Create Dynamic Web Pages Using PHP and MySQL (Practical Solutions Series) [Paperback]

David Tansley (Author)

Book Description

Series: Practical Solutions Series | Publication Date: November 28, 2001

PHP is a new web script language that's been around for about 5 years. PHP is very fast, it is an open source server side scripting language and was designed for web page generation and back-end database access. It supports all the major DBMS systems like postgres, MySQL,Sybase etc. This book is aimed at getting the reader up and running with PHP and MySQL quickly. The author will take the reader through PHP basics moving on to basic form processing and then onto more intermediate form processing using cookies. It is a gentle approach to the teaching of PHP and MySQL the design and pace of the book will reflect this. The book will be divided into 2 parts - the first part will cover PHP as a web programming language, the second part will cover PHP being used to access database back-ends.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Do you want to learn the essentials of PHP in an easy manner with the help of expert guidance and a wealth of practical examples? Would you like to be able to create dynamic web pages and learn how to interact with MySQL database even though you may have little or no experience? Then this book is for you.

You don't need prior knowledge of programming, as this book provides you with everything you need to know about PHP, MySQL and how to create dynamic webpages. You learn by example from the many practical examples throughout the book. You will be taught how to create simple web pages first, and then gradually build up to using forms. PHP is the scripting language of choice for Linux server--even if you haven't got a web server installed, don't worry. The first chapter of this book covers what to install and configure in an easy to understand way. And all the software you need is on the accompanying CD-Rom, which includes apache, Netscape, PHP, and MySQL source code, plus all the scripts from the book.

Skills you will learn:

• How to install and configure the Linux server
• Essentials of PHP programming--handling form processing, saving state, loops and arrays, strings and pattern matching, web server variables plus many other features.
• Essentials of MySQL database--connecting MySQL with PHP, Guest book application, Gotcha application, and Internal shopping cart application.
• How to secure Apache using authentication--web authentication, using PHP to control Access, using a database to store users and passwords, using htaccess files.

0201734028B10012001

About the Author

David Tansley has been working with Unix and Linux for over 10 years. He works at AceUK - a major Lloyds of London Underwriting Agency - and has lots of hands-on practitioner experience. He is the author of Linux & Unix Shell Programming (AW) and writes a monthly column for Enterprise Linux Magazine

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional; 1st edition (November 28, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201734028
• ISBN-13: 978-0201734027
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,009,922 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Misleading Title -but OK for your first, January 10, 2002

By 

Michael Sims (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Create Dynamic Web Pages Using PHP and MySQL (Practical Solutions Series) (Paperback)

I suppose as a beginner, my knowledge is already pretty advanced. At least, the concepts are familiar. Typos in the editing aside, this book isn't bad. I thought the CD was a waste, since all of this software is easily obtainable on the web, and contributed to the cost of the book.

I had already purchased Beginning PHP 4 from wrox and everything covered in Mr Tansley's book was available in there. I thought that book was superior as a reference and introduction to the concepts of PHP and mySQL, and would recommend it first.

If you are looking for a book (as I still am) that details more database development on the backend to create a site, this is not the book. Don't be mislead by the title to assume into believing it marries mySQL and PHP from the beginning.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely frustrating, January 8, 2003

By 

Darren Ortiz (Montreal, Quebec Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Create Dynamic Web Pages Using PHP and MySQL (Practical Solutions Series) (Paperback)

I have to agree with everyone else here when they say that this book is absolutley packed with grammatical and coding errors. I already have a basic knowledge of PHP and a strong grounding in other languages so at first it was easy for me to see the errors and correct them, but now that I'm getting into the more complicated apsects such as file handling, I'm getting super-frustrated trying to figure out why things don't work. It has more errors than a Friends of Ed book. I'm going back to the store and picking up the O'Reilly book. They've never let me down.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Mr Tansley PLEASE hire an editor and a coder to check syntax, December 18, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Create Dynamic Web Pages Using PHP and MySQL (Practical Solutions Series) (Paperback)

VERY frustrating.. (I had written a long review but when I went to submit I accidentally hit the BACK button on my mouse. ugh) So.. I am just going to say that this book would be best if you paid about 4 dollars for it. BUT you would HAVE to have a proven php manual that covered PHP 4.1(and up) to really learn php. This book is so awfully edited. I went through about 5 hours of searching google to reference his code. I am a complete PHP newbie. He has a few lines of code that are completely broke... silly syntax errors (# instead of = , !! instead of ++). But for the newbies, this can be way too frustrating when you find that the author (your teacher) is to blame. I am now about half way through this book and have found its one enormous fault. It's written for PHP 4.0. There are some major security issues with the way he approaches html form variables. He uses the "old way". So if you have PHP 4.1 or greater installed then some of the code he lists will NOT work, by default. This sent me on a wild goose chase for several hours. You will have to change default settings that can lead to the vulnerability of your scripts. I finally went to the php manual (php.net) and found the compatibility problems with his examples and my php install (4.2.3). If you really want this book to be effective you are going to have to use old PHP techniques that are proven insecure in this day and age. I assumed with a 2002 publishing date that the book was up to snuff. Despite these major frustrations and snafus, I have been able to learn php. David explains his code very well. He assumes you don't know what is going on. I would say that anyone can learn some php from this book but don't make it your primary source. I think one would be better off learning from a book that focuses on formal/clean coding and 100% working examples. Also beware; his writing is full of typos as well. I am no linguist but seeing the silly errors he makes in his diction leaves me to wonder how serious he is about actually teaching and not rushing it out for the publisher. It reads as if he wrote it and never read back over the pages. So, I will be on the lookout for something better.