Beginning PHP and MySQL: From Novice to Professional [Paperback]

W. Jason Gilmore (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 28, 2008 | ISBN-10: 1590598628 | ISBN-13: 978-1590598627 | Edition: 3

Beginning PHP and MySQL: From Novice to Professional, Third Edition, offers a comprehensive introduction to two of the most prominent open source technologies on the planet: the PHP scripting language and the MySQL database server. It's the third edition of W. Jason Gilmore's very successful book that has sold in excess of 13,000 units over the previous two editions, and it's been updated to cover the new features in PHP as that language makes the very significant jump from version 5 to version 6.

Essentially three books in one, readers not only profit from extensive introductions to the core features of each technology, but also learn how to effectively integrate the two in order to build robust data-driven applications. Packed with practical examples and insight into the real-world challenges faced by developers based on the author’s seven years of expertise working with these technologies, readers will repeatedly return to this book as both a valuable instructional tool and reference guide.

Editorial Reviews

Review

From the reviews:

"A comprehensive introduction to … the scripting language PHP and the MySQL database server. This book will not only expose … core aspects of both technologies, but will provide valuable insight into how they are used in unison to create dynamic data-driven Web applications." (it-expert, Issue no. 48, 2004)

About the Author

W. Jason Gilmore has been steeply involved in PHP and MySQL Web application development for seven years, and has developed hundreds of applications using the LAMP (Linux Apache MySQL PHP) platform. His writings on Open Source technologies have been featured within many of the computing industry's leading publications, including Linux Magazine, O'Reillynet, Devshed, and Zend.com, and have been adapted for educational initiatives led by many organizations, including the Ford Foundation and the United Nations. These days, Jason is Developer.com's PHP contributor, and is a regular contributor to Linux Magazine. He spends his days (and many nights) running Apress' Open Source program. Jason graduated from The Ohio State University in 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in computer science.

Product Details

• Paperback: 1080 pages
• Publisher: Apress; 3 edition (March 28, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590598628
• ISBN-13: 978-1590598627
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 2.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #169,805 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #3 in Books > Computers & Technology > Databases > Beginning & Introductory
  • #89 in Books > Computers & Technology > Databases > SQL

More About the Author

W. Jason Gilmore has been teaching developers from around the world about web development for over a decade, having written six books, including the bestselling "Beginning PHP and MySQL, Fourth Edition" and "Easy PHP Websites with the Zend Framework". He has published more than 300 articles within popular publications such as Developer.com, DevShed, JSMag, and Linux Magazine, and instructed hundreds of students in the United States and Europe.

Jason is cofounder of the popular CodeMash Conference, and was a member of the 2008 MySQL Conference speaker selection board.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars [Third Edition Review] Broad coverage except in XML manipulation, May 29, 2008

By 

S. Tang - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beginning PHP and MySQL: From Novice to Professional (Paperback)

This book is written for someone who is familiar with other programming languages and databases and now wants to use PHP and MySQL. It is not written for somebody completely new to programming. For example, if you came from Perl or ASP, and you wanted to know how arrays, loops, and objects in PHP, this book will cover that.

The topic coverage is broad but not deep. The book has a feel of "semi-reference" in that each topic stands on its own. This is not a cookbook or "learn by example" book. There is enough information to get you started, but if you have a complex/niche problem, this book will not help you. For more information, you will have to consult books that specialize on the topic you are interested.

I have one major gripe with this book. There is not any significant coverage of XML manipulation or XSL/XSLT aspects of PHP. When you look at the table of contents or index, there is no mention of XSL/XSLT and only a brief mention of XML (and RSS) in the Web Services chapter. For a book that covers a lot of subjects, this is a weak area.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Bloated and wordy, May 14, 2009

By 

DavMin (Burnout, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beginning PHP and MySQL: From Novice to Professional (Paperback)

I'm a sucker for a good price and I bought this book hoping that in the 1000+ pages I could start to learn PHP. I did - but I also quickly got frustrated and distracted by the author's complete refusal to explain ANYTHING with conciseness.

This is a reference book, not something you'd want to read cover to cover.

Boring examples, wordy discussions - the authors seems to have been more interested in boosting page count than anything else :(

Another bloated PHP book was Larry Ullman's Visual QuickPro. Are there any php tech authors who know how to write??

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book except missing one thing., March 11, 2011

By 

kdub - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beginning PHP and MySQL: From Novice to Professional (Paperback)

I am relatively new to PHP. I just started with this book not too long ago. I had purchased another PHP book previously, but each chapter was very light on it's subject matter (the chapter on Arrays was only 3 pages). I knew that if I wanted to learn PHP thoroughly and effectively that I had to find a book that educated me more on each topic. That's where this book does an excellent job, the amount of information covered in each chapter is very thorough and necessary to learn in hopes of becoming a professional. In addition, the book covers a lot of topics that other books don't that are very interesting and necessary. (for example, chapter 24, Introduction to Zend Framework or chapter 16,Networking)..

But what I found disappointing was that at no point in the book did the author engage it's reader (meaning there are no practice exercises). I learn best when I can take what I've learned and apply it to a working example; where I am asked to create my own code instead of simply copying the code in the book. This book doesn't do anything like that. There are tons of code examples that you can copy, and that's just about it.

IMHO this book really seems to be a reference style book. A great book to read and have around, but as a total beginner, I feel like it's lacking the necessary engagement that will get me thinking for myself.