PHP Graphics Handbook

Rating:
Summary: Disappointment and Frustration
Review: As indicated by the title, this book was disappointing, and frustrating. For starters, like the previous reviewer stated, it contained several typos and other errors. It also contained extensive sections on only marginally related information, third-party, non-PHP software, and creating MySQL databases, issues which belong in appendices.

This information actually ends up occupying a large portion of the book. This however, was not the real source of my frustrations and disappointment. The layout of the book is disconcertingly difficult to understand - the physical dimensions of the book are smaller than most other programming books, and though code is highlighted with a gray background, it is broken into little chunks by short explanations of what was being done. Large spaces are also taken for screen shots, which considering the size of the book, often took up at least a good 1/3 of the page. Also, the book's organization was decidedly counter-intuitive. Combined, these factors gave me an abysmal reading experience. Finally, the author's profiles were inappropriately placed before the table of contents, in addition to being merely frivolous commentaries that gave me little confidence in their qualifications for writing this book.

Though I did glean some interesting techniques from the book (not all of them graphics related), in the future, will likely consult the online documentation of the GD imaging functions instead, and recommend the same for other programmers as well.

I also found that some of the topics were too basic; considering the topic of the book, the audience could have been assumed to know much of these topics - and they could have been placed in appendices or sidebars, instead.

I wish I could get a refund, or sell the book in good conscience ... as it is, this book is not recommended, and I must wait until O'Reilly comes out with a 'PHP Graphics in a Nutshell' or something similar, because I am unlikely to buy a book from Wrox ever again.

Rating:
Summary: Not bad for the first book on PHP Graphics
Review: I am disturbed by the other reviews as the credentials of the reviewers are not revealed. As a graduate student and researcher I like to explore the facts before forming my opinion and judgement. I am new to PHP programming and have learned a great deal about it. Am I an expert? No, but I am a sensible reader.

For starters, one must understand that PHP is a programming language and that there is no application that does PHP assembly without having to write the code. Front Page does this for HTML, but there is nothing available for PHP in this sense.

PHP is very powerful, yet is weak in graphics capability. In fact, all graphics capability in PHP is only available through third-party libraries. It is not possible to go in great depth of each third-party library without writing a gigantic book. Nor can the authors know each and every library in and out.

This book was a good introduction to graphing with PHP and gave a good exposure to what is available and selected a few solutions to show what is possible to achieve. The examples are good and show possibilities well. Most of the code makes sense and is clear to read. However, I do find an occasional typo that can stall a routine in a heartbeat.

For the only book available on PHP graphics, it is certainly a good exposure and overview, though it is not a detailed and in-depth presentation for the experienced programmer. The manuals for some of these libraries are detailed and very good, in my opinion (I read a few of them).

In short, this book is not for the experienced PHP programmer who is looking for graphing capabilities with in-depth examples and analysis. This book is definitely for the beginning PHP programmer or others who are looking to expand their understanding of graphing in PHP using third-party libraries (the only way to do graphics in PHP).

Be careful when you read the code examples so that you do not fall victim to the ocassional typo. Also be warned that in order for the code to work right, all other installation and configuration requirements for the server, library paths, GD library and PHP should be flawlessly functioning.

Rating:
Summary: Loads of errors, and the source code download fails.
Review: Learning a subject by deciphering grammatical mistakes and typographical errors, and debugging code is hard enough. Going to the publisher's website and discovering that there are no submissions for errata, and that the source code download is broken spills what motivation may be left to read the rest of the book right out of the sails.

After scanning the book's index and table of contents, I had high hopes for the knowledge that I'd gain by spending the 40 bucks or so for the book, but am now searching for the receipt because I don't have time to be an unpaid QC person for Wrox. The publisher should be embarrassed to pass off a book that was obviously not prepared for final print when the deadline came rolling around.