PHP Essentials, Second Edition

by Julie C. Meloni

Whether you're a first-time programmer or have been developing Web applications for years, this straightforward guide will open your eyes to the power of PHP. Using a learn-by-example approach to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1931841349
• ISBN13: 9781931841344
• Release Date: March 2003
• Publisher: Course Technology
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 7.4" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Good, but as it says, Essentials only

This book is well written, but I was expecting more contents.

Excellent Book

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.

Less is More

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 graceMeloni 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.

i finally understand!

this book made it all clear to me! i've programmed in perl but i was just going through the motions. i picked up this book to learn PHP and now I really understand what I'm doing when I'm told to type something. most books just assume you do. the examples are useful and from the real world. I'm so happy I found this book!

Incredibly, an enjoyable programming book

I recently bought this book as a quick primer for an office project and i must say it was a refreshing read. Having spent the last 8 months learning javascript from various confusing and muddled sources, the intro to PHP here made me feel as if I'd bumped my head and web development suddenly crytallized! The instructions were clear, concise and nearly too well meaning. The code examples helped me to quickly apply my c knowledge and reinvigorate the otherwise dead office project for which I had purchased the book. The helpful appendix of essential functions was pretty much a bonus "pocket"-type reference. Also, the book opened my eyes to the power of MySQl and the ease with which PHP connects to it. I just finished a 8-week MCSD prep course, yet I didnt feel comfortable with SQL. This book went a long way toward making me feel at ease creating and manipulating with SQL. Looks like I wont be bothering to spend (waste) any more time trying to get my SQL Server 7.0 to operate reliably on a daily basis!