PHP 4 Developer's Guide

Rating:
Summary: Many tips for real life programming
Review: Actually, this is a good book (not for novice). It covers more advanced topic needed for real life projects. But, I don't like the function reference part (it takes a REALLY lot of pages). I don't think it has any advantages. I hope the publisher will reprint it without the function reference part.

Overall: This is a good book.

Rating:
Summary: Good general overview
Review: I was able to take this book and apply what I had learned from it very quickly. It has also been a good help as a reference book.

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Summary: Definately one of the better PHP books I own
Review: I've been coding PHP for a few years now, and I find this book to be a very good reference to keep at the desk. It covers a broad range of topics, so if I need to brush up on something or need quick info on something, I turn to this book first. Recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Not much for so many pages
Review: If you are a serious PHP4 developer you will get plenty of long term benefit from this book. The author is really clear with complex topics and his generous samples of code examples are well written. Although the book is 775 pages, the developers guide chapters are all covered in the first 342 pages. There is a 391 page appendix of alphabetically listed and defined PHP functions which can come in handy, a listing of predefined variables and constants, and an appendix on build options. I found the chapters on code reuse and separating html from php quite useful. More database coverage would have been nice, and, like a lot of technical books theses days, I thought it was a little over priced. Overall, this is one of the better books on the subject that is available, and I do highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: For Serious PHP4 Developers
Review: If you are a serious PHP4 developer you will get plenty of long term benefit from this book. The author is really clear with complex topics and his generous samples of code examples are well written. Although the book is 775 pages, the developers guide chapters are all covered in the first 342 pages. There is a 391 page appendix of alphabetically listed and defined PHP functions which can come in handy, a listing of predefined variables and constants, and an appendix on build options. I found the chapters on code reuse and separating html from php quite useful. More database coverage would have been nice, and, like a lot of technical books theses days, I thought it was a little over priced. Overall, this is one of the better books on the subject that is available, and I do highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Good but pricey
Review: The book assumes knowledge of SQL and HTML, so it is not for newbies. Overall it was good, has great examples, well written. Author knows his stuff. Half this huge book is the PHP function reference which you can get for free online. Tells how to set up shopping cart, other advanced structures. Best points: 1. Promotes good design structure 2. Covers security issues 3. Shopping cart setup 4. Great reference tables for basic PHP language constructs

Bad points: 1. Expensive 2. Not all functions mentioned are in the reference, such as "include" 3. Needs more examples. I like two per main concept All in all, if you don't care about $$$, good to have on hand. (I paid $65 in a book store. Amazon had better deal)

Rating:
Summary: A good documentation of PHP function.
Review: This book covers almost every function available in PHP besides some good implementation of PHP features such as sessions, forms manipulation and file transfer. However, this book is lack of examples and looks like a dictionary. You will know the purpose of each function, but no description about how to use it. Experienced users will find this book useful. For beginners or intermediary, you should combine this book with PHP Developer's Cookbook to gain the best benefits from this book. However, despite of its disadvantages, it still one of the best PHP book available this day.

Rating:
Summary: Not A Very Helpful Guide
Review: This book is mainly useful for its Function Reference which takes up nearly 400 pages. However, even this Function Reference is not very helpful because of its lack of useful explanations and examples. Several of the PHP related Web Sites have more useful reference sections.

Rating:
Summary: poorly done
Review: This is among the worst computer books I've ever seen. The examples are poor and the explanation of topics could not be worse. Although it is 700 pages half the book is an appendix with a language reference. In the 350 or so pages of text, the topic of reading and writing files with PHP gets 6 pages. I can't emphasize enough how poorly done this book is.

Rating:
Summary: Finally - a Serious PHP Reference Guide!
Review: This is the first serious PHP Developer Guide and reference book that we have used! Well written with an easy to use presentation and with sufficient depth to remain useful well into the future.

We have used PHP3/4 on our own LAN and Web servers for more than two years now and have relied upon the PHP online documentation as well as several popular print books (writing our own when necessary). For the most part we have been disappointed in the printed material. But Blake Schwendiman has finally put together a useful book for the serious developer!

The style and format make it easy to use for both the novice wishing to learn PHP 4, and the experienced developer in need of a useful reference on the shelf. We recommend it for both!

Our only small disappointment was the single chapter devoted to data base support. Data base support is PHP's most powerful feature in our opinion and we expected a bit more. That said, this is a PHP Developer's Guide and not a data base reference, and the information given is sufficient to get you up and running.

Computer developer books by nature quickly become 'dated'. But for the serious developer, this one will serve a long and useful life! Highly recommended!