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Summary: Wonderfully clear writing!
Review: I have a whole bookshelf of computer books ... this one is the best! Without any prior knowledge of PHP I was able to write extensive programs after reading this. Unusual clarity (without assuming anything) throughout the book. A good balance of hints about clear programming style combined with practical samples.
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Summary: Best PHP Book!
Review: Worth every penny (Baht). I think it's very good to introduce you to learn how to write php programming. The examples is very good too,easy to understand,give you many ideas.What a great book is!
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Summary: Hodge Podge
Review: The book is ok for anecdotal reference. The overall quality of the code samples .. simply stinks.. several key examples simply don't work as published. As an owner of several Wrox press books, I was very disappointed with this one. The information available at web sites is much more valuable.
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Summary: Pretty good PHP book
Review: This php book is good at explaining how to implement things in PHP and mySQL, but the some parts of code have not been tested because they do not work if you follow them verbatim. You need to do some tweaking to them.
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Summary: The Book to Learn PHP
Review: I got this book becuase I wanted to start using PHP to interact with my MySQL database, so I was depending on this book to lead me through it, and it did. This book is an essential learning tool for those who what to learn PHP without much of a hassle. The book is clearly written and moves along at just the right pace so as not to make you bored but also not so fast that you are bewildered. The reference sections are great for the more advanced PHP programmer who needs to look up all the different aspects of the language. The great thing about PHP is that is doesnt require as much dedication to learn as Java, C++, or VB and yet can be just as effective for web programming becuase of its power and ease of use. I highly recommend this book to those of you who can benefit from knowing PHP.
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Summary: Great PHP Book.
Review: It's my first PHP book and I think it's the last one.I don't want anymore. This book show deep technical detail about PHP.The concept is well illustrated by pictures and the content not only show you how to programming PHP but it also show you how to apply PHP in real life such as using it with Database, integrating with XML, making e-commerce shopping cart.,etc. I like it.
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Summary: MEAT
Review: Rarely, do I ever read a book with a lot of meat in it. This book has a lot of meat. It explains PHP in detail with a good knowledge base all around. I have read better books before but this is definitely on of the better ones. Sure its not literature like some people expected on there reviews but hey its a computer programming book not Shakespear (nor would I read Shakespear anyways).
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Summary: Excellent PHP book
Review: Ok, this is a very good book. I bought this book, with very limited programming experience. I had only really tinkered around with PHP.I found this book very easy to read, and use when I needed it later for a specific job. I think this book is better used going through it from start to finish, taking notes, or however else you learn. There are about 200 pages of Appendix with some handy references. I skipped the installation chapters as I had PHP already installed on my web host. At the end of many chapters, there are exercises you do that links to the chapter you just covered. For the first few chapters you work on a online job application, and build that up at the end of each chapter. Then it moves on to an address book... At the end of the chapters(before the appendix) is 4 case studies: Shopping cart, Phorum discussion board, Email application, and Database browser. Here they write these web applications, and show you how it's done! There are not many mistakes in the writing. I think there are two mistakes in the code, but that is covered on their website. Overall I think this is the best book on the market for PHP. It is interesting, very practical, and is a great book for learning PHP. What are you waiting for? :)
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Summary: Excellent PHP Reference
Review: Great book. Covers where to get PHP, installation, syntax, and a myriad of uses from the simple to the quite complex. Reads easily, not boring, but gets the point across very well. Spreadloads coverate evenly between Microsoft and Unix platforms; i.e., users from either OS will find this book equally useful. Also covers security, extending capability via add on modules and a whole bunch more. It would be very difficult to write a better book than this on PHP. Well worth the money.
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Summary: Not for the php beginner
Review: As a reference manual, "Profession php Programming" has some utility. The 880 pages contain a lot of references to specific php staements, data types, operators and functions. As a demonstration certain programming techniques, it's not bad, either; the bulk of the text follows the creation of pages involving e-mail, LDAP, XML, SQL, shopping carts and other popular web applications. You certainly can't faul it for completeness. But as a tutorial for the php beginner, it's rather lacking, unless you're willing to slog through all 880 pages to learn by example. I think this book is a case of too many cooks; there are five seperate authors, and it shows. The overall organization is confused and inconsistant, and the graphic layout of the book is a mess. There's an awful lot of information here- finding it is the problem. If you have a specific interest in the topics mention above, and you'd like to see some well-documented examples of how to implement them, you may find this book useful. But if you're a newcomer to php, look elsewhere.
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