Customer Reviews

PHP 6 and MySQL 5 for Dynamic Web Sites: Visual QuickPro Guide

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

PHP 6 and MySQL 5 by larry ullman is one of the best book I've read in my life , the book contain 17 chapters , covering topics for beginners to advanced topics and it is explain the most common web application examples like (develop user registration , build message board , e-commerce website) .

the book covers the fundamental details in very quick way and specific which is makes the reader build the web application in very short time .

the great thing about this book , it discuss the new improvement mySQL and unicode which is help non-English developers.

Although I have some background with programming (Basic, Pascal, COBAL) and desktop db business applications, I had been somewhat intimidated by the idea of server-side programming.

I can only tell you that I did in fact take this book one chapter at a time, sometimes re-reading some sections several times, and marking-up certain parts with a hi-liter and a red pen. I followed the tutorials, downloaded the scripts from the book's associated website, and even got help directly from the author at his website's forum.

Don't misunderstand me, that I marked-up the book, did homework, and asked questions was a reflection of how the book did engage me - AND TAUGHT ME. The book is well written, methodical, detailed, and its intended audience seemed to be someone with my background (pretty fluent in HTML, handy with CSS, has a basic understanding of databases and programming concepts, and who enjoys the learning process under a good professor).

This book will get you started and on your way - correctly. It was the perfect launch site for me (once you get through this book you will be in a good position to evaluate what you need to learn next). As for me, this book (alone) taught me to write programs/scripts to login users, develop MySQL databases, write database reports, do user input forms and process them at the back-end updating the database tables, sessions, cookies, etc. etc.

Select this book. Your php output will be, primarily, html markup. So if you don't know HTML - spend some time with that first -- along with CSS (I recommend CSS The Missing Manual by David S. McFarland).

I am about half way through the book, and as the title says - very new to PHP. So far I have found the book very useful and easy to understand, 80% of the time. The other 20% is just my ignorance to the subject matter. The author suggests that if you feel a slower pace might help, to try his other book "PHP for the World Wide Web: Visual QuickStart Guide," which goes at a more "tempered pace." I felt this might behoove me but when I found the book at Borders Books they only had the second addition which was copyrighted for 2004, the book before us is copy 2008, and I believe the easier version Mr. Ullman referred to only went to PHP 4. Perhaps that is the latest version of that book, and maybe it would not make that much difference about the versions. I did read them side by side and I believe he is right if you are a total beginner, as it seemed to be a little more hand-holding and pedantic with the details. I did not buy it however, as I feared there might be a newer model. Back to PHP 6 and MySQL 5, I will add that I am the type that does a lot of reviewing and checking up on these purchases, especially since I am having to self-teach on every subject from Dreamweaver and Photoshop to CSS and PHP, so I think it's accurate to say that I found this book always the top rated, and thus purchased it. I tend to lean toward the Head First series on the programming subjects, because they are perfect for the "real" beginner, but there was not an offering exactly like PHP & SQL from Head-First, , and as I say the Larry Ullman book always popped up as the book of choice in this subject. So far, it has been very helpful and I have no real complaints. Good job Mr. Ullman.
Richard Seymour
Boston, MA

So I'm actually in the process of going through this book. I thought I'd wait until I actually finish the book, but figure it'll be useful to give feedback while the process is still fresh. I'm barely on chapter 2 but honestly this book has been really easy to follow. I actually bought this book because of other ppls review on amazon, saying it's a great beginners book..and just as they said, this is a great beginners book. I have learned html, css and javascript..but besides that I've never had any programming skills or any experience with databases. This is a really simple to the point book, and Larry Ullman takes a very simple and casual approach. Making it a lot easier to follow than a cut and dry book.

From my experience so far, if you're completely new to this php and mysql stuff, this would be a good start. It is for me so far =)

I have been trying to implement a simple to moderately complex PHP/mysql/website for some time and have searched all over the 'net' looking for simple practical ways to implement such a web site with PHP and mysql. I have purchased several books, and have tried demo versions of software that 'build' sites for you, but my lack of expertise in PHP makes it impossible to edit or customize the generated sites for my purpose. For newbies (and not OOP geeks) looking to learn PHP, this book is excellent and well written and will probably be my last 'shot' at building the site that currently exists only in my mind. But as the 1 to 3 star reviews point out, it is definitely a learning tool, not a reference book. Also, it does take time to get used to the two column format and the small print - but the effort is well worth it. (You can download all the scripts and view them in a 'php text editor' of your choice - that definitely helps when reading the book). And the scripts have lots of comments so reading and comprehending what they are doing and how they do it is fairly easy to accomplish. To conclude, if you cannot learn the basics of PHP and MYSQL from this book, and put together a simple web site, then you (and I) should probably find another hobby!

I'll keep it brief since "Customer" nailed it with their review already, but wanted to say with this book and the free manuals on PHP and MySQL I was up to speed and developed my first dynamic web site in a matter of weeks, reading and learning part-time at night.

I wanted to go a bit further than just basic PHP and MySQL as part of a current personal project; researching and learning about open source CMS, web applications and web application frameworks, and how it all fits together.

Larry Ullman's extensive experience as a developer and writer shows. This book is very well structured and builds upon itself intuitively to the reader. The exercises are pragmatic. The only thing that he might have touched upon in this book is OOP--fortunately his book PHP 5 Advanced: Visual QuickPro Guide covers the subject extensively.

This book also provides several key reference tables that I go back to often, e.g., MySQL data types (pg 110...got that memorized). So, the ongoing value is there. There have been a few times where the index didn't point me to the page I was looking for even though I know it's in the book somewhere.

I noticed that Larry's next book is on AIR (has his enthusiasm shifted, or perhaps it's just that he's covered PHP from every conceivable angle at this point??). While I'm sure he'll shed valuable light on AIR, I look forward to his return to PHP prose.

On a side note, Larry makes himself tirelessly available to his readers on his forum and via email. That's pretty extraordinary, too, I think, yet I'm bewildered how he finds the time.

I used to have the old version of this book as well as PHP4 & MySQL 4.1. I was in limbo, at the time I upgrade my version of MySQL 4.1 to MySQL 5.0. The current and stable version of MySQL has a lot of changes and added new features. It is not easy to just move to this new version without good knowledge of the old version and a good reference
to the new/current one. Currently, I am in chapter 8, enjoying it and learning it the right way. Thanks Larry great job!
John Anthony
Web Designer & Applications Programmer

This is the best book on PHP scripting that I have found to date. It provided me with a lot of good information and enabled me to learn php to the extent to be able to effectively develop server side scripts. I am an experienced programmer, but feel this book is good for those who have limited programming or scripting knowledge. I was a bit disappointed in the depth of coverage, ie not enough for me. As an example, it covered how to set up a script to email information, but it did not cover how to attach a file to the email. I would recommend this book, but like most subjects, multiple sources of information are needed.

Updated- my original comment was negative only because the kindle version didn't include the example sections which are critical to the value of the book. This has now been updated and the electronic version is now useful.

Thanks!