Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Reference Book
Review: This book has an excellent easy to use layout and contains just about every PHP function you can imagine. Each function includes a description of the values the function requires and returns along with some sample code showing its usage. It's not for beginners trying to grasp the initial concepts of PHP, for that I'd suggest the PHP Visual Quickstart Guide by Larry Ullman. For anyone else, this is an indispensable reference! It's worth every penny!
Rating:
Summary: A Must Have!
Review: This book is a must have for any PHP wed developer. I find myself referencing this book quite often. It's logically laid out and makes finding just the right function a lot easier then php.net.
Rating:
Summary: Reference Material
Review: This book is undeniably the best PHP Reference book I own. It's saved my butt in many situations while programming. Using an index in a regular book to reference a command is anoying and time consumable. Using this book to reference a command is so fast and easy. The index is setup so nicely. Think about it your not always looking for a way to use a particular command sometimes your looking for the command in general and sometimes you don't even know what the command would be under. For instance I had to figure out a way to make pages so they were refreshed at every visit. I didn't even know where to begin. So I went to the index and looked up Caching, boom right there, "preventing, page 238" less then 1 minute later my page is running smooth. I tried that previously in my other reference book (this book is awfull and will remain secret for their sake) impossible. Don't take a risk buy this book wether our an experienced programmer or new to php. Its awsome, I even like the size, easy to tote around and set next to your keyboard unlike these massive 2000 page bibles of unneeded text and garble.
Rating:
Summary: Reference, not tutorial
Review: This is a reference, and a very good one. Not for the "learning" set, but it will be kept when you are doing PHP.
Rating:
Summary: Reference, not tutorial
Review: This is a reference, and a very good one. Not for the "learning" set, but it will be kept when you are doing PHP.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Reference Material
Review: This is the perfect book for someone who wants a comprehensive reference of the functions available to PHP programmers. An brief description and example usage is provided for each function.I must have 10 books on PHP and MySQL, this is the one I use the most.
Rating:
Summary: A must have PHP reference
Review: This is without a doubt, a brilliant PHP reference book.
The PHP functions are grouped in chapters based on their relevance. E.G. String functions are in one chapter, Session functions are in another etc. So even if you don't know the name of the function you're looking for, you'll most likely find what you need in the relevant section.
The book is very well laid out, there are nice descriptions (not too long and not too short) of the function and its use. There is example code showing how to use the function and the functions have a 'related functions' part as well which in my case encourages further reading and thus expanding your knowledge of all things PHP.
Unfortunately though I've found that not all functions are covered in this book. I agree you can't cover them all, but surely a string length function would be covered? Don't let that discourage you though because I've only found a couple of functions that I've needed that weren't covered in this book. Apart from that, I wholeheartly recommend getting a copy. One of the best reference books I've ever purchased.
Rating:
Summary: An Awesome Resource
Review: Whether you are new to PHP or a seasoned web developer, this reference book is an absolutely must. Clean, concise, and well written, the authors are well-known and respected in the PHP community. Zak Greant heads up the PHP quality assurance squad, Torben Wilson is one of the longest-running credited authors of the PHP manual, and Graeme Merrall contributes to several areas of PHP development. This book is fast. You can get to what you need quickly, and if you're not sure what you need, the logical hierarchy and table of contents makes narrowing things down very snappy. Within minutes of picking up the book, I've learned new things about PHP, even after 4 years of hardcore PHP development. Not too many books do that. The only downside I can find with it is it won't fit in my shirt pocket. This book has many other strengths.
- It has a companion website that compliments the book and is maintained by the authors. - It has been released under a license that reflects the very nature of PHP and Open Source Software, a real credit to the authors. - One of the Technical Reviewers of the book during the process of it being written was none other than Ken Coar, one of the leaders of the Apache Foundation (author of the best darn web server ever made) and one of the Open Source movement's greatest assets. Buying a PHP book reviewed by Ken Coar is like buying a Bible blessed by the Pope. If you can't RTFM, then for sure, RTFB.
That is: Read This Friendly Book. ;)
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent desktop resource.
Review: While no function reference can top the ease of use and simplicity of php.net/$function_name, some manage to hold their own. This isn't just another regurgitation of the downloadable help system, this book actually manages to give you usable examples along with function explanations you can wrap your head around. This is not a book for those just beginning PHP, and I pity anyone who write an application using only this book. You better have some preliminary knowledge of PHP before picking up this book, but beyond that it's probably one of the best reference books available, and small too!
Rating:
Summary: Essential book for all PHPers
Review: You'll have this book within an arm's reach at all times. It's packed with every PHP function and has excellent examples for each one. This book is absolutely ESSENTIAL for anyone diving into PHP/MySQL. Don't start PHP without it.
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