Rating:  - Also consider studying the source to ubbthreads
For my money one of the better examples of PHP with MySQL is the source to ubbthreads by Infopop. This source code seems to be very easy to read and well written. After reading the above book which I've only flicked through briefly, you'd be well advised to study a body of work like ubbthreads. Most programmers coming fom a JSP background will easily be able to pick up the differences.
Rating:  - Save time - Have fun
This book is truly amazing. It gives you in-depth information in a compact book, and it makes finding things very easy. If you are learning MySql and you seem to always have a question, this book is for you. It has given me shortcuts when coding and gives full detail on why certain ways work better. This book is top on my charts.
Rating: - Great reading --- Buggy code samples.
Arguably, this is the best introductory PHP + MySQL book around. The material is very readable and well organized, making the book an excellent foundation for additional detailed study. My only peeve is that some of the code samples are sloppy. For instance, Example.9-9.php does not run because $databaseName is not specified. Maybe it was the authors'intent to have the debugging effort provide part of the learning experience. Overall, though, it's a great buy.
Rating: - This book should be on your shelf at work
If only I had purchased this book two months ago, I would have saved myself some headaches. The PHP/MySQL combination is both powerful and popular for creating dynamic, data-driven sites. But not many resources explain this combination so thoroughly. I have plenty of PHP books that touch on databases briefly and other resources that concentrate on MySQL, but don't delve into PHP. But this book fills the need of developers for a thorough and clear guide to using the PHP and MySQL combination.
I have primarily been using the book as a reference guide - browsing entries of interest via the index; however, someone needing an introduction to PHP/MySQL applications would be well served by starting at the beginning and reading straight through the book.
As I would expect from any competent development guide, example code and screenshots are sprinkled liberally throughout the chapters. Accompanying explanations are succinct and written to be understandable to novices and experts alike. This is a good book to pick up the moment you decide your site needs to be powered by PHP and MySQL. It will be useful from the moment you create a table to the day your first customer uses your homemade shopping cart application successfully.
Rating:  - Great beginning to end, but still not The Bible
I have to agree with Dave Hilton's review. I love PHP, MySQL and ORA, but as good as this book was to give you a beginning to end HOW TO of creating a database backed web site with the two, it's far from a definitive guide. I'm still waiting for a Canonical PHP book and definitely for a decent MySQL book. There really isn't anything in this book you can't learn from PHP.net, MySQL.org and DevShed, but if you want a nice and compact "course" type book, this one will do. You'll still need to reference PHP.net.
Unfortunately, after taking a Database Design class in Oracle, I've become a lot more aware of MySQL's limitations. Yes, it's free, but postgreSQL may be a better choice if some of MySQL's lacking features aren't added in the next version.
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