Rating: 
Summary: Best PHP-reference Around
Review: As an developer wanting to learn additional languages and distinguis between the syntax differences of web-coding languages, I was particularly happy to find a book that served as a true example-based reference guide. Ironically, I've not even "cracked" the CD packaging!Whether you need to install and configure Apache, install PHP or use it to code, install MySQL or use it in your PHP scripts, this book walks you through it all. There's even a handy comprehensive PHP functions reference in the back of the book. Personallly, I liked this book better than the one for dummies. I would definitely recommend this book for anyone wanting to know more about PHP.
Rating: 
Summary: it's okay ...
Review: Based on the reviews here, I bought it. While it shows many of the important functions in PHP, it lacked that extra which pulls the concepts together. I think it would be very helpful if the authors took an example such as a guestbook or a message board which ties several concepts together and showed how to do it.
Rating:
Summary: Wish I had this book when I was learning PHP
Review: Books on PHP are definately improving as time goes on. This is the best book I've seen so far for the beginner, and I definately wish I had it when I was started learning 3 years ago. A wide variety of functions were covered to get the novice familiar with how PHP works, giving them a good foundation to move onto more advanced books and/or tutorials. I would have given it 5 stars if it weren't for the fact that it failed to stress the importance of form related security (which should definately be taught from the beginning), as well as writing with registered_globals off (which is the default setting in PHP for 4.2 or later). Many beginners who follow this book may wonder why their scripts aren't working because of it. Overall, though, I was very impressed with the layout of the example code, with plenty of pointers explaining what each part of the code is doing, as well as how easy it was to skim the text that came with it.
Rating:
Summary: Wish I had this book when I was learning PHP
Review: Books on PHP are definately improving as time goes on. This is the best book I've seen so far for the beginner, and I definately wish I had it when I was started learning 3 years ago. A wide variety of functions were covered to get the novice familiar with how PHP works, giving them a good foundation to move onto more advanced books and/or tutorials. I would have given it 5 stars if it weren't for the fact that it failed to stress the importance of form related security (which should definately be taught from the beginning), as well as writing with registered_globals off (which is the default setting in PHP for 4.2 or later). Many beginners who follow this book may wonder why their scripts aren't working because of it. Overall, though, I was very impressed with the layout of the example code, with plenty of pointers explaining what each part of the code is doing, as well as how easy it was to skim the text that came with it.
Rating:
Summary: Gets to the Point
Review: Great book - it really gets to the meat of the matter with plenty of examples. This series in general is meant for fast, visual learning without all the reading.
Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: I am currently in college for computer programing and have read many books, some for college and some not. Between classes and homework time was a tight issue. Many books have alot of text, which can be hard to read all at once. With this book I could pick it up on any page that I was reading without having to backtrack and remember what has already been explained. This is extremly helpful because of the tight time. I am surprised how fast I learned the syntax of PHP, I think this was due to the pictures explaining how things work. And being able to take breaks inbetwen reading. I would recomend this book to anyone who wants to learn PHP, although the book is small, and doesn't have many pages do not be sceptical for it really is great. I also have the Visual Blue Print for mySQL which is what I will be reading next if it is as easy to read and learn as this one, I will be buying alot more "Visual Blue Print" books.
Rating:
Summary: Good for beginner's....
Review: I bought this book in hopes of it being a little bit more advanced, not to say that I didn't learn much, and the author's more visual aproach is something that I enjoyed. Overall I give it 4/5 stars, because it is a GREAT book for those just learning the basics of PHP. I recommend this book to anyone needing a great book to learn the ins and outs of PHP :)
Rating:
Summary: Great Learning Tool for PHP
Review: I have purchased many books to learn new programming languages in my spare time. Most of them I got boared with that rambled on and on and didn't really help me much. I give this 5 stars because for a person with programming logic and some programming skill you can get a ton out of this book. This is the best programming tutorial I have ever read. I am a software programmer by trade so I have seen a lot of books. This book is right to the point with graphic examples and makes things so easy to understand. If you know a little bit about programming and want to pick up the PHP language this is a must have book. I am about 1/2 way through it right now and can't wait to get the time to finish it. All in all this is a must have book for Newbie PHP programmers to help get your feet wet in the PHP world. Great Job!
Rating:
Summary: The best tech book I have ever read.
Review: I really good book for begginers. Easy to read. Fast learning.
Rating: 
Summary: Depends on what you want...
Review: If you are a beginner to programming languages this book is very good. If you are a proffesional this is a book that you would breeze through in a night, maybe two to get an overview of the language. The book is good for a beginner because you cannot get more detailed about the small topic chunks they covered at any given time. The books assumes you know nothing or virtually nothing of programming languages or server side scripting. The book is only a wet your lips kind of thing for a proffessional. It will not give you everything you need to really write good production sites. You need another book for that. Even though it only wets your lips, this book is a good book even for the proffesional because it is a very quick read for someone who knows other programming languages.
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