Rating: 
Summary: An interesting new language effectively presented
Review: A former student recently sent me a message describing the work he was doing in web design using PHP. Not having any experience in the language but hearing good things about it prompted me to take an interest. In other cases, I have read programming books like this due to a pressing need to learn the language. However, this time I read a book just to see what the language was all about.
The language itself certainly holds promise in the area of the creation of dynamic web content. As far as the book, it also lived up to the promises. The features of the language were presented using clear, basic examples that were easy to follow. What was most impressive was that less time was spent on the routine features such as variables, data types, flow control, objects and such. The points of interest were the mechanisms whereby the state of the operation could be saved and the section on debugging. As one who has debugged many a JavaScript program with alert boxes and selectively commenting out code, the presence and concentration on the debugging features were considered well done.
I learned a great deal about the language from the book, even absent the usual pressure to learn a language in the titled 24 hours. PHP is a language that has a lot of potential, and the coverage in this book makes that and the language clear.
Rating: 
Summary: Exceeds Expectations
Review: After learning the basics of c++, I decided to learn PHP. Rather than learning it visually and having it explained in person (as I did in programming class), I knew I would have to rely on a book. After browsing through a few books, I quickly realized that "Sams Teach Yourself PHP4 in 24 Hours" would give me all I needed to know to help create a backend for my website. It explains in excellent detail about arrays, functions, dynamic image creation, interaction with MySQL realational databases, and everything else that is essential to a PHP programmer. I can honestly say that whenever I need to know "how to do this", I can refer to the book and get the answer I need. If you're new to PHP, then this is the book for you. If you're not, then this is still an ideal choice for reference.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty good, but SLOPPY mistakes
Review: Don't get me wrong, it's a good book, technically sound, and well organized. In fact I recommend it to anyone with some programming and HTML background.But how HARD is it to write a book free from errors??!! Some of the errors are just irritating typos, but some are far more dangerous. In a few places I was actually taught a concept incorrectly (evil of evils!!), and was only set straight later in the book when the author actually taught it correctly. I don't think this guy actually went back and reviewed his own book, if he had, he'd have caught the errors. sorry for negativity, it's a good book, but I hate errors, especially when they occur a lot in a programming book.
Rating: 
Summary: All correct information can be found on the web
Review: First of all, I bought the book when it was 24.99. The book talks about all of the great things you can install with php, but only explains an absolute bare-bones minimum installation. There are a few chapters that make the assumption that you'd "figure out" how to install things (i.e. the gd library) which you obviously can't take advantage of unless you cross this barrier. Okay, so I learn all the intracicies of installing php with apache and gd, ssl, etc., from the web. Hello, why do I need the book if I have to do this? There are a lot of suggestions that just don't work, and you're left to your own devices to figure out why. For example, php has a persistent db connection function, that the book talks about. However, they fail to mention that this function doesn't work if you install php the way they suggest! Uggghhh!!! The section on session variables work fine, but controling the length of the session doesn't. Neither does the section on setting cookies. The basics like flow control and variables are accurate, but again, you can find that (and more) at php.net and phpbuilder.com. I went to devshed for all of my installation needs and there are e-mail lists whenever you have questions. Usuallys, Sams books are very good and straight to the point. This one, unfortunately, is a loser.
Rating: 
Summary: Too Many Errors
Review: I am a great fan of the Sam's Teach Yourself books, but I am very disappointed in this particular release. I have found multiple errors. As an experienced programmer this is a mere inconvenience and annoyance, but to new programmers this can be very confusing.
Rating:
Summary: Too Many Errors
Review: I am a great fan of the Sam's Teach Yourself books, but I am very disappointed in this particular release. I have found multiple errors. As an experienced programmer this is a mere inconvenience and annoyance, but to new programmers this can be very confusing.
Rating:
Summary: My favorite php book
Review: I am a php programmer and have done alot of php programming over the past four years. This is my favorite php book and I refer to it often. It may not have all the answers but it answers most of the common problems simply and clearly.
Rating:
Summary: My favorite php book
Review: I am a php programmer and have done alot of php programming over the past four years. This is my favorite php book and I refer to it often. It may not have all the answers but it answers most of the common problems simply and clearly.
Rating: 
Summary: Doesn't care about customers of older editions
Review: I bought this book when it was still current. I recently emailed the author trying to get the code for this edition since I misplaced the original code download, he refused to give me the code, trying to get me to buy the newest edition. Sams and this author have no respect for customers of an edition after a newer edition comes out. I made sure the next PHP book I bought was NOT a Sams book or from this author.
Rating:
Summary: A + for concept,, C for execution
Review: I have little programming experience. I bought this in order to learn PHP from the ground up. However, as noted in some other reviews, there are a lot of typos even in the examples (in the form of misidentified variables, etc). If you have enough experience with programming, you probably see these things and rightfully blow right past them. But for newbies, you spend hours trying to figure out what-the-heck the author is doing. That was my experience with this book. Further, I was not able to find a listing of errata on the web site. Finally, some concepts are poorly explained or use jargon unfamiliar to beginners (such as the use of classes and objects). I spent many hours trying to figure out the information on object-oriented programming. On the plus side, the book does have some good examples, it has assignments (unfortunately without any sample solutions), quizzes at the ends of chapters, and it has a review at the end of each chapter in a question/answer format. I DO like this book for its design, concept, and structure. Unfortunately, the errors and occasional obscurity are significant flaws.
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