18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
One good book and one good rant..., November 27, 2005
This review is from: PHP in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference (Paperback)
This PHP reference has some extras I liked. It is always good to have a portable and compact programming statement reference at hand. It is even better to have one that goes into more detail where that extra background may be of value. The chapter on the object-oriented programming support in PHP 5 is one of those extras.
I also appreciate the chapters on creating Flash and PDF and the tips on server performance optimization.
PHP in a Nutshell falls far short of adequate in one respect -- the index. A reference should provide a way to find information without having an exact knowledge of the information you are looking for.
As a relative newcomer to PHP, I gave the book's index a good workout. A typical session would go like this: After getting my simple form application running, I noticed that the return from the database was not case-insensitive. I knew I could massage the value to the server with JavaScript, but was there an equivalent PHP statement? I went to the book index. "Case switching" -- no, that is about a conditional. "Case-sensitivity, variables" -- no, that is not about user input values. Finally, after other failed guesses, I recalled from JavaScript that such a function, if it existed, worked on strings. I look up "strings" and move down the sub-indexing to my goal: strtolower() function.
Success, yes, but unnecessarily delayed. I would fault this book for that and knock down my rating except for the fact that the index is no worse than the typical computer book index. Decent indexing, and even full-text searches on books, are distant hopes as ever.
Despite my occasional rant on book indexing, this book will be kept in a handy place as I continue forward in my progress in coding PHP.
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16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not Up to Snuff, June 23, 2006
This review is from: PHP in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference (Paperback)
When I purchase a Nutshell book from O'reilly, I anticipate a very formal, detailed overview of a language and an in-depth coverage of that language's standardized libraries and features. PHP in a Nutshell is very lax with informal explainations and coverage. I am not saying that the book lacks information; it just lacks the typical detail of a usual Nutshell book. This book also has simple errors that should have been caught if the author had reviewed his own work; this is simply unexceptable. I, today, counted over 4 simple mistakes on the chapter about operators. This is something unheard of from O'reilly. I have been programming with PHP for a while now and was hoping to find a definitive reference ... well, this isn't it!
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
I agree with the reviewer who wants a better index!, January 5, 2006
This review is from: PHP in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference (Paperback)
It is a bit more difficult to find what you want in the index than absolutely desired, but it is also the price we pay for a low-cost, desktop reference.
I too am relatively new to PHP. I've dabbled a bit with it over the past few years, but recently started to write my first "major" web-centric application using it and MySQL. I can definitely say that PHP In A Nutshell has not let me down! I've been avoiding learning "yet another programming language," but PHP In A Nutshell has given me the ability to jump into it without needlessly wasting my time.
The author's writing style is very easy to embrace, which makes reading this book a breeze. The author clearly knows PHP very well and provides many, many resourceful nuggets of experience in the paragraphical excursion through this insightful book. It "reads" well and "references" well-enough.
While this book may not be the best tutorial for a total newcomer to programming languages, for anyone with experience in any modern programming language, it should be very easily read and received. How much of this is the writer's style versus O'Reilly's "common sense in book layout?" I'm not sure, but the two blend together well to make a fine wine in PHP In A Nutshell.
The section on databases is well worth the asking price, but I found way more than that to be of real, immediate value to my "emerging" PHP skills. However, perhaps like the other reviewer, I'd like to have a nice little appendix that contrasts the "C" or "Java" way of doing something to the PHP way of doing it as an added benefit that would negate the need for a massive index. Indexing is nearly a lost art today, it seems...only library sciences majors seem to know the first thing about it while the rest of us rely on our word processing software and some manual hacking of its results.
Don't let this "semi-rant" deter you from finding the real value in this book, which is still exceptionally useful but may mean a bit more reading. At least it flys by quickly and enjoyably due to the entire team involved in its production.
While the section on Manipulating Images is really fantastic for content, somehow the "smooth, blue gradient" looses its luster when reduced to gray scale. Yeah, I realize that something has to bite the bullet to be competitive in today's market, but blue skies in grayscale? Oh well, the book is still very excellent and useful. It is the first thing I reach for when I need PHP help. Perhaps someone with hardcore PHP experience may point out flaws that I'd miss, but for a programmer getting going in PHP, I've found it to be a massive, err...in a light and easy way, help!
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