PHP Essentials, 2nd Edition (Paperback)

by Julie Meloni (Author) "This chapter will walk you through the basics of getting PHP and a Web server up and running on your system, and will show you..." (more)
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Editorial Reviews

Product Description
PHP Essentials, 2nd Edition serves as an introduction to the PHP scripting language and provides real-world examples of common uses. No previous programming experience is necessary, as this book explains programming concepts in familiar – and not condescending – terms (unlike most programming books). It also includes a fundamental PHP language guide.

From downloading, installing and configuring a Web server with PHP, to creating dynamic content via database interfaces and developing Web-based e-mail applications, all levels of Web developers will find this book an invaluable learning tool.

About the Author
Julie Meloni is the Technical Director for i2i Interactive, a multimedia company located in Los Altos, CA. She's been developing Web-based applications since the Web first saw the light of day and remembers the excitement surrounding the first GUI Web browser. She is the author of several books and articles on Web-based programming languages and database topics, and you can find translations of her work in several languages, including Chinese, Italian, Portuguese, and Polish. She is the author of "PHP Fast & Easy Web Development, 2nd Edition" (Premier Press, 193184187X).

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Course Technology PTR; 2 edition (March 28, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931841349
• ISBN-13: 978-1931841344
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #466,230 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Less is More, October 25, 2003

By	Allison Parker (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

I'm a big fan of this book. I used the first edition to put a modest web commerce site up in about three weeks of spare time (see it at www.privategalaxy.com). Using only this book, I learned what I needed of how to use the freeware language PHP and the excellent freeware database MySQL (in fact I learned SQL from this book). And these two programs are a great combination supported by a large number of web hosting sites using Apache (an extremely common if not the most widely used server software).

I have just shy of a dozen other computer books--many of them are shovelware--full of glop because the publishers want thickness. And then there are some books where the authors seem to spend more time trying to show off how sophisticated they are than trying to explain things. This book has neither defect; its clear intent is to teach and it does so with economy and grace

Meloni is a solid technical writer. For those who like examples, there are lots of them (in fact a whole e-commerce site (no-I wrote mine from scratch) and there are compact appendices on the commands and functions you will actually use in the back. PHP is a language to get stuff done and this book is in the same spirit. But even supposing you want to use PHP to calculate fast Fourier transforms (heaven forbid!) this book is a good starter and supplimented by the free PHP web site, will get you there fast.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book, October 27, 2003

By	Kamran Vighio (Karachi, Pakistan.) - See all my reviews

If you are new to PHP, this is the book to get. Dont go anywhere, this book is simply one of the best introductory books on computer programming i have ever bought. It makes PHP learning fast, fun and easy. It not just covers PHP alone but also covers Databases and teaches SQL from the ground up with code for almost all the known databases in the industry.

Thank you Julie Meloni, you are great.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The "Ooohhhhhh, now I get it" book, May 12, 2005

By	Tiffany B Brown "tiffanybbrown" (Stankonia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you just want a clear-cut intro to PHP, this is the book to get. Meloni takes the basic concepts, and shows you how to use them to create a shopping cart (so you learn database interaction, how to send an email, and basic syntax). Perfect for newbies.