Customer Reviews

PHP Programming with MySQL: The Web Technologies Series

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

 

 

This book has 10 chapters. I have painstakenly gone through each chapter while taking the PHP class and found errors in EVERY chapter. Not just a few here and there, omissions of code that makes your code non-functional. As a student who is learning, often we as a class learned the code wrong and then had to unlearn it and relearn the right code. A good example is the pregmatch() {3,16} function which verifies that a password (for example) is at least 3 characters and not more than 16. The way it is written in the book doesn't work. What does work is {3.16} using a period instead of a comma. Backticks (`) are typed as regular apostrophes(') so the explanation of "being new to programming as a reason for the poor review" is irrelevant as every character is EXTREMELY important when programming. For every 2 hours I spent learning and writing the code to see for myself, I spent literally over 30 hours trying to figure out what was wrong with the code. To date there is a 5 page error data sheet on the Cengage website which consists MOSTLY of all the errors I've discovered along with a FEW of the errors the editor found [that's right their own editor missed a majority of these]. It should be an embarrassment to Cengage and they should immediately put out a 3rd edition. If you are a student, please share this with your professor as this will be the only way to force this book into retirement.

I am using this book to learn PHP as part of a college class I am taking. The book has errors in the coding, which makes life harder than it needs to be. The projects/assignments have very vague instructions. Some of the answers are very difficult to come up with. This book has some very good information, but I am thinking there is most likely a better book out there.

I truly hated this book! I had to buy it for an online course at my local college. After coming across a few errors as I struggled through the book a classmate told me of all the complaints of errors in online reviews. After it became increasingly difficult and all time consuming to get any of the code to work as I worked through the chapters. I went out and read these reviews. I agree with what has been said about this book. The book tries to teach (error ridden) basic code. Then with their ambiguous wording expect you to pull elegant code--that was never taught--out of thin air for some of the exercises at the end of each chapter.
I tried to get my instructor to let me have answers from the quizzes and comprehension checks from previous chapters (because the book doesn't provide them). I was told this would violate some agreement that the instructor had with the authors or publishers. I felt like I ran into more road blocks to learning with this book than I ever have experienced before.
I am not completely new to programming nor am I stupid! I have managed to get through 3 years of college with a 3.8 GPA. So I just really don't think having this much difficulty with the book is my problem. I feel this book and class was a waist of my time and money; furthermore, I will probably have to retake the class. I will definitely have to look beyond this horribly frustrating experience if I want to actually learn PHP. Thanks!

This is a terrible book. I've had to buy several Thompson Course Technology series books written by Don Gosselin and I have not liked one. They are riddled with errors. Gosselin's approach to teaching the subject matter is mediocre at best and I'm not the only one that thinks this. Just read reviews of this book and you'll realize how bad it is. After my course was over, I had to buy another book and reteach myself the subject. It looks like I will have to do the same for PHP. Gosselin creates examples that you have to copy verbatim, but he doesn't really explain why you're doing what you're doing, so in the end I don't really learn anything from the examples. Even worse, many of the examples have errors, and since I don't know how to code works, it's very difficult to fix the error.

I'll echo (har har) most reviews on this book in that it is like pulling teeth; no explanation of logic, random introduction of syntax (again without explanation), etc. It's a rigorous lesson in typing and then an even stronger lesson in empathizing with the archaeologists that had the task of deciphering hieroglyphics.

NOT for beginners. In fact, run away if you're a beginner. Like previous reviewers, I found myself prefacing my critiques of the hours and hours spent on a less than 20-30 pages, with how many courses I've taken, my experience with computers, my industry experience, etc. because I had to convince myself that I am not stupid or suffering brain damage (hmmmm...). Or perhaps I am, and the majority of the reviewers are as well.

In either case, we need a book that makes sense for us stupids of the world. The only thing worse than this book is the inconsiderate instructor that says go to php.net if there's questions because he's too busy, and gives quizzes on our understanding of this book before covering material. No hyperbole here, but there's more room on the internet for me trounce his name elsewhere. What a cluster#*&%

I'm already getting other books to help combat the total disaster that is my first introduction to PHP.

I'm using this book for an online class, and I'm not thrilled with it. IMHO, the authors were so excessively concerned with making the book "elementary" that it is lacking in detail, so that I never feel like the topic was thoroughly discussed. There is too much emphasis on teaching by going through examples, which is an inefficient teaching method (what happens if you have a problem that isn't similar to any of the examples?). I don't feel like I'm really learning how to program in PHP from using this book. I was undecided whether to give a 1-star or 2-star rating, but chapters 8 and 9 convinced me that a 1-star rating was justified. The authors made a total mishmash out of chapter 8, which should be a straight-forward topic. Chapter 9 is a complete mess. Putting a 7-page example in the middle of the chapter that contains code that doesn't use anything that the chapter covers is bizarre.

This book is one of the most poorly organized textbooks that I've ever had to use. Topics are covered as needed for use in the example programs rather than where they might most logically fit. For example, the round function, which designates the precision of floating point numbers, is covered in a discussion on validating web forms rather than in a discussion on the floating point data type or in a discussion about formatting output. This style of "organization" makes it almost impossible to find things in the book, as you essentially have to read the entire book to find where a particular topic is presented. I usually check the w3schools website to find the syntax of a library function call rather than trying to find it in this book.

I don't care at all for the practice of covering a little material, then working through an example, then covering a little more material, then working through another example, and so on. In the later chapters, the examples become rather lengthy, so that the flow is broken up and it becomes difficult to view the material in a chapter as a coherent topic. I still don't feel comfortable with the various functions for reading files because discussion of them is spread out over several dozen pages. What is worse, the examples in the book ignore widely-accepted programming conventions.

The exercises at the end of the chapters do little to reinforce the material presented in the chapters. In fact, you can do many of the exercises without having read the chapters.

The supplier sent the product quickly in mint condition.

As for the content of the book - it is awful. There are numberous mistakes in the examples and exercises. I do not know how someone new to programming could learn form this book. I have had several programming classes and am having a really hard time!!

I using this for a college course and it has been really rough going. I am not quite 1/2 way thru the semester and am not sure if I will make it. The instructor does provide additional examples and tries to correct the errors.

Unless you have to do not buy this book

I have read a few guides now, having enrolled in college courses for PHP and many other essential classes needed for IT professionals. But this book takes things to a level of learning that even some computer novices entering the IT field will appreciate. No coding, programming language or server-based protocols are easy to learn, but with this book, I have found that learning PHP is easier than I would initially have thought. I just took my mid-term at NMSU and with the help of this book, I do believe I aced it. Having said that though, there is one thing I would improve: Either having a table in the back of the book which has a complete and concise list of syntax and modifiers, or perhaps a seperate handbook with it. Because even though this book is very good with explaining how to make the PHP work and the proper use of the language, I still had to look up a few things on the net to make some of my source work.

But I guess many books are like this also, so I still give this book five stars. :)

I was scared silly when I read the reviews about this book. I sent an email to my teacher who informed me that she had used this book and her classes liked it. The reason that the reviews for the book are so low probably has to do with these folks have not had very much experience with programming languages before using this book.
PHP is a very powerful language and that is another way of saying if you don't know what you are doing you are apt to get into trouble.
Before taking this PHP course I have had Visual Basic, C++, XHTML, XML and Java Script. If anything this book helps me understand better some of the things that I found confusing in earlier classes. However, with that said, this book does not go into all the detail that a person needs to understand concerning the fundamental basics of programming.
So if you understand how to program in other languages this is an EXCELLENT book to learn PHP from. If you are just starting out learning to program maybe you would be better advised to search for a different book.

This textbook is required for a college course in programming. The condition and price made it a logical choice over the campus bookstore. Will be a welcomed addition to my reference library after the course is completed.