Rating:  - Helpful for the beginner, but watch out for typos
I'm new to PHP (with some experience in HTML and C++) and I found this a good ground-floor introduction to the basics of the language. It also walks you through setting up your own web server (which I had found intimidating, but this book made it fairly easy).
That said, there are a LOT of typos, both in the text and the code. For that reason, I would not recommend buying this book at full price (I got it for free at the library).
Readers should take everything with a grain of salt and also should consult the publisher's "erratum" page before reading: http://www.wrox.com/WileyCDA/WroxTitle/productCd-0764557831,descCd-view_errata.html
And a memo to the authors: next time, use spell check!
Rating:  - This book was not proofread!!!
I'm a recent Comp Sci grad from University of Maryland, so I'm pretty well versed in lots of programming languages. I needed to learn PHP for an employer and I saw this book in borders. Out of all the books there, I liked this one the best because of the learning flow, and it had exercises for you to do on your own - something most php books don't have.
However, the good news ends right about there. I am just starting the 3rd chapter and I am CONVINCED THAT THERE IS NO WAY this book could have gone thru an editor. It seriously seems like it was just written and printed! This book gets 2 stars because:
1) Every code example I've done so far (about 4 in the 2nd chapter, WOULD NOT RUN, even though I copied and pasted straight from the book. I actually had to debug the book!!! The bugs were simple things too, like missing semicolons or concat (.) symbols. If I weren't already used to debugging, then I would've pulled my hair out trying to find out what's wrong.
2) The solutions to the questions at the end of the 2nd chapter use programming concepts that they didn't introduce yet! A forloop is used in the solution, but loops aren't covered until chapter 4! When I went back to check my answer I thought to myself, 'Are you kidding me?!'
Now, I usually don't write reviews on amazon, but I had to write one for this book. There must be MUCH BETTER books for php than this one. If you're paying this much money for something, you shouldn't have to settle for these kinds of problems. Do yourself a favor and buy ANY other book and make up your own test questions to solve. Thank God my employer paid for this and I didnt blow money on a book that wasn't edited at all.
Rating:  - Sloppy
I gave up on this book due to the abundance of coding errors. Each time there was a mistake in their code, it took me quite a lot of time to figure out what the error was and fix it - time I don't have, when trying to learn something new.
Wrox needs to be tougher with its authors and technical reviewers. Instead of accepting that errors are just part of the publishing experience, they should be trying to inculcate a culture of meticulousness and excellence. Until then, people like me will drop their books flat.
Rating: - Look for another book!
The numerous grammar and coding errors in this book make it one to completely avoid if you are new to PHP programming. Fortunately, I was familiar enough with PHP to catch most of the coding errors.
The thing that probably bothered me the most was the fact that many of the explanations of the code given in the book refer to code that isn't even printed in the book! The explanations seemed to refer to a previous revision, rather than the code in the final printed version. Whoever was the project manager and/or proofreader of this book should be shamed and then fired.
Rating:  - PHP5 a really really good review
When I first thought of the idea of reading a book that I would be able to choose I knew I wanted to learn something useful. I have wanted to get at least one language under my belt by the time I am 16. There are many languages out there such as Perl, PHP, Cold Fusion, ASP, Python, C++, C, and of course Assembly. Now I do not think anyone could learn Assembly right off the bat without learning easier languages first. I have a great interest in dynamic web sites and servers. Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP, and free time of course are a prefect match! I have always had to learn everything I know about computers from researching by myself, whether it is Google or in this case a book.
PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) is a language that revolves around web sites. With PHP developers are able to create a more dynamic web site then they normally would with regular HTML. An example would be a simple site with a user / login option / feature. What PHP does is although developers to code a script to handle such an option / feature.
This book does a very theroe job of explaining the whole processor and background of PHP. It starts out explaining the apache side of things, showing how to set up a server on both platforms. Next it explains the syntax of PHP and has many examples. Then throughout the book it explains some functions and how they can be used. I epically liked the chapter on Dir / File manipulation. After it explains functions and examples it shows you how to use MySQL along with PHP. With is a must if you are going to be learning PHP. Also I like that it cover image manipulation.
This is what I created using the knowledge I gained from this book. It is a site where users may create an account and then upload certain types of media (images, audio, and video). And has a nice GUI where they can manage it from.
|
