Rating: 
Summary: OK for my needs
Review: -- but I don't have the needs that a serious PHP programmer does. All the basics seem to be here, in the form of examples. An experienced programmer can skip over the bumpy parts and fill in the blanks.
And there are lots of blanks. Boolean operators are introduced on page 60, including both bitwise and short-circuit OR operators. It gives an example of short-circuit behavior, but never really explains what that means. (If you never heard the term, "a OR b" in the short-circuit sense means "if a is true the expression as a whole is already true, so don't even evaluate expression b", and don't create all the output and side effects that b would have created.) Likewise, p.216 shows a use of include() that doesn't mean what you probably want, but fails to explain why incorrect usage is incorrect. Escape tag configuration is set on p.20, but there never is a clear description of how escape tags interact with the code. The section on Javascript gives examples of files with that and PHP together, but never really spells out the source-level interactions between them.
Also, there is only a little mention of some of the peculiar capabilities of an interpreted language, like being able to use character strings as variable names. This borders on (and sometimes blurs the line with) self-modifying code. There's a lot of potential power there, but you're on your own if you try to tame it.
On the whole, the book gave a uniform impression. It sounds like a pretty good explanation of material that the author just barely understands. There's plenty of code-by-example material here, so I can probably get everything done that I need to. Someone who really needed to understand the language in finest detail would not get what they want, however.
//wiredweird
Rating: 
Summary: Somewhat misleading title, but the book is still great
Review: A more appropriate title would have been 'An Introduction to PHP 4.0 for HTML Programmers'. The first five chapters cover basic programming concepts such as data types, conditional statements, functional programming, in arrays in very great detail. I found myself (a VB, C, and C++ programmer) skipping dozens of pages at a time. However, in addition to the basic theories, the book does do a good job explaining the various commands and functions PHP uses, although in a manner slightly more basic than I had expected.Starting in chapter 6, however, Gilmore throws down new concepts fast and furiously. The quality of his explanations doesn't suffer, he simply covers more in a briefer period of time in a manner that a somewhat experienced programmer will easily understand. On the whole, I was very impressed with this book. It does a fantastic job introducing PHP 4.0 and serves as a fantastic reference book as well.
Rating:
Summary: Judge This Book By The Title
Review: As a Java Web programmer of a couple of years I found this book an excellent resource that got me working quickly. It is definitely not for the beginning programmer as there are other books better suited to that task. Mr. Gilmore presents PHP in a clear and concise format. In the first chapters he covers, as he should, the structure, language syntax, and logical constructs with sufficient prose to get the experienced programmer working quickly. I found the depth of these topic slightly more detailed than needed but I breezed through them. He even includes an entire chapter on Strings and Regular Expression if you need the refresher. The second section is also well written and concise. He covers how to use PHP as a web scripting language and the database access aspects of it as well. If you are not familiar with how web apps work, Mr. Gilmore gets you workinq quickly with ideas and hints to using templates and dynamic page generation techniques. The chapters each complete with a sample PHP web app. The final section covers XML, Javascript/COM, and security. The security chapter is a must read for beginnig PHP programmers so the don't leave gaping holes in there sites. I highly recommend this book for any programmer looking to move to PHP. PHP is a high level productive web development environment and Mr. Gilmore made it even more so for me.
Rating:
Summary: Judge This Book By The Title
Review: As a Java Web programmer of a couple of years I found this book an excellent resource that got me working quickly. It is definitely not for the beginning programmer as there are other books better suited to that task. Mr. Gilmore presents PHP in a clear and concise format. In the first chapters he covers, as he should, the structure, language syntax, and logical constructs with sufficient prose to get the experienced programmer working quickly. I found the depth of these topic slightly more detailed than needed but I breezed through them. He even includes an entire chapter on Strings and Regular Expression if you need the refresher. The second section is also well written and concise. He covers how to use PHP as a web scripting language and the database access aspects of it as well. If you are not familiar with how web apps work, Mr. Gilmore gets you workinq quickly with ideas and hints to using templates and dynamic page generation techniques. The chapters each complete with a sample PHP web app. The final section covers XML, Javascript/COM, and security. The security chapter is a must read for beginnig PHP programmers so the don't leave gaping holes in there sites. I highly recommend this book for any programmer looking to move to PHP. PHP is a high level productive web development environment and Mr. Gilmore made it even more so for me.
Rating:
Summary: A bit of a disappointment
Review: I admit I have learned new things from this book: for instance, the new block syntax/constructs, using "if (conditions):" and "endif;", instead of curly braces (and this also applies to for constructs). Also, the require_once and include_once functions, that seem pretty self-explanatory compared to require() and include(). However the book misses a lot that is elementary to (web) application development. For instance, it does not discuss how to use define() to declare CONSTANTS, so that you can absolutely avoid over-writing some key information. And the book purports to discuss integrating Javascript into PHP/Web applications, and then spends only about 6 or 8 pages of uselessly vague information on this topic (instead, it might have been interesting to contrast the way the two languages implement regular expressions, so, for instance, you could sync up client side Javascript form validation code with server side PHP form validation code). Therefore, I would place this book at the beginning to intermediate level, rather than the intermediate to advanced level I was hoping for. I don't foresee using this book much now that I've bought it, but am glad I have a protege to whom I can pass it along.
Rating:
Summary: A Must-have Reference for the PHP Novice
Review: I haven't read a lot of PHP books, but as far as programming books in general go, this is one of the better ones. It does what it says, and fulfills the basic need to jump start your PHP development. You really don't need to know much to get maximum benefit from the book, because it starts from the beginning. The word programmer in the title seems to be simply a caveat so the author can move through the material at a brisk pace. Why is this book such a good buy?... What this book does is give you a quick reference to the basics of the language WITHOUT getting bogged down with the lengthy explanations that a raw beginner might need. The book is so concise and well organized that you can find clear examples and explanations on almost any common topic with no hassle. I really have to emphasize how much this will speed up your early PHP development. Topics covered include: Installation, Configuration, Variables, Arrays, Expressions, Operators, Control Structures, Functions, Libraries, OOP, Files, Strings, Regular Expressions, Templates, HTML Forms, Databases (MySQL), Cookies, Session Tracking, XML, Javascript, COM, and Security.
Rating: 
Summary: This book is overrated -- too many mistakes
Review: I'll have to concur with the anonymous reviewer. There are many mistakes throughout the code in this book. It's as if the code or the instructions were written without having been tested. I just thought I would add my weight to lower the average rating. This book is overrated.
Rating: 
Summary: Lots of errors
Review: Not for newbies to programming but if you know the basics
of html and javascript and basic database stuff but want the
heads up on PHP then this book is great !!!... Just the facts described short, sweet and to the point. Examples are perfect
without being overly complex. Good stuff.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a bad book
Review: Overall, this was not a bad book. I was breezing through the chapters since I already knew C++... and I have to say he did a good job on showing how to set up PHP with Apache. This book also serves as an excellent reference- it shows you several important functions of PHP, as well as an explanation of the usage. The only thing I wish Gilmore had done was explain on how to set up mySQL with Apache. He did a good job explaining how to set up PHP with Apache, but why not show how to set up PHP/Apache with mySQL? It would've been nice if it had been included, but I didn't mind looking it up. (He makes up for it by showing in a clear manner how to integrate mySQL with PHP.) Other than that, the content of this book and its explanations are quite good.
Rating:
Summary: 2 Thumbs UP!
Review: The book gave me so much fundamental insights I needed to get started with PHP. The examples are easy to understand; explanations are to the point; and the entire book is so very practical. If anyone needs to purchase their first or second PHP4 book, this is the one.
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