5 comments about Professional Search Engine Optimization with PHP: A Developer's Guide to SEO.

1. I've read through this book from first to last page in a hope of finding any valuable information and must say, that most of what the book suggests is of no value to any professional in field. It's begins with some general giberrish about SEO, which is of no real value and can be collected over the web within hour. Then follow some worn out URI rewriting recipes, which I would be ashamed of offering as an solution to any of my clients and call them "SEO". Then ending chapters again are some general giberish, not a dime better that what can be found on web for free.
   
   If the title read "Beginning SEO with PHP", that would be somehow acceptable and the content would be OK, but there is nothing "Professional" in this book.
   
   Firstly, going with PHP4 for your examples in 2007 is a little bit um... "anachronous".
   
   Secondly, eg. the "Custom markup language" the authors introduce in chapter 6 is something, I'd expect from schoolkids but not from somebody who does not hesitate to call his product professional. It's not only terribly half baked and a promissing maintenance nightmare, but it also takes up so much space in the book, that authors could be able to introduce some basic techniques of XML parsing in PHP and explain it's advantages over the ugliness they have provided the reades with. That section among other things gives me clear picture of the "professionality" of the book.
   
   Chapter 7 + 8 - again using PHP4 object model - c'mon, we are in 2007...
   
   Let's say that CH3..CH5 are "OK", the rest is something, that in my opinion does only fills space in the book and readers would be better off searching the approprite information on the internet, where the book points you anyway in the end.
   
   After reading "Professional SEO in PHP", I've for good understood what Joel Spolsky ment when he claimed that you can never learn a technology from a book in red cover with mughshots, however professional it claim to be, because there's no overall intelligence behind it, chapters repeat things and left things out, and in rush to get the book to the market, editing appears to be non-existent.



2. When I first started making web sites, I thought that a good title, a few META tags, and some relevant content would achieve a high ranking on a search engine. That era is long gone and has been replaced with buzzwords like PageRank and other arcane algorithms.
   
   This book has been extremely helpful at demystifying what a modern webmaster needs to do to obtain the best possible rankings. For me especially, the focus that this be used by an already-competent PHP developer was a strong selling point. It was also laden with many real-world examples that could be immediately used.
   
   The early chapters in the book really go into depth about the common problems in SEO and some simple things to do alongside many of the tools already available to the developer such as Google analytics and mod_rewrite. The latter part of the book delves into the more esoteric techniques that many only apply to a smaller portion of sites, but it is useful nonetheless.
   
   Even for someone with basic familiarity with SEO will find the explanations useful. The chapters on duplicate content and SEO-friendly JavaScript are great examples of helping people unfamiliar with SEO to avoid the most common pitfalls of site design.
   
   Overall, this is an excellent book for anyone who wants the Swiss army knife of SEO techniques.



3. This book was perfect. I came from no knowlage of seo to fully understanding it. I bought this and Search Engine Optimization an hour a day together, and as good as the other book was, this one blew it away. I had read this one first, and it seemed like everything was just an echo reading the other book, but this one has even more because it shows you the programming aspect.



4. Given the relative advanced topic of this book, I was surprised to find a section on how to get your "playground" up and running. They devote 4 pages to getting XAMPP up and running. However, once you are beyond that, the good stuff starts to unfold.



5. I've read a number of other resources on the subject of SEO, and this one is definitely the best I've encountered.
   
   No one aspect of SEO is particularly technically complicated, its more just a matter of being aware of all the areas in which you can help (or more likely, not hurt) yourself. This book does a very thorough job of covering all of these areas, and is clear and concise when it comes to describing specific tactics and the underlying mechanisms that make them effective.
   
   Also, as mentioned by another reviewer, this book can be a valuable resource to a non-programmer because of how clearly it explains all of the tactics it covers and how involved the case studies in it are.

4 comments about PHP & MySQL Web Development All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech)).

1. GREAT book!! Perfect for beginners, but still good enough for somewhat experienced users.
   
   I had my site up and running with loads of php scripts, mysql query's etc. in just a week after I got this book, complete with log-in pages, registration, and other fancy bells and whistles.
   
   After this, I got a couple other books for more advanced coverage, but still find myself turning back to this book quite frequently.
   
   highly recommended for anyone looking to learn php.



2. This is a very well written reference on PHP and MySQL. The book includes a 6 in 1 desk reference, which doesn't allow for the minute detail that is contained in some other "for Dummies" editions. But, it is a good additional to a PHP library nonetheless.
   
   The explanations are clear and easy to understand. The sample code is fully documented to allow the reader to fully understand the script and how it works.



3. I'm on Book 2 Chapter 4, and I hope I can finish without throwing the book in the trash. These other reviewers are either related to the authors or have not opened it yet. Typo errors are numerous. I got past these errors using other internet sources. Same goes for the examples. It's for dummies, alright. One must have proofed it.
   
   Be smart-buy another book!



4. I'm sorry, but after going through just the first couple chapters in Book II, I've already encountered many mistakes in the reading. I enjoyed the Java book I read by this publisher, but this one clearly wasn't proofread or something because there is misleading text, and coding that might confuse anyone brand new to programming.
   
   Luckily, I only checked this out from my school library because I would have been quite disappointed if I spent money on this book to only find it with many mistakes in the first couple days of my reading.
   
   Others might want to explore more options when trying to learn php because when I start concentrating more on where the errors are in the book, then I get side-tracked into actually learning the language because I'm all hung up on these errors.

5 comments about Webbots, Spiders, and Screen Scrapers: A Guide to Developing Internet Agents with PHP/CURL.

1. This is an excellent book used as an introduction to the cURL library. The author has created a set of his own functions that are well written and, with the help of the book, easy to understand.
   
   It does pre-suppose some PHP and data transfer protocol knowledge but if you are already armed with that, this is an excellent intro to data exchange across servers. Each chapter introduces a new concept and a simple usage of that concept. I seldom read tech related books cover to cover but this book was an exception. I have been programming for over 20 years so being excited by new stuff is somewhat rare. I enjoy new stuff but this book whets the imagination!



2. I can't say enough about this book. It's informative, laid out well, dynamic examples and has an awesome website tie-in. I would recommed this book to anyone interesting in learning how to scrape websites for data



3. This book is a great reference and/or introduction to the cURL library. After reading this book, I realized it is not intended as a single solution for bot programming. This book covers many features of cURL and should be in any bot programmers library. Also as mentioned here in the reviews, the regular expressions statement in the book is almost completely inaccurate.



4. I won't re-iterate the excellent reviews already posted on this book, other than to say this is probably my favorite all-time programming book: excellently written, highly informative, and full of smarts. Plus, if you're not too aware of how powerful and useful web spiders can be, this is the book for you.



5. Need to learn how to browse the web with your own software instead of manually browsing? The is the best book on the subject. Written for people new to writing webbots, the example code is straightforward. A basic understanding of php is sufficient for understanding the examples.
   
   Michael Schrenk takes you directly to the point of the book with fully explained examples. They are specific-use scripts, which makes them easy to learn from. With an understanding of the basics, you can combine and extend the sample projects to build larger multi-purpose webbots on your own. The example scripts can be tested against the authors' web site to ensure consistent results.
   
   Most of the material naturally deals with browser emulation. In addition, there are chapters on POP3 mail servers interfaces, FTP webbots, and NNTP newsgroup interfaces.
   
   This is a great basic book that will take you from curiosity to a working knowledge of webbot authoring in a short time period.

5 comments about Beginning Google Maps Applications with PHP and Ajax: From Novice to Professional.

1. I am a fairly inexperienced, self taught programmer. I bought the book partly due to the fact that it had "beginning" in the title.
   
   The code that is used in the book is not laid out very well. There are parts of the code that they don't explain (such as what apikey.php is) until you go and find out on their website what it means.
   
   They are also very inconsistent. Sometimes they used apikey.php and sometimes they didn't. Going through the examples they use the same file names for different examples so you don't know if you are suppose to use the old files from the previous examples or not.
   
   Even after I got all of the files that I needed for the tile overlay example it failed on me. This is after spending 3 hours reconstructing the MySQL table (which I didn't care about) because that information wasn't provided with the tile overlay example. After doing all of that work and using their unmodified code (except to change my database logins and api key) the code didn't work. And it failed BEFORE it even got to the MySQL database which means all that work I spent was for naught.
   
   The authors suggest that you can email them (and I did a couple times) and they will get back to you. Its been several months and I still haven't heard back from any of them. The questions were about problems using their unmodified code.
   
   This book may be good if you have some experience with coding. But on the other hand if that is the case there really isn't any need to buy the book.



2. Google Maps Applications with PHP and Ajax, provides a very easy to understand clear path for getting started with Google Maps. As a PHP developer, (not as much javascript), the book shows an intelligent and useful approach to working with client side scripting and document objects. Great samples throughout the book. I highly recommend this for anyone getting started with Google Maps, regardless of PHP or Ajax...this book is still very useful for any developer.



3. 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.



4. 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



5. 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.

5 comments about Web Publishing with PHP and FileMaker 9.

1. FileMaker and PHP are absolutley the way to go, and this is
   THE BEST BOOK to get for Filemaker web publishing.
   As a "non-programmer" who has struggled in the past trying to bring a database to the web,
   I found the examples in this book easy to follow and understand.
   It definately took me to the next level.



2. Over the holiday break I had some time to read (a better word might be "consume") Jonathan Stark's book "Web Publishing with PHP and FileMaker 9." In a little more than 250 pages, Jonathan manages to do the impossible: He explains how to put the FileMaker API for PHP to use.
   
   The book is divided into four logical sections. The first section provides background information for those new to the world of Web publishing, including an introduction to HTML and PHP. After reading this section, you won't be an HTML expert, and you certainly won't be a PHP pro. But you will have a good understanding of the technologies involved in Web publishing and development, and how those technologies fit together.
   
   The second section of the book provides a foundation for the examples that are used later on. The section includes a chapter on how to setup a FileMaker database (creating fields, working with the database, performing finds, and so on). I'm sure that the majority of readers will find this section to be unnecessary and might be tempted to skip it. However, the chapter does cover one key topic that you should take a few minutes to check out, and that is an explanation on how to setup a FileMaker account (and grant it the correct privileges) that PHP can use to connect to the database.
   
   The second section also covers installation, deployment, and configuration of FileMaker Server, as well as the new PHP Site Assistant. Jonathan makes a recommendation -- and one that I heartily agree with -- that if you do not absolutely need your own server, then using a server provided by a Web hosting provider is an ideal solution. However, if you do have your own server, you'll find this information to be of great use.
   
   The third section of "Web Publishing with PHP and FileMaker 9" includes what I consider to be the most valuable information in the book. This section covers the FileMaker API for PHP (often referred to as "FileMaker.php") itself, and does so using an example Web application that is developed and expanded throughout the section. The application is one that most readers will be able to associate with -- an online product catalog.
   
   The section includes chapters on how to select, sort, and do finds against a FileMaker database using PHP. Another chapter explains how to alter FileMaker data over the Web, including the creation of new records and updates and deletions of existing records. There are also chapters on how to view, add, edit, and delete related data via PHP (which is accomplished using portals), as well as some very useful information on how to work with images (including images stored in container fields and those stored by reference using URLs).
   
   The last chapter in the third section describes a very interesting concept: Developing a PHP application that automatically updates as the FileMaker layouts that it is built on are updated. For example, if a field is added or removed, the PHP application automatically adds and/or drops the field as well. If you are looking for an easy way to let your FileMaker users "self-manage" a PHP application, then this chapter will prove to be invaluable to you.
   
   "Web Publishing with PHP and FileMaker 9" covers a lot of ground, and does so in a way that makes it a fast and enjoyable journey. Jonathan's writing style and "voice" make it easy to follow along with the material. His expert knowledge of PHP and FileMaker is apparent, and he does a great job of sharing that knowledge in the book.
   
   If you are looking for a good book on PHP and FileMaker integration -- whether you are new to the topic or consider yourself to be a pro -- then I highly recommend picking up a copy of "Web Publishing with PHP and FileMaker 9."



3. Un muy buen libro. Muy diferente al estilo de los libros de "* for dummies", utilizando ejemplos concisos y bien explicados para darse a entender.
   El libro es un excelente prefacio a PHP, y Filemaker desde cero, y llega hasta la configuración de servidores, que pareciera ser un proceso exclusivamente administrativo.



4. A great introduction to working with Filemaker and PHP for publishing dynamic web pages. Written by brilliant developer extraordinaire Jonathan Stark, this book will break down the basics and give you everything you need to get started quickly.
   
   His method of breaking down code into manageable chunks with inline comments really helps you wrap your head around what would otherwise look like daunting pages of PHP code.
   
   Experienced developers may skip the first few sections about basic Filemaker and HTML and dig right into the heart of the PHP API for filemaker. Good stuff!



5. I needed a book to get myself jump started using Filemaker's API for PHP when I found Jonathan Starks book. Jonathan brings you through the process from configuration of Filemaker Server to the creation of small Product/Inventory database. The examples are very informative and Jonathan explains the code so its understandable to both the newbie and the more experienced developer. Sample files are available on Jonathans website. Jonathan uses the "Template" method for PHP coding and I found it to be a great way to do development. I highly recommend this book. It will get you off to a great start and give you the basics to get started creating some great sites.

5 comments about Pro PHP: Patterns, Frameworks, Testing and More.

1. I have been developing web-based, database-driven applications for 12 years using Perl, Java, and, for the past 3 years, PHP. I was a late-comer to PHP because, quite frankly, its early iterations sucked. The committers finally got it right with 5.2 and 6.0 looks like they are staying on-track.
   
   I went through any number of online tutorials and "Learn PHP in 24 Hours" books in the beginning and they were fine for "Hello World" applications. But as my need for sophistication rapidly grew, I found a distinct lack of good, readable texts that could function not only as tutorial but as reference as well. I went through a disappointing array of O'Reilly, Manning, Osborne, Addison-Wesley, etc. books, each of which lacked that crucial combination of clarity, accuracy, and scope. Then I happened to chance upon Apress' publication of "Pro PHP Development."
   
   I just finished reading "Pro PHP Development," and when I say I "finished reading" it, I mean exactly that - I read it cover-to-cover. Kevin McArthur has the uncommon talent of writing a technical manual in prose. Unassuming vernacular makes reading easy, instead of the more typical struggle with every idea and re-reading sentences and paragraphs after that "HUH???" experience forces wonder at the author's point and intent. Concrete, concise, and useful examples demonstrate the textual subjects in clear unambiguous source code. And where appropriate and useful, McArthur introduces aspects of PHP 6.0. The coverage of some of the most useful objects in the SPL and the extensive treatment of the Zend MVC Framework is worth the price of admission in themselves.
   
   In summary, "Pro PHP Development" is right up there with the finest technical literature I've read and has earned a place on my bookshelf (lesser texts get relegated to eBay). It's a keeper. Until the next edition!
   
   Mark Galbreath
   Annapolis, MD



2. As an experienced PHP developer and author myself I was delighted that Pro PHP showed me a number of new techniques that I can apply to my own every day development tasks. This makes me confident that developers of all levels will gain value out of reading this book. I typically like to keep up with recently released books so I know the material that is available, but as somebody who has been programming PHP for almost 10 years I generally don't find new ideas that can be applied to general PHP programming.
   
   Two such examples of this in Pro PHP that helped me are array overloading with the ArrayAccess SPL class and the observer pattern using SplObserver and SplSubject. Firstly, ArrayAccess allows you to access objects (such as reading and writing) as you would with an array. One such example of this is in the PHP SimpleXMLElement class. Secondly, using the observer pattern allows one object to monitor the state of another object and react to these changes as desired. Kevin describes these to the reader and provides solid examples of using them.
   
   An interesting aspect of this book is the chapter dedicated to PHP 6. Although a stable version has not yet been released, Kevin covers the key features that we can look forward to such as namespaces, late binding and native Unicode support.
   
   The other thing that I like about Kevin's style and methods are that they are fairly similar to my own, meaning for the most part I agree with his methods and therefore recommend them to other users as well.
   
   On the whole I would have two minor complaints with this book. Firstly, there is a lot of "conceptual code" rather than practical real-world examples. Having said that, there are so many different ideas in this book that it would be difficult to fit longer examples for these ideas. Secondly, I would've liked to see some more extensive coverage of the Xdebug module. This is a module that I try to use but I feel like I am under using its potential. It is great that Kevin covers it in Pro PHP, but I would've liked to see some slightly more advanced usage for my own benefit.
   
   In summary, I would definitely recommend reading this book, especially if you have been slow to transition from PHP 4 to PHP 5, or if you use PHP 5 but know you don't take full advantage of its Object Oriented Programming features.



3. This book is quite a good book on PHP. I would by no means recommend it to beginners.
   
   I like how it dives into the zend frame work and different methods of testing. This book is not how to learn PHP at a advance level it is instead to learn how to use PHP in the formal software development approach. That's what makes this book so enjoyable.
   
   I would recommend it to people going to build a enterprise size PHP web application. It has all the tools, tips and trick you need to do it.



4. [reviewed by XPSD member Woody Zuill]
   
   One common technique I use when looking at a book I am thinking of
   buying is to flip through to a dozen or so random pages and read a
   paragraph or a bit of whatever is on that page. If most of these chance
   peeks reveal something interesting or useful to me, then I figure I'll
   probably get enough out of the book to make it worth buying. I did that
   with this book, and found plenty of interesting stuff. However, in the
   reading of the book I was a bit disappointed.
   
   First, the bad:
   The book attempts to cover too much for the number of pages. The Title
   is clear enough, but the subtitle ("Patterns, Frameworks, Testing, and
   More") coupled with the introduction, which states "In this book, you
   will learn how to make the most of your PHP programming, from a detailed
   understanding of OOP theory, to frameworks and advanced system
   interoperability" promises a great deal more than what the book
   delivers. For example, the "detailed understanding of OOP theory" is
   provided by a 7-page chapter on "Abstract Classes, Interfaces, and
   Programming by Contract" and another chapter covering static members.
   This is sufficient to describe a little about the mechanics of OOP in
   PHP, but it's a stretch to call it even an introduction to the theory of
   OOP. Pretty much the same can be said for the coverage of Patterns,
   Frameworks, and Testing. I am not exactly sure what "advanced system
   interoperability" is, I assume the author is refering to web services
   which is covered to some degree.
   
   To me, the book seems disjointed, and more like a collection of magazine
   articles than a cohesive book. There is unevenness in the level of
   coverage from topic to topic. Some chapters are thorough enough to be
   considered complete, or at least a good introduction, such as the
   chapters on Exceptions and Reflection, and all of "Part 3, The Standard
   PHP Library". Each of these chapters would make a nice article. Others
   contain a bare introduction, like the "Testing, Deployment, and
   Continuous Integration" chapter. In some cases, there isn't enough
   information to even consider it an introduction (such as the chapter on
   AJAX and JSON.) It probably would have been better to replace these
   chapters with more coverage of one of the other topics. Particularly,
   for example, there is a chapter on what is coming in PHP6. It seems
   very out of place and this sort of info can be easily found by a web
   search.
   
   Now, the good:
   Kevin McArthur writes cleanly and I found everything easy to read and
   understand. He is obviously very knowledgeable about programming in PHP
   and presents his ideas clearly. I learned a lot from the topics that
   were sufficiently covered (such as the chapters on Exceptions,
   Reflection, and the SPL.) I feel that there was enough substance to get
   me started on these topics.
   
   Additionally, I like Kevin's "Just the Facts" synopsis at the end of
   each chapter. In a paragraph or two he summarizes what was just
   presented in a very succinct manner without any of the fluff or filler
   we so often see in the typical programming book (like the "what's coming
   in the next chapter" blurbs: I find that I can easily turn the page to
   see what is "coming"!) Similarly, I enjoyed most of his chapter
   introductions - he did a good job of describing what he was going to try
   to cover.
   
   Should you buy the book?
   "Pro PHP" wouldn't be my first choice for a "PRO" level PHP book, but I
   got enough out of it that I don't regret having read it. How is that
   for a good sound bite?



5. Kevin McArthur is a self-taught entreperneur and opensource developer from Edmonton Alberta. Kevin has been running a very successful PHP application development studio for over 7 years. Additionally Kevin took time to write Pro PHP: Patterns, Frameworks, Testing and More, published by Apress.
   
   The book really lives up to the name. It disucsses in great details the framworks that are most popular including Zend Framework. Kevin has what seems an infinite amount of knowledge on Zend Framework, and a quick Google search will reveal he is quite active is sharing that information.
   
   I was a little let down on the Testing and Code Control sections of the book. I felt like Kevin mearly skimmed, and could have really dug into more detail, espeically about testing.
   
   In talking about patterns for PHP Kevin reinforces some of the basics of good programming, and explains the pros and cons of each style of framework. You can tell he has spent his fair share of time in each of the patterns discussed.
   
   Overall if you are thinking about playing with patterns and frameworks this is the book for you. Don't look for any golden knowledge about testing, but the rest is gold!

5 comments about Learning PHP 5.

1. If you're in a Windows shop, save yourself a lot of pain: download EasyPHP (mentioned on p. 261). Then substitute a version 5.2 php for C:\EasyPHP\php (which is version 4.3) . HINT: EasyPHP uses the php.ini in the conf-files dir, not the one in the php.



2. If you can't install all the Perl modules you want (say on a $12.99/month commercial host), give PHP a try. It has weaknesses and strengths vis-à-vis Perl, but you can use both! They work well together, and with XHTML, CSS, and MySQL. Who says you have to choose one over the other?
   
   After scouring the web for tutorials and sample code, I think this book is the quickest way to get up to speed. It is concise with excellent code samples, warnings of pitfalls, and techniques for thwarting adversaries (hackers). It is straightforward without annoying cuteness or humor.
   
   PHP code lives entirely within a web page. Some advantages:
   1. You don't have to make print statements for all the HTML on the page; the PHP code can be inserts in the HTML.
   2. Flow control. A page can include its own associated programming logic for easier maintenance and an uncluttered webroot directory. A form page can recursively call itself, instead of a separate script, for processing, and can call other pages.
   3. It's embarrassingly *EASY* to learn with this book!
   
   Some instructions just changed names (split is "explode," next is "continue") but other instructions are new and super-handy for the web! Sessions and cookie-handling are built in to the language (chapter 8). Scope rules and data structures are different; you can't shift, pop, or test for undef, but you get two-dimensional arrays.
   
   If you go this route I guarantee you will have read this entire book, plus some of the online PHP manual, by the time your site is done. This book is not comprehensive but selects an excellent breadth of features.
   
   One typo is unforgivable, and for that I unapologetically deduct a star: the very first database example in Chapter 1 shows $db->numrows() without the parentheses, which does not work. I spent two days trying to figure out what was wrong. Very confusing since the old way of doing it (before PHP's PEAR extensions) was mysql_num_rows <--without parentheses.
   
   TIP: Do NOT assume that your host is on PHP 5! Though mine advertises 5, they put you on 4 unless you ask for 5. This one-line program will tell you which version you're on:
   
   TIP #2: Blank web page got you down? You can see the syntax error by running it from a command line, like this: php5 mypage.php



3. I cheated. I looked in the back of the book for the answers so I could understand the programmer's mind behind the solution. I'm getting so much out of this book! Now, I'll think of a problem I need to solve, and because I took the time to learn some fundementals, I can piece together solutions in my head, which test positive when coded and loaded. A very satisfying experience all around. Reverse engineer is the way to learn!
   
   May the parse be with you!



4. Easy read. There are also so many examples, that I just want to test each one out. I highly recommend for anyone who doesn't know anything about PHP.



5. This books is amazing for the people who want know the new features in PHP 5

5 comments about PHP for the World Wide Web, Second Edition (Visual QuickStart Guide).

1. I picked up this book at the library and it was so informative I had to go out and pick up a copy for my bookshelf for keeps. If you want to learn PHP go with this one.



2. This is a very well written technical reference. The examples are so good that I was able to get my 1st PHP web page up quickly even though I hadn't been through the entire book. Larry Ullman's book has passed my personal test -- I got something useful done. I'm now in the process of reading the entire book and using the sample code to more properly learn PHP. I have a number of QuickStart books and they are all excellent. They are on my sites recommended reading list. [...]



3. I received tis product in a timely manner (in time for class), and it was in excellent condition when it got here! This text book has been extremely helpful in learning PHP, and is one of the many tools I am using to further my Web Design knowledge.



4. This book is great for the absolute beginner. It walks you through the basics, with examples side-by-side explanations of the methods and why the code looks the way it does.



5. This book covers the basics pretty well, but on more advanced topics such as mysql and regular expressions this book seriously lacks. The examples are way to simple and not very helpful at all. His section on simple query language is down right terrible. The regular expressions exmamples are inane and unpractical. What good does it do to introduce metacharacters, quantifiers and classes if you don't show real examples of how to use them. I would go with a more recent book. Hopefully Ullman has improved since this edition, which is lousy.

2 comments about PHP Object-Oriented Solutions.

1. This book really covered alot of topics that I work with on a daily basis and showed me step by step how to implement then using OOP. I was really pleased with the lessons and I learned alot from this book. I recomend it to anyone who is trying to move to the Object Oriented PHP way of doing things.



2. If you want to explore the power of Object Oriented Programming in the latest versions of PHP, (5.2 and up) then this book really shines. A simple introduction leads in to sample code and the creation of reusable modules that are clearly explained.
   
   I wish I'd had this book as my introduction to OOP in PHP!

5 comments about PHP Programming with MySQL.

1. This was one of the assigned books for a class of mine, but I quite liked it. As a teacher and a programmer of ~25 yrs, I like a book that I can not only read from front to back, but one in which I can easily 'look things up', since I often know how to do something in another language but want to see how it is done with this tool.
   
   This book is clear and concise and fills both needs. I liked the fact that it talks not only about the languages PHP and MySQL, but also how to get started with them (installation, configuration, and use with HTML). This book, along with the XAMPP/PHP/MySQL toolset made learning very easy and immediate.
   
   One suggestion I'd make, however, would be for the book to include the XAMPP/PDT-all-in-one eclipse/Zend Debugger toolchain. Particularly on Windows, this allows the student to do open-source-package command-line debugging that is painless and accurate. Once I figured out how to use these tools, creating and debugging the book examples was 'a breeze'. It could have saved a lot of time for DG to include this industry-standard toolset. Kudos to Gosselin, though, for a great book... jps



2. I'm almost through my introductory PHP class, and the bottom line is that I would absolutely avoid this book.
   
   
   A few caveats about online reviews: They are skewed b/c most people don't bother to write unless they are really mad or really happy about a given product. I'm obviously in the later category. Separate out my tone and emotion if you can. But here are the facts:
   
   1. The book is riddled with typos and straight up errors.
   2. The author never bothers to correct them. I still haven't found where errata are on his website.
   3. Gosselin uses terms that he never bothers to define first. Who's Gosselin? The author of the book. My point exactly.
   4. Some of the examples of the code just don't work. Because of the number of errors in the book, I can't be sure if it's just Gosselin's problem or my own. This can not be overstated b/c the last thing a student wants is to work for hours on a problem only to realize that it wasn't his/her problem to begin with.
   5. The writing style is extremely dry, dense, and ambiguous. Make no mistake, this is not a user-friendly book.
   6. The index is poor and there are no tables of commonly used functions/methods/ and other syntax that most textbooks have. It's hard to find anything.
   7. Price: too expensive, but that's par for the course with Thompson Technology books.



3. Very sloppy book with numerous typos (and inconsistencies!!) in code and elsewhere, about the worst offense committed by a beginner's book. Stay away at all cost.



4. I have spent $12.95 on better programming books than this one. We used this book in a class that I just finished up. The instructor had to retype many of the code examples so she could correct the code errors. The book is nothing more than a recipe book of php scripts without properly explaining the materials. I would love to see colleges move away from companies like Thomson and look elsewhere for teaching materials.



5. In the quest to learn PhP/MySQL, this book was the book used for a class. So far it seems ok but I just spent a few hours trying to figure out why I was getting errors only to realize the code in the book had typos in it.
   
   Page 172 in "Functions and Control Structures", the ScoreQuiz.php if statements have no closing brackets } in the code in the book. The same file is used for more exercises in the book so unless you spot this, subsequent exercises will give you errors too.
   
   Page 455 #7, the if statement is again missing the opening and closing brackets.
   
   Page 486 #6, #7 The closing paragraph tags are printed in the book as < / p ."); and should be < / p > . ); Amazon seems to have filters that make posting any code almost impossible so just take the spaces out of those examples if they show on the page.
   
   To someone who has done a lot of programming, these may seem like no big deal, but when trying to learn this stuff for the first time it is quite frustrating. It is just sloppy editing.
   
   If I come across more errors/typos that result in code that doesn't function, I'll post the issue and solution.
   
   If there is an errata section posted anywhere? If so I haven't found it.