The PHP Anthology, Volume II: Applications [Paperback]

Harry Fuecks (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 2003

Note: A completely updated & revised edition of this book is now available. Please search for "The PHP Anthology, 2nd Edition" (ISBN: 0975841998)

A compilation of best practice solutions to common Web Development problems in PHP, focusing on the achievement of practical goals by applying well-structured, object orientated software design principles.

Volume 2 covers the applications of PHP in the real world including authentication & access control, XML, stats & tracking, caching data to improve performance, design techniques and design patterns. The chapter on Design Patterns is particularly unique as it teaches readers about common object architectures which can be used to solve common (though unique) problems.

In addition to being an excellent reference with over 60 customizable solutions, the book acts as an excellent primer for Object Orientated Programming. PHP 5 has now been released and has been given significant OOP features, which are a must-learn for PHP Developers.

All code in the book is backwards compatible with earlier versions of PHP.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

The PHP Anthology takes the most common problems posted by PHP developers in many discussion lists, forums and newsgroups and shows you how to solve them using modern PHP-coding practices. Along with detailed discussion of the key issues involved in solving specific problems, The PHP Anthology promotes development using PHP’s Object Oriented Programming (OOP) features and popular Open Source libraries.

All solutions and code in the books have been reviewed and approved by today’s top PHP experts, including Kevin Yank, author of the best-selling "Build Your Own Database-Driven Website Using PHP & MySQL". In other words, you can be assured that the books will show you how to develop rock solid, secure applications in the most efficient way possible.

The PHP Anthology can serve as a reference book to over 100 common problems, or if you want to read it cover-to-cover, it can serve as tutorial on advanced PHP coding techniques. Either way, it will provide you with unique insight to help you drastically improve your development techniques, cut down on needless lines of code and avoid potential security pitfalls.

Product Details

• Paperback: 438 pages
• Publisher: SitePoint Pty Ltd; 1 edition (December 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0957921845
• ISBN-13: 978-0957921849
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,270,301 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very practical -- lots of good examples that will be useful., January 13, 2004

By 

Chris Smith (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The PHP Anthology: Object Oriented PHP Solution, Volume 1 (Paperback)

Having bought a few beginner's books on PHP and written a basic CMS for my Website, I was ready to move to the step. What I didn't want is a reference book or a 800 page theory & fluff book that I would never finish reading -- much less use.

Being a previous customer of this publisher, I got an offer to pre-order the book. Since it sounded like it fit the bill and I got a discount for buying both Volume I & II, I decided to go ahead with it.

Having read through half of the first volume, and skimmed through the second volume, I can definitely say that this title has met my expectations. There's quite a few ideas that I can put to use right away, plus I found quite a few things that I now want to offer to my site visitors that this book will make possible.

Because of the way the book is written, I don't have to read through it front to back. I can flip to specific sections, and in a few pages, learn to accomplish a specific task. This is one PHP book - or I should say books - that gets my thumbs up. It's definitely going to get put to good use over the next few weeks.

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can PHP be a language for pofessional developers? Yes!, April 22, 2004

By 

H. van Emde Boas (the Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The PHP Anthology: Object Oriented PHP Solution, Volume 1 (Paperback)

This is a great book!
I bought about 10 PHP books to help me with a web project involving MySQL/PHP. I am a professional Java developer, therefore the principles of PHP are not hard to grasp. Still, everything is different in PHP, and before I saw this book I had the impression that the majority of PHP developers are hacking, cutting and pasting examples into procedural code at random.

After getting started using "PHP and MySQL Web Develpment" by Luke Wellling and Laura Thompson (highly recommended) this book brought me to a level that I can now clain to be a professional PHP programmer too.

This book clearly shows that it is possible to develop PHP in an organized way, using proper design, good object-oriented principles and design patterns (in vol.II). Besides that, there are many practical tips about things I found really difficult as Java programmer: magical quotes, .ini file settings, & references, file downloads, paging result tables, etc. etc. The book is clearly written and answers every question from the standpoint of how to do something using good design and how to write code that is maintainable, extensible and reusable.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Followup, April 14, 2004

By 

Aaron Brazell "technosailor" (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The PHP Anthology: Object Oriented PHP Solution, Volume 1 (Paperback)

With so many books on the market instructing users on dummy approaches to just about everything, it is good to see that Sitepoint has raised the bar, once again, in the technical instruction arena. In continuing the legacy established with "Build Your Own Website Using PHP & MySQL" and "HTML Utopia:Designing Without Tables Using CSS", they have taken a
complex and oft misunderstood approach to coding and presented PHP in a dymystified way that is easy to understand, exciting to conceptualize and practical in application. Harry Fuecks brings a great deal of experience and leadership to Sitepoint, giving the users a way to take linear procedural code and turn it into reusable objects for easier coding. These books will sit on my "favorites" shelf within arms reach of my computer for a long time to come. Kudos, Sitepoint, on yet another stellar release.
~Aaron Brazell, Emmense Technologies