Rating: 
Summary: Great, informative book.
Review: I have this book and only on chapter 3 but I have learned a ton. If you don't get what he is saying or you get an error just go to the website for the book and go to the forums and he will help you. There are a few errors in the book, but it is at the website, so if I get an error then I go to the errata section and normally it is in there. THis is a great book, do not pass this one by. If you are trying to learn PHP and MySQL get this book!
Rating: 
Summary: Very hands on book
Review: I just got this book and want to say that it nicely steps you through programming in php/mysql but doesn't treat you like an idiot. If your a "learn by doing" person like me, this book is great.
Rating:
Summary: Quality content that's easy to understand
Review: I ordered this book in a time of need: what was supposed to be someone else's project was left hanging when they transferred away, and I happened to be the next best candidate, despite knowing very little about PHP and SQL. So, I checked around, and this book was brought up on a number of occasions as a quality source of information for beginners. A few days later it was sitting on my desk, and I began thumbing through it to get a feel for it.
First of all, I was very impressed by the style of the book. The author uses visual cues to great effect, showing you how your code and the finished result should look. This promotes writing pretty, manageable code, and ensures that you get the right results (or, when you're getting an example of a common pitfall, that you messed things up properly). The author starts you off on what could be real project, and builds useful skills that you're likely to use in a variety of projects. Layers of complexity are added to this same project, with detailed and clear explanations of what you did and how it works. The introduction of SQL is done well, and ensures you've got a solid foundation in the principles of how it works before you add it to your script.
Much, much more is covered by the 'tutorial' bit of the book, and there's also a number of case-study-style projects after it. A number of common projects are built up on the assumption you've read the rest of the book and know what you're doing, and the code itself (downloadable from the author's webpage) is very useful as a starting point for your own projects. Ullman's webpage is also an exceptionally useful resource, far surpassing any other I've seen. There are regular giveaways of new books, all the code samples are collected there, there's detailed errata collected by the author himself, and most useful of all, there's a forum where the author and other readers of the book can help you with your coding struggles. I asked a few questions there and got a quick, detailed, useful response, and a good explanation of where I'd gone wrong. Help like that will normally run you $75/hr.
After reading through the book (and referring to it as necessary), I was ready to go. Over the span of three months and starting with essentially zero knowledge, I wrote two fairly large and complex scripts with the help of this book. My stumbling points were few, and the work impressed everyone who saw or used it. If you need a crash course in PHP/SQL site development, or are simply interested in a comprehensive book that'll bring you to a solid intermediate level in your PHP scripting with an SQL backend, this is an excellent choice.
Rating:
Summary: Exactly what I needed to get started, and then some
Review: I took this book out of the bookshop in the same bag as what looked like its obvious competitor on the shelf, 'PHP and MySQL for Dummies'. It is Larry Ullman's book that I am going through seriously, dipping into 'Dummies' (which is a good book) for an alternative explanation here and there. Whereas 'Dummies' starts with MySQL, Larry begins with some PHP basics before delving into the database, and this made more intuitive sense to me, since there were many things I wanted to do on my site (such as make an emailing form and add a readers' comments facility) with PHP before starting to think about what I could do with a MySQL database.
Notwithstanding the comments of one or two other reviewers, I have no experience of programming in any language, and yet I found this book started in the right place for me. What really made it valuable is that every concept is demonstrated right away in a real example that you can try out yourself and invent variants on to see the difference. This helps to sort out all the stupid questions and confusions that an expert probably can't even imagine your having.
Apart from Unix commands in the appendix on installation, there is not a single example in the book of something that has to be typed in 'on faith' (not quite true of the 'Dummies' book, though almost). In every chapter you are told what to type, what it does and why. Larry does move fast, and I had to puzzle over his explanation of database design and normalisation, along with his initial explanation of getting data output from the database in PHP. But this is only another strength of the book. He doesn't cut corners but he does ask you to think and not skip over too much.
Like some other people here, I have been to the book's website and forum and asked a question, and like them, I got a useful answer straight from the author. I will definitely choose his books again, and have a good feeling about Peachpit's Visual QuickPro/QuickStart books in general.
The design is equally well done. The fact that every script is shown both as an illustration and as annotated text makes the book much thicker than it might have been, but it is useful to see the script on its own and explanations (even if sidenotes to the script would have achieved both purposes, surely). The Comic sanserif used to show code is far better for long-distance reading than the monospaced font used in 'Dummies', and colour is used very effectively. I feel lucky I found this book!
Rating:
Summary: Good Tutorial
Review: I'm a newbie to both PHP and MySQL on Mac OS X. I'm learning from this book and from the PHP/MySQL for Dummies. This is the better book. It has lots of good information, clear writing, and easy to follow tutorials. The graphic display of PHP code is very easy to follow: as the author modifies scripts to teach new concepts, the new code is presented in red in the code listings. In just a few days I've gone from knowing nothing about PHP and MySQL to writing my own PHP code. If you're trying to learn how to use PHP and MySQL this is the book to get (along with the MySQL users manual).
Rating:
Summary: Author answers questions on his forum
Review: I've never met an author who actually answered queries to his website but Larry Ullman gave me one suggestion after another while I struggled with a problem. It took about ten replies from him before I finally got it solved. His replies were so timely the problem was resolved within a week.As a novice PHP writer I've tried several books, most of them more expensive, but this is one of the best. Two criticisms: there is too much detail. I'd like to fool around with one or two lines of code at a time, building it up gradually into something that really works. Ullman breaks it down pretty well, but his bites are still a bit too big for me. The other criticism is in design. Examples of code from the book are reproduced in about four-point text, so keep your magnifying glass at the ready. Still, if you want to make web pags like the one you're reading, you'll be able to do most of it with this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Its ok. Covers basics.
Review: I've tried many PHP books. This one seems to be alright, it does explain smoothly how to start coding in PHP utlizing mySQL database. It has helped me design acomplish one of the big projects PHP+mySQL projects - procreative.ca. I also use some of the examples shown in the book to teach my students. If you are planning to get to know PHP in more detail i would recommend you also get PHP Core which is far more detailed.
Rating:
Summary: Yes..this is a good one to get!
Review: Like alot of you who look at ratings before buying a book, I must say that this book matched all previous ratings. This book gets you going quick! I am very impressed not only with the author but also with PHP! I say, dont take my word for it..try it and see if you too will not rate this book high!
Rating:
Summary: My ideal book on learning new skills.
Review: Mr. Ullman's book is perfect: it has everything from installation (if necessary) of PHP & MySQL, to step by step progression to creation of dynamic web sites with ample explanation and tips. Beautiful Mac OS X screenshots.
Not only the book is easy to follow, topics layed out nicely with ample illutrations, furthermore, Mr. Ullman even has a web site dedicated for this book. The website has errata section updated regularly, has a forum where one can post his/her questions -- Mr. Ullman answers most of them! All the scripts can be downloaded if need be -- though I think it is best to physically type in each script and learn from mistakes.
In short, I got hooked on this book. I would enthusiastically recommend this book to anyone interested in creating dynamic web sites.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book !!!
Review: Of all the programming books in all of the different programming languages I've studied, this book is by far the best I have ever read. It is very well written and easy to follow. Most computer books I've read either do not give enough detail (in an effort to 'keep it simple' I suppose) or give you every single nuance of the language making it very difficult to know how to get started. This book strikes just the right balance.
|
