Rating: 
Summary: a solid foundation
Review: This Wrox book goes over the fundamentals of php for experienced programmers and covers all of the most used functions. As other reviewers have mentioned, it does not cover all functions; note, however, that it does not claim to be the definitive source for such a use. Used in conjunction with php.net, any programmer should be able to write php code easily after reading this book. The case studies between the chapters of the book and its appendices are a good way to see php in real life use.
Rating: 
Summary: You're better off using the online documentation.
Review: This book has many issues. Such as poor organization and indexing, missing php functions, and lack of in-depth examples with good explanations.If your new to programming and desperately need a reference to get you started, this may be the book for you. Yet the problems I mentioned above would be frustrating for new programmers. Its frustrating enough when you know what your looking for and can't find it. I find myself using the online documentation far more than I use this book. On the other hand, this book does provide various examples on how to use php and may prove to be helpful to some. Please note that this review does not cover chapter 2 "Installing and Configuring PHP" since I did not need to read this portion of the book.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent but obsolete.
Review: This is a great PHP intro book with very nice, step-by-step, clear and straightforward examples. I recommend that you get this book only if you find it necessary to have your programming documentation in a paper form, but it is really unnecessary. This is not an advanced PHP programmer book, but rather beginner to intermediate.
Rating:
Summary: Out of Date
Review: It is out of date and so has some misleading information. Though the title says professional, it is really a beginner book. It is missing, among other things, a solid discussion of objects in PHP and discussion of sessions.
Rating:
Summary: Great text for intro to PHP, but no session information
Review: Really a must have book for anyone thinking of getting started with PHP. However Session variables are a very important aspect of what you will do with PHP4.0, and this book only mentions it in passing (a major flaw, no doubt). Get a copy of PHP4 Bible by Tim Converse and Joyce Park for a great explanation of session. You will be very glad you did! (PHP4 rocks and session handling is a snap).
Rating: 
Summary: A must have for newbies and experts
Review: I would realñy like to recomend this book to everyone interested on learning this potential programming language, and to anyone who already knows it and wants a reference book. And perhaps, if you are a PHP expert, I am sure you'll learn something from this book. Perfect explanations of every PHP function. Includes examples and anything you need to really understand the PHP environment, and not only to understand it, but to enjoy it and get the maximum from it!. Really a must have. Luis R. Ballina México
Rating:
Summary: Not good at all
Review: First of all, the book is very poorly written. The grammar, sentence structure are barely tolerable and makes the reading frustating to say the least. Second, this book is written by 5 different authors. AND IT SHOWS. In terms of content organization I would give the book a zero star. Third, most of the material covered is also found in the php online manual. Why would you want to look up a function in a book that has a terrible index when you can do a search/find on the online pdf manual? Fourth, the examples covered in the book have very little explanation to it. Fifth, too expensive.
Rating:
Summary: BEST PHP REFERENCE TO DATE
Review: This is the one to buy. I am a web developer for a large corporate site in Charlotte NC. I write PHP code all day long. My copy of this book is getting pretty ragged these days. It is a superb reference not only for PHP functions, but HTML as well. The book does an amazingly good job of walking thru installation of PHP, Apache, and MySQL so that the three can work together. I can't recall finding a single typo in this book, at least as far as the code goes. There are a few awkward english sentences, but given that some of the authors probably do not speak english as a first language, that's fine. The code download from the Wrox website is packed in a .zip file: next to useless for a Linux user like myself. I hope this will be addressed in the future. With this book and the MySQL book from New Riders, you are loaded for bear.
Rating:
Summary: Good enought
Review: The book covers a lot of topics about programming in PHP and gives a reader good understanding about power of PHP. It includes useful examples. Very good for the people, who had an experience in ASP or Perl. Kind of "jump to PHP" bible. Unfortunately not all the topics keep the same level. I had a feeling that one of the authors just not as talented writer as his four friends are. Anyway it is a good book.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing Close for PHP Thoroughness
Review: There is really no other choice for throroughness on the subject of PHP. The price is more than reasonable for the breadth and depth of this book's coverage as you'll get this paperback tattered in no time (my personal test of utility - how fast before the cover falls off). It contains an ever expanding tutorial that gets one up to speed pretty fast; as a reference for PHP it holds up very well also. Let's face it, web scripting languages no matter what they are (e.g., PERL, cgi, etc.) are not trivial to use, but this book stands up as one of the best I've seen for satisfying both (serious) beginner, and experienced user. I would include PROFESSIONAL PHP PROGRAMMING as one of my core linux bibles in a set that would also include DuBois MYSQL (excellent chapter on hooking PHP up to MySQL), Laurie and Laurie's APACHE: THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE, and Christiansen and Torkington's PERL COOKBOOK. Throw in any one of the basic Linux distributions with their manuals, and you can take over the world. This (and the other publications) have me up and running on a Pentium 133 with 32 mb of RAM and a 3 gig hard drive - Turbolinux Workstation 6.0, Apache 1.3.9, PHP 4.0, and MySQL (I forget the distribution!). It's a cool world.
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