Rating: 
Summary: Sams vs. O'Reilly PHP & MySQL books: Which one to buy?
Review: I have just started learning some PHP & MySQL development using "PHP & MySQL Web Development" published by Sams and "Web Database Applications with PHP & MySQL" from O'Reilly. Prospective readers might be wondering the difference between the two in deciding which one to buy, so I hope to shed some light on the issue.Sams: The Welling and Thomson book is more "hands-on" in that it takes the reader step-by-step in developing an e-commerce website. The chapters are organized in a goal-oriented manner: PHP, MySQL, the basics of e-commerce, security, and design of the site. O'Reilly: The Williams and Lane book is structured in a similar way by showing readers PHP and then MySQL. Examples to reinforce concepts are also provided. While the O'Reilly book also tries to take the reader in developing an e-commerce site, it is a bit more theoretical. Also, there are some differences in focus: the O'Reilly book has a section on using JavaScript while the Sams book has a final chapter on creating PDF files using PHP. If I had to choose just one book, I would go with the Sams book due to its more gentle learning curve. However, I believe that the O'Reilly book is no slouch, and I will probably come to appreciate it more once I gain more experience in PHP and MySQL development. One last word about my programming background: I knew a bit of Perl, Java, HTML, and JavaScript before tackling PHP and MySQL. I consider myself to be an "advanced beginner" (an oxymoron, of course). To get the most out of these two books, you should know HTML well enough to read it (you should at least recognize some tags) and it would definitely be helpful if you have some programming experience. You could very well make PHP your first programming language, but I would advise against it. Start with something like Perl (whose syntax is very similar to PHP's). I highly recommend both books to prospective PHP and MySQL developers who are willing to spend some time and effort.
Rating:
Summary: Sams vs. O'Reilly PHP & MySQL books: Which one to buy?
Review: I have just started learning some PHP & MySQL development using "PHP & MySQL Web Development" published by Sams and "Web Database Applications with PHP & MySQL" from O'Reilly. Prospective readers might be wondering the difference between the two in deciding which one to buy, so I hope to shed some light on the issue. Sams: The Welling and Thomson book is more "hands-on" in that it takes the reader step-by-step in developing an e-commerce website. The chapters are organized in a goal-oriented manner: PHP, MySQL, the basics of e-commerce, security, and design of the site. O'Reilly: The Williams and Lane book is structured in a similar way by showing readers PHP and then MySQL. Examples to reinforce concepts are also provided. While the O'Reilly book also tries to take the reader in developing an e-commerce site, it is a bit more theoretical. Also, there are some differences in focus: the O'Reilly book has a section on using JavaScript while the Sams book has a final chapter on creating PDF files using PHP. If I had to choose just one book, I would go with the Sams book due to its more gentle learning curve. However, I believe that the O'Reilly book is no slouch, and I will probably come to appreciate it more once I gain more experience in PHP and MySQL development. One last word about my programming background: I knew a bit of Perl, Java, HTML, and JavaScript before tackling PHP and MySQL. I consider myself to be an "advanced beginner" (an oxymoron, of course). To get the most out of these two books, you should know HTML well enough to read it (you should at least recognize some tags) and it would definitely be helpful if you have some programming experience. You could very well make PHP your first programming language, but I would advise against it. Start with something like Perl (whose syntax is very similar to PHP's). I highly recommend both books to prospective PHP and MySQL developers who are willing to spend some time and effort.
Rating: 
Summary: Great beginning to end, but still not The Bible
Review: I have to agree with Dave Hilton's review. I love PHP, MySQL and ORA, but as good as this book was to give you a beginning to end HOW TO of creating a database backed web site with the two, it's far from a definitive guide. I'm still waiting for a Canonical PHP book and definitely for a decent MySQL book. There really isn't anything in this book you can't learn from PHP.net, MySQL.org and DevShed, but if you want a nice and compact "course" type book, this one will do. You'll still need to reference PHP.net. Unfortunately, after taking a Database Design class in Oracle, I've become a lot more aware of MySQL's limitations. Yes, it's free, but postgreSQL may be a better choice if some of MySQL's lacking features aren't added in the next version.
Rating: 
Summary: Great book for experienced web developer learning PHP
Review: I just finished creating my first PHP web application, with this book as my guide. It is very valuable information, whether you are going to be using PHP on the job, or for a personal website of your own. If you do decide to use it for your own site, there are many web hosting companies that will let you use PHP & MySQL for less than $10/month.
First of all, I like that this book teaches MySQL together with PHP. While PHP is a application development language in its own right, many will be choosing PHP to work solely with MySQL. I fit this category so I bought the book.
The book is completely geared towards creating a data driven website from the start. You are shown how to interface to MySQL, receive data from the user, save state information, and other common tasks. The paradigm of web programming is very similar from ASP to JSP, you interact with the database, store some form of state, process forms, etc. If you are already familiar with this style of programming this book will have you going with PHP in no time. However, this book spends NO time on how to install or setup either PHP or MySQL. For the total beginner this could be a problem.
For the total beginner this book could be challenging. It is assumed that you know SQL. SQL syntax is presented and not really explained. What state is, and when you should use it are not presented. You are simply told how to setup state for your web pages. No coverage of HTML is provided. It really seems as the author assumes you are already an experienced web developer, just not in PHP.
For an experienced web developer this is a great book!
Rating:
Summary: Good Introduction -- not obvious from the title
Review: I recently began a web database project and had to self-teach myself PHP and MySQL, therefore I bought several books from Amazon looking to cover the bases. I disagree with some other reviews posted here, the text IS AN INTRODUCTION but this is not obvious from the title or the editorial reviews on Amazon. The review referring to editing errors I COULD NOT AGREE WITH, I did not find "errors" or typos, maybe I'm not very observant or don't know the subject well enough yet. Anyway ... the text does a good job at presenting the PHP language and how to operate on MySQL database back-ends, that is the purpose of the book. The sections on PHP are introductory, but well done. Comprehensive descriptions of string and reg-exp functions are provided. A good section for beginners is titled "Common Mistakes" that describe why you get a blank browser screen or what those darned header messages are about. The MySQL section is well done, providing ample samples of the different query types and advanced joins and keys. I also liked the portion that describes using PHP with other RDMS systems via ODBC and to Oracle. Linking PHP and MySQL is well handled and sections on authentication and session management are practical and real-world. The text ONLY includes one overall application system, a psuedo online winestore that includes a shopping cart and purchasing concept. The appendix include a really good treatise on HTTP and describing how Requests and Responses are handled and the status codes. I had great expectations for this O'Reilly text as many of their critter-adorned texts are in my library. I expected the text to be more advanced than it is. The lack of other sample applications is a weakness, for the price you can get other texts with more comprehensive samples. Afterall, many of us buy these books to try and help us quickly solve "Our Immediate Problem", more samples would have helped this effort better.
Rating:
Summary: Finally a good PHP 4 (and MySQL 3) book!
Review: I'm really happy I've got this book. I wasn't looking for a really advanced book, and this book met my needs. It does a great job of the PHP 4 sessions library (it even includes how to store your session data in a MySQL database). It also covers lots of other PHP 4 specifics that are way beyond the depth in other popular books. The MySQL stuff is nice too...The winestore application that is explained through the book is pretty neat. It shows you how to build a real application that includes all of the common validation, sessions, and shopping cart tricks. I found I could use their code directly in building an application I needed.
Rating:
Summary: A good grounding in PHP/mySQL
Review: I've been entrenched with JSP heavily for the last couple of years, so I haven't familiarised myself with PHP yet. I needed a book that would show me a larger picture than I got in a web developer's job, and showed me how to put it together with more modern techniques.
This book is a perfect example of why I choose O'Reilly whenever in doubt. Chapter 1 is an overview of how web applications are put together. Chapter 2 goes through all the basic PHP syntax (stuff that would take other books several fluffy dry chapters to process). Chapter 3 gets you through all the mySQL and sql basics so you feel comfortable with that, too.
There's no 4 page tutotial entitled: "Using a text editor: Wordpad" There's also no kitch "Employee Database" example cop-out. Instead, Hugh and Dave give a realistic and usable storefront application. This book alone is probably enough for the independent web developer to get a functional site up for her/himself or a client.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful book!
Review: I've done several PHP and MySQL development jobs, and there
are problems which constantly hunt me...until I find this book.
O'Reilly has done a great job brining this book to readers.
It started with useful introduction to PHP, with details
showing how great PHP is--all the useful functionalities,
arrays, objects, etc. Then the MySQL part is also great,
with introduction to SQL language for people who are not
familiar. Strongly recommend.
Rating:
Summary: excellent, practical and thorough
Review: I've found Web Database Applications with Php and MySql to be an excellent book. It is an excellent book for learning from scratch as well as a useful reference. For the projects I've done I've only occasionally looked elsewhere (online) for technical references.
My style for doing a project using a new language or development environment is to learn just enough to do the project. It is not my goal to become an expert in the system or language at hand, in this case Php and MySql. I just want to get the project done in fairly efficient and practical manner.
After having decided that Php and some open source database such as MySql is what I wanted to use for my project (an online testing system) I read through the book to get an overall understanding of these tools. I then designed the system for my project and began coding. At the coding stage I would go back to the book to get the syntax and details of coding. I rely on sample code a lot, one of the principal strengths of this book.
The authors have implemented a complete online store. The code is well written and the application exercises many features of Php and MySql. That the sample code is from the application or based on the application makes it eminently practical. Perhaps more importantly the fact that the book is grounded in a complete application means many details concerning issues such as security and user interface are covered which might easily have been overlooked.
The book, however, is not a regurgitation of the application code nor a tour of the creation of the online store. The book is a well thought out development of the tools and ideas for web database applications. It begins with typical details of the Php language and object oriented programming, database basics and queries with MySql and proceeds with features and ideas useful in web database applications culminating in the case study of the online store.
Except for an initial glitch in getting setup on my OS X system everything worked out well. We switched our online testing system from FileMaker Pro, QuidProQuo and Frontier to Apache, Php and MySql. Similarly our placement test system has been converted. I switched our department's web site to one which dynamically creates interlocking web pages. I added a password protected system for staff to update text and calculator reference webpages and a simple means to create and edit our online schedule of classes. I built a similar system for instructors to access records of student use of tutor facilities for their classes.
I am very impressed by this book. I have not had a book which has been so thoroughly practical, complete and easy to use.
Rating:
Summary: This book should be on your shelf at work
Review: If only I had purchased this book two months ago, I would have saved myself some headaches. The PHP/MySQL combination is both powerful and popular for creating dynamic, data-driven sites. But not many resources explain this combination so thoroughly. I have plenty of PHP books that touch on databases briefly and other resources that concentrate on MySQL, but don't delve into PHP. But this book fills the need of developers for a thorough and clear guide to using the PHP and MySQL combination. I have primarily been using the book as a reference guide - browsing entries of interest via the index; however, someone needing an introduction to PHP/MySQL applications would be well served by starting at the beginning and reading straight through the book. As I would expect from any competent development guide, example code and screenshots are sprinkled liberally throughout the chapters. Accompanying explanations are succinct and written to be understandable to novices and experts alike. This is a good book to pick up the moment you decide your site needs to be powered by PHP and MySQL. It will be useful from the moment you create a table to the day your first customer uses your homemade shopping cart application successfully.
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