Rating:  - [Third Edition Review] Broad coverage except in XML manipulation
This books is written for someone who is familiar with other programming languages and databases and now wants to use PHP and MySQL. It is not written for somebody completely new to programming. For example, if you came from Perl or ASP, and you wanted to know how arrays, loops, and objects in PHP, this book will cover that.
The topic coverage is broad but not deep. The book has a feel of "semi-reference" in that each topic stands on its own. This is not a cookbook or "learn by example" book. There is enough information to get you started, but if you have a complex/niche problem, this book will not help you. For more information, you will have to consult books that specialize on the topic you are interested.
I have one major gripe with this book. There is not any significant coverage of XML manipulation or XSL/XSLT aspects of PHP. When you look at the table of contents or index, there is no mention of XSL/XSLT and only a brief mention of XML (and RSS) in the Web Services chapter. For a book that covers a lot of subjects, this is a weak area.
Rating:  - Not for beginning programmers
This book does have a lot of information, making it a great reference book. However, after 10 chapters I still do not know how to use any of the information to "build dynamic, database-driven web sites..." as the subtitle states. If you're a beginning programmer, as I am, try to find a true beginner's book (wish I could give a recommendation).
Rating:  - Great book on PHP and MySQL
I have recently bought this book and have to say it is execellent, it does help if you have a little prior knowledge as some new readers could find it a little difficult to understand. But if you have an interest in PHP and MySQL it is a great book to get your hands on. I highly recommend it.
Rating:  - Not for the novice!
Despite the title, this book is not for the novice. Even the introductory first 100 pages or so assume that you are above a novice level. The examples lead to more questions (for me, the novice) than they answer.
Having said that, this book has a tremendous amount of information in it and, as other reviews mention, it will work well as a reference. Now, I hope to find a true beginning PHP book to provide the basis to use this book!
Rating: - This was my first PHP/MySQL book
I purchased this book because I needed to use PHP and MySQL for a project at work. I never had any exposure to either before reading this book. By using this book and the w3schools website I was able to successful build a meager database and have a fully functioning php front end. It was very pleasing to see the project come to fruition and I have this book to thank for that. I used it mainly as a reference book. For example, I knew exactly what I wanted to do so I would search this book for an example of that and adapt the code to my situation. I didn't use this book to "learn PHP." I think you need to have a project to do in order to best use this book.
|
