave it, you are not going to build interest by reading this book due to it being too complex.