From Barnes & Noble
The Barnes & Noble Review
Forty percent of all web applications run on PHP. With the major PHP 5 upgrade fully matured through several point releases, now’s the time to master PHP (or deepen your existing skills). Packed with both insight and code, Programming PHP, Second Edition is all you’ll need.
If you wish, you can start comfortably with the absolute basics: data types, variables, flow control, functions, strings, arrays. Or, focus on what’s new: there’s detailed coverage of PHP 5’s improvements in object and XML support; a quick briefing on PHP Data Objects, and a thoroughly modernized chapter on extending PHP.
Or simply use this book as a problem solver. Need to output PDF? It’s explained. Need to build a database application? There’s a ten-page case study. Need to secure your scripts against SQL injection, cross-site scripting, and other exploits? You’ll find surprisingly simple solutions. Bill Camarda, from the July 2006 Read Only
From the Publisher
"Programming PHP," 2nd Edition, is the authoritative guide to PHP 5 and is filled with the unique knowledge of the creator of PHP (Rasmus Lerdorf) and other PHP experts. When it comes to creating websites, the PHP scripting language is truly a red-hot property. In fact, PHP is currently used on more than 19 million websites, surpassing Microsoft's ASP .NET technology in popularity. Programmers love its flexibility and speed; designers love its accessibility and convenience.
As the industry standard book on PHP, all of the essentials are covered in a clear and concise manner. Language syntax and programming techniques are coupled with numerous examples that illustrate both correct usage and common idioms. With style tips and practical programming advice, this book will help you become not just a PHP programmer, but a "good" PHP programmer. "Programming PHP, Second Edition" covers everything you need to know to create effective web applications with PHP. Contents include: Detailed information on the basics of the PHP language, including data types, variables, operators, and flow control statements Chapters outlining the basics of functions, strings, arrays, and objects Coverage of common PHP web application techniques, such as form processing and validation, session tracking, and cookies Material on interacting with relational databases, such as MySQL and Oracle, using the database-independent PEAR DB library and the new PDO Library Chapters that show you how to generate dynamic images, create PDF files, and parse XML files with PHP Advanced topics, such as creating secure scripts, error handling, performance tuning, and writing your own C language extensions to PHP A handyquickreference to all the core functions in PHP and all the standard extensions that ship with PHP
Praise for the first edition:
"If you are just getting into the dynamic Web development world or you are considering migrating from another dynamic web product to PHP, "Programming PHP" is the book of choice to get you up, running, and productive in a short time."
Peter MacIntrye, eWeek
"I think this is a great book for programmers who want to start developing dynamic websites with PHP. It gives a detailed overview of PHP, lots of valuable tips, and a good sense of PHP's strengths."
David Dooling, Slashdot.org