Head First PHP & MySQL

By Michael Morrison and Lynn Beighley

Book Overview

If you're ready to create web pages more complex than those you can build with HTML and CSS, Head First PHP & MySQL is the ultimate learning guide to building dynamic, database-driven websites using PHP and MySQL. Packed with real-world examples, this book teaches you all the essentials of server-side programming, from the fundamentals of PHP and MySQL coding to advanced topics such as form validation, session IDs, cookies, database queries and joins, file I/O operations, content management, and more.

Head First PHP & MySQL offers the same visually rich format that's turned every title in the Head First series into a bestseller, with plenty of exercises, quizzes, puzzles, and other interactive features to help you retain what you've learned. Use PHP to transform static HTML pages into dynamic web sites Create and populate your own MySQL database tables, and work with data stored in files Perform sophisticated MySQL queries with joins, and refine your results with LIMIT and ORDER BY Use cookies and sessions to track visitors' login information and personalize the site for users Protect your data from SQL injection attacks Use regular expressions to validate information on forms Dynamically display text based on session info and create images on the fly Pull syndicated data from other sites using PHP and XML Throughout the book, you'll build sophisticated examples -- including a mailing list, a job board, and an online dating site -- to help you learn how to harness the power of PHP and MySQL in a variety of contexts. If you're ready to build a truly dynamic website, Head First PHP & MySQL is the ideal way to get going.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0596006306
• ISBN13: 9780596006303
• Release Date: January 2009
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media
• Length: 812 Pages
• Weight: 3.29 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.7" x 7.9" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

So far I love it!

I was skeptical about using this book because of the mixed reviews here. But I went ahead and got it anyway and I'm very glad I did! I'm only on chapter 3, but so far I feel like I've retained so much more in these first 100 pages (out of just over 750 pages in the book) than any of the other tutorials I've used! The style is very laid back, as if you were being taught by a friend (rather than some tech-geek). So far they...

Best Beginner's PHP and MySQL Book Out There

I have been trying to learn PHP and MySQL for a couple of months now. I have read (well, started) about 4 beginner's books. I would understand a little bit of it, but then the more I got into a book, the more confused I would get. It just seemed like things were either coming at me too fast or the writing style didn't flow, at which point I stopped learning. Not so with Head First PHP & MySQL. This book I absolutely cannot...

Quick start into PHP and mySQL

I have several HEAD FIRST books. I like the format for beginning study of the topics. If you already have a good grasp or are a quick study, you might get turned off by the wordiness. After awhile, you just want to get to the main point. What I like about this book is that it covers the details very well and gets you going quickly. The info on mySQL is a little sparse but you can get information online to help you out when...

Another great Heads First title

This book gets you writing database driven applications right from the start. The book makes learning PHP and MySQL interesting by getting you writing useful programs right away, adding the theory as you go. I can't tell you how many books I've given up on just because they chose to tell you every possible PHP function and syntax variation before they even began to show you how all this is related to an actual database application...

Heads First PHP & MySQL is the way to get started!

I've been a big fan of the Heads First series for a long time. The format of the Head First books is unique, engaging and effective. One could consider the Head First series to be comic book like. This is one of the series' great virtues. The interactive layout and thoughtful way illustrations are integrated to text in order to explain 'hard to get concepts' really works. I use the series to learn and teach advanced programming...