Rating: 
Summary: Excellent springboard into the pool of PHP
Review: This book was written to the developer new to scripting and it adheres to that premise to the end. Larry Ullman gives a great exposition of each of the programming examples he uses, so the reader not only understands the syntax of the recipe, but the processes taking place as well. A little thin, weighing in at 278 pages, but I feel that makes it undaunting to the new scripter.
Rating:
Summary: The Very Best Book for Intelligent Beginners
Review: This is a superb book if you want to learn PHP without being overwhelmed by abstruse and unnecessary complexities at the beginning (as is the case with the _PHP 4 Bible_ by Converse and Park). Not only with you learn the basics of PHP quickly, you will understand how PHP works, why it works that way, and how you can use it to enhance your web pages. There is also a companion website run by the author himself.Larry Ullman writes very well. Everything about his explanations is meticulously clear and written for adults who are not necessarily part of the hardcore programmer subculture and are thus not interested in enduring all of the sophomoric would-be humor and in-jokes that pervade so many of these computer how-to books. As an example of how sensible and real-world oriented Larry is, here is what he has to say about the curious custom of beginning indexes with zero rather than 1: "As unnatural as it may seem, it's here to stay, so you have two possible coping techniques. First, manually start all of your arrays indexed at the position 1. Second, unlearn a lifetime of counting from one. You can decide which is easier but most programmers just get used to this odd construct." Plain, common sense insights and explanations like this are sprinkled throughout the book. If you're interested in learning PHP, BUY IT NOW.
Rating:
Summary: Clear Presentation
Review: This is the third PHP book I read and covers PHP versions 4 and 5. I worked through all its examples without any problems. Somebody reviewing it said there were errors, but I did not find them using PHP V4.3.2. Following the examples were a lot easier than in other computer books, like Visual Basic 6 by Petroutsos, which I had to abandon three years ago for lack of error-free exercises. The VQS format appears to waste a lot of space, but it has its advantages. There is never any doubt what the script has to be, because it is repeated in its entirety even when only a few lines change. Some books cut this short, and give frugal explanation for what the clear script should be. In the end, one often wastes time in such cases. I have the PHP Manual on my hard disk, and consulting it aids in extending the applications on hand. Once I learned the examples in the book, I was able to extend the scripts, make them more versatile and produce more attractive displays. I started out stating it is my third book on PHP, and reading this book serves as an in-depth review. This book clarified some of the features I thought I learned before. This does not imply that one must have used other PHP books previously. It is an excellent first book on PHP. Of course, one should know some HTML before using this book. Because of the VQS format I would like to rate this four and a half stars, even though the format improves on clarity. Even with this view, the book deserves five-stars.
Rating: 
Summary: If you don't have the time for fluff...
Review: Unlike many other programming books, "PHP For the World Wide Web" takes the high-quality low-fluff approach to introducing readers to PHP. Don't let the small size of the book fool you; it is jam-packed with the most important information you'll need to start programming in PHP right away. Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned programmer, this book will take you step-by-step through the core concepts of the language in the least amount of pages possible. It's hard to say if the shortness of the book is due to the teaching mastery of Larry Ullman or the genius of the PHP language. Either way, this book will serve as an excellent tutorial and great reference guide for future projects. PHP is very similar to other languages and my programming background made learning PHP much easier. However, this book's approach and working examples should serve as an excellent tutorial for beginners as well as programmers. Keep in mind that the book is designed to give you a working knowledge of the language and is not a comprehensive course on PHP programming. After reading the book, however, you will be in a much better position to continue your PHP education through PHP's homepage (PHP.net), learning additional functions and techniques as your projects dictate (and as the PHP language continues to grow). (To me, the chapter on databases alone was worth the price of the book. PHP is amazing when it comes to building web-based applications around databases and this book gives you what you need to get started as well using files and directories, cookies and even an intro on creating web applications.)
Rating:
Summary: If you don't have the time for fluff...
Review: Unlike many other programming books, "PHP For the World Wide Web" takes the high-quality low-fluff approach to introducing readers to PHP. Don't let the small size of the book fool you; it is jam-packed with the most important information you'll need to start programming in PHP right away. Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned programmer, this book will take you step-by-step through the core concepts of the language in the least amount of pages possible. It's hard to say if the shortness of the book is due to the teaching mastery of Larry Ullman or the genius of the PHP language. Either way, this book will serve as an excellent tutorial and great reference guide for future projects. PHP is very similar to other languages and my programming background made learning PHP much easier. However, this book's approach and working examples should serve as an excellent tutorial for beginners as well as programmers. Keep in mind that the book is designed to give you a working knowledge of the language and is not a comprehensive course on PHP programming. After reading the book, however, you will be in a much better position to continue your PHP education through PHP's homepage (PHP.net), learning additional functions and techniques as your projects dictate (and as the PHP language continues to grow). (To me, the chapter on databases alone was worth the price of the book. PHP is amazing when it comes to building web-based applications around databases and this book gives you what you need to get started as well using files and directories, cookies and even an intro on creating web applications.)
Rating:
Summary: If you don't have the time for fluff...
Review: Unlike many other programming books, "PHP For the World Wide Web" takes the high-quality low-fluff approach to introducing readers to PHP. Don't let the small size of the book fool you; it is jam-packed with the most important information you'll need to start programming in PHP right away. Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned programmer, this book will take you step-by-step through the core concepts of the language in the least amount of pages possible. It's hard to say if the shortness of the book is due to the teaching mastery of Larry Ullman or the genius of the PHP language. Either way, this book will serve as an excellent tutorial and great reference guide for future projects. PHP is very similar to other languages and my programming background made learning PHP much easier. However, this book's approach and working examples should serve as an excellent tutorial for beginners as well as programmers. Keep in mind that the book is designed to give you a working knowledge of the language and is not a comprehensive course on PHP programming. After reading the book, however, you will be in a much better position to continue your PHP education through PHP's homepage (PHP.net), learning additional functions and techniques as your projects dictate (and as the PHP language continues to grow). (To me, the chapter on databases alone was worth the price of the book. PHP is amazing when it comes to building web-based applications around databases and this book gives you what you need to get started as well using files and directories, cookies and even an intro on creating web applications.)
Rating:
Summary: Clear, friendly and a great introduction
Review: Visual Quickstart guides are incredibly clear and easy-to-use. This book tackles basic PHP features like date functions and making text appear on screen, goes through conditions and loops and includes more advanced chapters on arrays, basic MySQL integration, cookies, and dealing with external files. I've always found it easier to try to figure things out from examples - this book displays clear code examples with explanations side-by-side. Highlighting the new code examples in red is a real help. This book can get you from no knowledge of PHP to an impressive intermediate level in just a few days, even if you don't have a background in programming or scripting. Finally - while there's no CD, the accompanying website allows you to download the script examples chapter-by-chapter.
Rating:
Summary: Best Book For Beginners and only for Beginners
Review: What can I say? The Layouts are good. The book is well written. Samples are easy to follow. I like it best when other than the sample codes being shown, there is another section that explains each and every line, therefore, as you go through the later chapters, you are treated to some sort of a refresher to what you may have learned in other chapters. You also realize that you are applying something you have learned already to something new, hence, it teaches you to somewhat mix all of what you have learned and somehow use it all together. The main reason I give this only 4 out of 5 is that after reading this book, I thought I was ready to make decent PHP pages, but I was not. The lessons I learned were so Basic, but the author does not hide from this fact. It's certainly a GREAT entry Level book (if not a must for entry level PHP coders). But this book is far from enough. Take what you learn in this book, and apply it to what slightly more advanced books will teach you.
Rating:
Summary: A Handy Resource for Beginners
Review: Within only a few pages, I found this book clarified the process of creating PHP scripts and pages. For someone like myself, with only an intermediate knowledge of HTML and database creation, I found the pace and language of the book to be more than reasonable. The author takes time to explain *why* certain parts of code change and it never felt as if the information was being pushed down my throat. However, I would advise people who are true newbies to HTML to familiarise themselves first before looking through this book. Once something has been stated clearly in this book, it is assumed that you truly understand the lesson, so then the author moves on without recycling. I would like to point out to those who have not ranked this book well that it's an introductory guide: why they are disappointed that it doesn't include more advanced scripting information or bleeding edge advice is a mystery to me. I've yet to find one computer-related book that singularly encompasses all I need to know about a specific subject. The key is to be realistic with your expectations.
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