- ISBN13: 9780321525994
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
It hasn’t taken Web developers long to discover that when it comes to creating dynamic, database-driven Web sites, MySQL and PHP provide a winning open source combination. Add this book to the mix, and there’s no limit to the powerful, interactive Web sites that developers can create. With step-by-step instructions, complete scripts, and expert tips to guide readers, veteran author and database designer Larry Ullman gets right down to business: After grounding readers with separate discussions of first the scripting language (PHP) and then the database program (MySQL), he goes on to cover security, sessions and cookies, and using additional Web tools, with several sections devoted to creating sample applications. This guide is indispensable for intermediate- to advanced level Web designers who want to replace their static sites with something dynamic. In this edition, the bulk of the new material covers the latest versions of both technologies: PHP 6 (due . . . More >>
PHP 6 and MySQL 5 for Dynamic Web Sites: Visual QuickPro Guide
This book is, to say the very least, the finest computer book I have read in a very, very long time. I have spent the last three months trying to learn how to use PHP and MySQL to build a website with a simple content management system, however, due to the grossly unethical practice that publishing companies have of releasing books that are filled with editing and other errors, along with authors who are completely unable to write even a simple complete sentence that may be understood by their readers, I had nearly given up. Specifically, I have already WASTED money on the following books:
Creating Interactive Websites with PHP and Web Services by Eric Rosebrock – this book crashes around page 100 – it COULD have been a good book but is filled with errors that make it unusable. The publisher, Sybex, refuses to publish a real errata sheet and the book is NOT supported on the author’s web site. Isn’t that nice?
PHP MySQL Website Programming: Problem – Design – Solution by Chris Lea, Mike Buzzard, Jessey White-Cinis, and Dilip Thomas. Good luck if you can get past page 30! Considering this book has been out for some time, there is NO REAL support or errata sheet for it. The “sample site” that one is allegedly able to build by working through this book is filled with questions such as “Has anyone made it all the way to the end of this book?” Need I say more? What a joke.
MySQL/PHP Database Applications, SECOND EDITION. Gosh, considering this is the SECOND edition of this book, one might think an errata sheet and other help might be available. Forget that though – Wiley gets your money, you get plastered with errors so you can’t get through the book.
PHP and MySQL Web Development by Luke Welling and Laura – Another USELESS second edition. Not only does the code in this book NOT WORK but the examples that you can download doesn’t match what’s in the book! Not only that but, as to be expected, there is no errata sheet and the authors web site that is allegedly there to “support” this book has nothing but an advertisement for it with the promise that the “site is under development. ” Wonder if it will ever be “developed. “
As noted, ALL of the books above are USELESS. On a fluke, I decide to try one more – Larry Ullman’s PHP and MySQL for Dynamic Web Sites by Peachpit Press. While a second edition is allegedly going to be released soon: I have the first edition. To be honest, I was ABSOLUTELY AMAZED that:
1. The code in this book WORKS!
2. The book is SUPPORTED by both the publisher and the author. The author’s support site for the book actually contains an extensive list of errata for the very minor errors in it (unlike ALL of the books listed above which DON’T have an errata list). Furthermore, I haven’t needed to check the errata because the errors in this book are so minor.
3. The author actually ANSWERS questions to problems on his site.
4. The author is capable of explaining everything, very clearly, and yet conveys a LOT of great information.
5. This book is CHEAPER than all of the ones listed above (and yet it is the ONLY one worth spending your money on).
I have been completely feed up with the incompetent and unethical practices of so many book publishers that I was beginning to wonder if there were ANY books that really taught you how to create a dynamic website. Well, there’s one – Peachpit Press. No, I don’t work for them and don’t know the author – I’m merely a DISGUSTED customer who is tired of spending money on useless books.
RUN, don’t walk to buy this book. You will be very, very glad you did.
Rating: 5 / 5
As the author of the book, I regret having to do this (submit a review) but it seems to be the most immediate and effective way to correct a misunderstanding. The first edition of the book is based upon PHP 4 and came out in 2003. The second edition came out in 2005 and covers PHP 5. So, the book HAS been updated, despite what other reviews incorrectly state. Just click on “All Editions” under “Product Details” to find the most recent edition of this (or any) book.
[. . . ]
Thanks,
Larry
Rating: 5 / 5
I’m a newbie to both PHP and MySQL on Mac OS X. I’m learning from this book and from the PHP/MySQL for Dummies. This is the better book. It has lots of good information, clear writing, and easy to follow tutorials. The graphic display of PHP code is very easy to follow: as the author modifies scripts to teach new concepts, the new code is presented in red in the code listings. In just a few days I’ve gone from knowing nothing about PHP and MySQL to writing my own PHP code. If you’re trying to learn how to use PHP and MySQL this is the book to get (along with the MySQL users manual).
Rating: 5 / 5
This is an excellent book. This book teaches what it claims to teach amazingly well. Well done Mr. Larry.
And u know what? Larry Ullman also answers all your questions on the book’s website. If u get stuck even on your first PHP script, Larry will personally help you in the forums. Now this is not what we normally get. A great book and FREE support on the website by the AUTHOR himself!!! WOW!!
Amazon should give him Book of the Year award along with Julie Meloni’s “PHP Essentials”.
If you are completely new to programming and you only know HTML and CSS and want to learn PHP (along with MySQL), “PHP Essentials” by Julie Meloni is the best book.
If you have some basic programming experience like JavaScript or C or any similar language, then Larry’s “PHP and MySQL for Dynamic Web Sites: Visual QuickPro Guide” IS THE BOOK FOR YOU!!!.
This book does not teaches you the very basics of programming so if you are inexperienced in programming, get Julie’s book. . . If u know a little programming, get Larry’s book.
Just excellent book.
Rating: 5 / 5
Not having read all of them, I can’t say, unequivocally, that this is the best PHP/mySQL intro book . . . but, I suspect that it is.
After reading these programming tomes for 10 years, three types of writers come to mind:
1. a developer, who took time to write a book (often characterized by weak writing skills . . . and foo-bar examples, illustrating nothing more than a lack of pragmatic imagination)
2. the constant writer, who rarely (never?) develops (e. g Hello World! demos) How unimaginative?
3. a true teacher, who has taken time to gather thoughts and put effort into the presentation i. e. TEACH
Larry Ullman strikes me as “a teacher”. There are lots of well-conceived, nice touches in this book . . . from the example code on SAME page as the walk-through explanations . . . to the bold (often red ink) type, highlighting the subject lesson . . . to the paper, itself (nice for writing notes and marking it up), a lifelong habit.
This book is a much easier read than its competitor, the Welling/Thomson book . . . and about 1/3 less price, too – a nice bargain. I completed it in about a week and feel much more comfortable (dare I say confident?) with PHP, now. Thank you, Larry Ullman.
I don’t recall a perfect book, though this one’s shortcomings are slight. I was salivating, getting to the last chapter, “eCommerce”, only to be disappointed when, 10 pages from the end of the book, the author declared that he wouldn’t cover order processing, advising the reader to search the internet for examples. `sorry, but I don’t buy books to be told to go search the internet. After wading through what seemed like a dizzying dozen variations on login forms, I would have gladly traded a half dozen login examples for more than a . . . let’s wrap this book up, quickly, coverage of shopping carts and I-commerce, the meat of the matter (. . . to my mind). Another indication of last chapter rush: not distinguishing between orders and order items (tables).
That said, don’t let my slight disappointment dissuade you from acquiring this gem . . . and diving into the facinating realm of LAMP. This book is carefully conceived and executed . . . and, probably “best in class” . . . a GREAT value, too.
GET IT !!!
Rating: 4 / 5