Plug-In PHP: 100 Power Solutions: Simple Solutions to Practical PHP Problems [Paperback]

Robin Nixon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 18, 2010 | ISBN-10: 0071666591 | ISBN-13: 978-0071666596 | Edition: 1

Practical solutions to real-world problems
This practical guide gives you 100 ready-to-run PHP functions for solving most of the main problems you encounter when building a dynamic website with PHP. Every plug-in in the book offers a complete and working solution for a result you can achieve right away, using ready-made code you simply drop into your own program. And there's little or no learning curve, because each one is self-contained and thoroughly documented.

Packed with tips and suggestions
Plug-in PHP is packed with programming tips and suggestions for further adapting the functions to your own needs, and even breaks down all the variables, arrays and functions used by each into at-a-glance tables, accompanied by a screen grab of every function in action. This makes the book extremely easy to use, even for complete beginners to PHP programming.

Real world solutions
Plug-in PHP has everything you need for:

• Processing text
• Image uploading and manipulation
• Content management
• Forms and user input
• Integrating your website with others
• Creating chat and messaging services
• Using MySQL
• Managing sessions and cookies
• Dealing with APIs; RSS; and XML
• Integrating with JavaScript and Ajax
• Accessing geo-location
• Spell checking and language translation
• A great deal more...

The author's personal toolkit
Written by a PHP expert with many years of experience developing websites in PHP and writing about PHP development, this invaluable resource draws on the author's personal toolkit of solutions built up over the years. This means they are fast, tried-and-tested functions that have been proven to work in the real world, and they will work for you too.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A very useful and well-written book for users that are just now starting to use PHP, and even to people with intermediate skills... a great resource that I strongly recommend." - Peter Blogs --Scandinavian Books Website

"The book covers such a wide array of subjects that I highly recommend peeking at the table of contents to understand the wealth of information that this book has to offer." - Caroline Begin --Relaxation at Home Book of the Month

"This book is great. The author's style of writing is good. His explanation of the code is great and easy to follow. I have not encountered any errors while playing around with the code." - Pule Nong --Amazon US

"A well laid-out book that serves both as a textbook and reference manual. I recommend this book to be added to anybody's library who has a working interest in web development." - James McLeod --Amazon US

From the Back Cover

100 PHP power solutions in one handy guide

This practical resource contains 100 ready-to-run PHP plug-ins you can use to create dynamic Web content. The book begins by showing you how to install, configure, and use a powerful web development environment. Then, each chapter in Plug-In PHP offers complete, working examples for specific end results you can achieve right away. In this time-saving tool, all of the code is extensively documented along with tips for adapting it for your own requirements.

Get ready-made PHP plug-ins for:

• Text processing
• Image handling
• Content management
• Forms and user input
• Internet integration
• Chat and messaging
• MySQL, sessions, and cookies
• APIs, RSS, and XML
• JavaScript and Ajax
• Geo-location
• Spelling and language translation
• And much more

You can download all of the book's plug-ins at the companion website

Robin Nixon has worked with and written about computers since the early 1980s. He has written several books and more than 500 articles for leading computer magazines.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media; 1 edition (February 18, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071666591
• ISBN-13: 978-0071666596
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 0.8 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,377,023 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robin Nixon has been a writer for 30 years, producing in excess of 500 articles for many of the UK's top magazines, and has authored over 15 books. He started his writing career in the Cheshire homes for disabled people, where he was responsible for setting up computer rooms in a number of their residential homes, evaluating and tailoring hardware and software so that disabled people could use the new technology, and writing supporting documentation and articles for a selection of national publications.

After this Robin joined a large magazine publisher, where he held a variety of different editorial positions, before leaving to become a self-employed writer, and later branching out into developing websites (including the world's first licensed Internet radio station). In order to enable people to continue to surf while listening, Robin also developed the first known pop-up windows.

Robin and his family have relocated to the USA twice, once to run a web design company in California, and then again to set up an English Tearoom in Texas. In between times they ran several successful pubs, bed and breakfasts and nightclubs in England. But in recent years Robin has returned to writing, focusing on motivation and personal improvement, while still continuing to produce his popular series of books on computing, many of which have now been translated into multiple languages.

Robin lives on the south-east coast of England (where he writes full time), along with his five children and wife Julie (a trained nurse and university lecturer) - between them they also foster three disabled children.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Taking PHP to the Next Level April 24, 2010

By James Mcleod

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

A well laid-out book that serves both as a textbook and reference manual. The author, Robin Nixon, keeps your interest by introducing plug-ins adaptable for today's world of webs, should you be seeking how-to information on such things as RSS feeds, Twitter, chat rooms, and more.

Throughout the book, Mr. Nixon applies security measures to prevent hacks nad spam from affecting your website. His use and explanation of Regular Expression have helped me understand its power better.

Should you have a problem with any of the examples and/or plug-ins, help is only an email away. Robin Nixon has responded quickly to every question I've put to him.

I recommend this book to be added to anybody's library who has a working interest in web development.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book that's easy to understand! October 11, 2010

By Pule Nong

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book is great if you want quick apps for your website. It includes such examples as how to determine the number on users currently viewing the page and how to add bing maps to your pages. The author's style of writing is good. His explanation of the code is great and easy to follow. I have not encountered any errors while playing around with the code.

I give it a 5/5.