Customer Reviews

Instant PHP 4

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Granted, I have only looked at the threaded message board for my example but its taken 3 hours to make it work. There are multiple variables that haven't been defined and arrays that use the wrong syntax for the current revision of PHP. Definitely not for the true beginner, however, if you have any experience in scripting languages, you'll be able to figure out what is wrong with it and make the fixes. It has some good base code that, with a little massaging, is very useful.

I bought this book in 2002 and have never found any use for it. It's much too thick to put under that table leg that's a little too short. I'm finally taking it off my bookshelf to make room for books that have some value. If you really want to implement one of the projects in this book, I'm sure that you can find much better code someplace on the Web.

This book has several worth-while projects, including an on-line store shopping cart, a PHP information console, and an on-line address book, and a couple of others. If you already know a little PHP you can get some good examples from the book. If you're wanting learn PHP, look elsewhere. I also found it a bit $$Pricey$$ which is why I gave it 3 stars instead of 4.

I really liked this book because I learn programming by doing it and that's what the book is about. I wouldn't reccomend this book to someone who has no programming experience because the authors don't really explain everything that's happening in the code. If you're already familiar with programming concepts this book should help you find practical applications of PHP. I keep a php reference book nearby while working through the activities if I come across a function I haven't seen before. The quality and conciseness of the code is also worth mentioning. Basically if you learn by doing and are somewhat familiar with PHP or if you are looking for some good examples of PHP programming, this book is for you.