Product Description

Build Dynamic, Database–Driven Web Sites

PHP is a fully developed, server–side embedded scripting language, and its importance for web application development has grown with the rise of the Apache web server. Are you a novice programmer? This book starts with the basics and takes you wherever you want to go. A seasoned pro? You′ll be amazed at how much you can capitalize on PHP′s power and object–oriented support, and how it leverages your knowledge of other languages. Finally, if you′re a PHP user in search of an authoritative reference, you need look no further. Mastering PHP 4.1 guides you through all levels of real–world web programming problems and provides expert advice on which solutions work best.

Coverage Includes:

• Reading and writing files
• Validating data with regular expressions
• Accessing MySQL and PostgreSQL databases
• Accessing LDAP servers
• Generating images and PDF documents on the fly
• Building authentication and access–control systems
• Sending e–mail and building web–to–e–mail interfaces
• Creating your own classes
• Closing common security holes in PHP scripts
• Parsing and generating XML documents
• Using sessions to store persistent data
• Debugging misbehaving scripts
• Encrypting and decrypting sensitive data

Note: CD–ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #641941 in Books
• Published on: 2002-04-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 800 pages

From the Back Cover
Build Dynamic, Database–Driven Web Sites

PHP is a fully developed, server–side embedded scripting language, and its importance for web application development has grown with the rise of the Apache web server. Are you a novice programmer? This book starts with the basics and takes you wherever you want to go. A seasoned pro? You’ll be amazed at how much you can capitalize on PHP’s power and object–oriented support, and how it leverages your knowledge of other languages. Finally, if you’re a PHP user in search of an authoritative reference, you need look no further. Mastering PHP 4.1 guides you through all levels of real–world web programming problems and provides expert advice on which solutions work best.

Coverage Includes:

• Reading and writing files
• Validating data with regular expressions
• Accessing MySQL and PostgreSQL databases
• Accessing LDAP servers
• Generating images and PDF documents on the fly
• Building authentication and access–control systems
• Sending e–mail and building web–to–e–mail interfaces
• Creating your own classes
• Closing common security holes in PHP scripts
• Parsing and generating XML documents
• Using sessions to store persistent data
• Debugging misbehaving scripts
• Encrypting and decrypting sensitive data

About the Author
Jeremy Allen is an application developer for elliptIQ Inc. in Atlanta. He has been developing software, ranging from multiuser games to corporate intranets, for six years and has been creating programs in PHP since 1997. His wide variety of web applications ranges from content management systems to insurance apps.

Charles Hornberger is a software developer and writer living in Los Angeles. He has been using PHP since 1997 to build online stores, corporate intranets, web news sites, and meta–search engines. He is also a senior software developer for the web development and hosting company Nothing Special Network Services (www.nothingspecial.com).

Customer Reviews

A Must Have For Beginners...
I had been tinkering with PHP on and off and had found some useful websites for helping me work through my PHP problems. However... as always... it is sometimes easier to have a reference by your side. What a reference this is.

It is pricey, but these kind of books tend to be. Is it worth the money? For me, it repaid itself within two weeks. The book is well written and easy to understand. The examples were great real world examples of how PHP could enhance your website. The problems I had with my site were easily resolved by working through the book.

Typically, I use these kind of books as a reference. This time, though, I actually got to read this book as if it were a novel. I felt compelled to read it from start to finish and have subsequently found other techniques which have been included in my site.

If you are serious about learning PHP... this is a must-have.

Excellent introduction to PHP
I did some PHP about a year ago and at the time I bought the Wrox Beginning PHP book, which at the time I found OK. I now have to do a lot more PHP and went back to the Wrox book to brush up on the language - but with the benefit of a little experience, I found it difficult to read and inconsistent (it has 5+ authors).

I decided to get another PHP book and ended up with this - which is excellent. Like one of the other reviewers, I have been making my way through it as if it were a novel; the PHP examples are good and the writing style is easy to follow without being too serious - or too jokey. I haven't finished yet but have already found good coverage of auxiliary topics such as Database design, regular expressions and XML too. The layout and format of the book is also good - which IMHO makes a big difference to the readability.

I would give it 5 stars, but I'm holding one back because the synopsis on the cover implies that it's suitable for novice programmers, which I don't agree with. It's excellent introduction to PHP, but I feel that it does make assumptions and readers who've never done any programming would get left behind (Other reviewers feel free to disagree with me!)

I've you've done any kind programming before but are new to PHP, I recommend this 100%. If you are totally new to programming, get a (cheaper) more basic PHP book that spends a bit longer on basic programming skills and get this when you've finished it.

Mastering PHP
I'm sort of new to PHP and because web-based tutorails are rather unclear I thought I'd purchase a book. The 'Mastering PHP 4.1' book is VERY helpfull for beginners. It give real-world examples that are commonly used and explains every bit of detail about the code. The book is accompanied by a CD which has all the examples in the book on it for convenient use. This book also works as a very good reference for experts. Although I suppose it's price is rather high, it's well worth the money.