Books For Learning Php

**D.Slatk** · February 10, 2005

Do any of you have suggestions? I am trying to learn php, I've gotten as far as creating my own email page from scratch which checks if the form was filled, checked if all the fields have information, and sends the user's IP and browser. :clapping: I'd like to be able to learn how to use it with mysql though, and would like to find a book on learning php.

The one I have seen and liked is this one: Sam's Teach Yourself PHP in 24 Hours. However this and many other books are for PHP 5. From what I can see the servers use PHP 4, and I don't know if that book is very good for my case because of that.

So, what books have helped you guys?

**TCH-Don** · February 10, 2005

I have the older Sams book and still recommend it as first book.

**D.Slatk** · February 10, 2005

Hm, which edition are you referring to? Right now I'm looking at two of the Sams books:

Teach Yourself PHP in 24 Hours (3rd edition, newest) :

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...672326191&itm=1

Teach Yourself PHP 4 in 24 Hours:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...672318040&itm=3

**borfast** · February 10, 2005

Search google for "php tutorial", you'll find TONS of reading;

Search amazon books for "PHP" (on the computer->programming section), on the search results page select the "sort by average consumer rating" option and then start reading the reviews for the ones with good ratings (4 stars and above).

:clapping:

**D.Slatk** · February 10, 2005

Yeah, I've found some nice tutorials. I am more interested in books at the moment, because I can read iit in the car, family room, at school, and that sort of thing. Found sams teach yourself php in 24 hours through amazon. ^^ Though they don't have the best selection seeing they don't carry the third edition right now. as for this topic, I'm trying to find which books have been helpful to the people here, in terms of being able to compare books and stuff.

Also, kind of want to be "sure" about which books I want to buy, since I don't get much money. Talk about 5 dollars a week for allowance! :clapping:

**borfast** · February 10, 2005

Check out http://www.sitepoint.com/ and Kevin Yank's "Build Your Own Database Driven Website Using PHP & MySQL". It's a pretty good book to start from

**TCH-Don** · February 11, 2005

Daniel I think i have the newer 24 hour book, I bought it about two years ago.

Another site to look at is Half Price Computer Books

if you have a local barnes and Noble, its a good place to browse and look at the books before deciding what to order.

**owatagal** · February 11, 2005

I have Wiley's "MySQL/PHP Database Applications" which I like because it specifically focuses on how to create things like guestbooks, discussion boards, content management systems, catalogs, etc--the first two chapters teach you the basics of PHP and MySQL, and the rest of the book shows you how to integrate them for specific applicatiosn. To be fair, I did know the basics of both languages before going in, so it's made a lot of sense to me, but it's also already taught me better ways of doing things--I think someone new to both PHP and MySQL could follow it, especially if you took time on the first two chapters to really understand the basics of the languages before jumping ahead to the fun application stuff.

**D.Slatk** · February 11, 2005

Sam's Teach Yourself PHP in 24 Hours, third edition

**Teach Yourself PHP 4 in 24 Hours:

*PHP and MySQL For Dynamic Web Sites: Visual QuickPro Guide

***MySQL/PHP Database Applications

Build Your Own Database Driven Website Using PHP & MySQL

PHP and MySQL Web Development

*Leaning for this one most... I read the reviews I could find and they all said it was real good. ^^

**This one should be good if for whatever reason the first one doesn't seem to be

***And this one,I'd get after learning the language from one of the first two probably. I'm more interested in nailing the language first and then going into the CMS.

Thanks for the links guys! Got some excellent resources there. Will have a lot to browse for at Banrs and Noble (I'm hoping that their online catalog is also in their store, it makes no mention of whether or not it is on the website). Thanks for the link Don, also I found this good site as well!

http://www.fetchbook.info/

Sort of a pricegrabber.com for books. Still open to suggestions by the way.

**stevevan** · February 11, 2005

Not sure if they have published one, but see if the "...For Dummies" books put one out for PHP. I love these!

**Ayman** · February 11, 2005

PHP and MySQL Web Development is excellent, it explains everything in details, along with a lot of examples, and the final chapter contains fully working examples for a forum, a mailing list, a shopping cart, and more.

I have the 1st edition of the book, the only other reference I need while developing in PHP is the PHP Manual.

**D.Slatk** · February 11, 2005

Ah thanks both. I'll be going to barns and noble today. *crosses fingers*

**TCH-Bruce** · February 11, 2005

PHP and MySQL Web Development is excellent

That's the one I have.

**D.Slatk** · February 14, 2005

Much thanks for the recommendations! I got PHP and MySQL for Dynamic Web Sites: Visual QuickPro Guides by Larry Ullnam. The three biggest reasons were because it's for php 4 (not 5, since, well, these servers and many others don't support 5), since it's about both php and mysql and for incorporating them into your website, and also the fact that he has his own website which he responds to posts personally each day!

So far, gotten through first three chapters. ^^

**matman** · February 14, 2005

I'll add my endorsement for PHP and MySQL Web Development by Welling and Thomson. Great book!

**TCH-Don** · February 14, 2005

I like the Larry Ullman books too, I have two of them.

**Joaquin** · February 16, 2005

Daniel, I have the exact same book you got and it is a good read, enjoy.

**snipe** · February 17, 2005

Daniel, I have the exact same book you got and it is a good read, enjoy.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Heh, I'd plug the Wrox books I co-authored, but Wrox went under. :1eye:

**TCH-Don** · February 17, 2005

Thats too bad!

I have a few from Wrox

including one on php with a pretty lady on the cover :1eye:

**OldTimer** · March 21, 2005

Ok I looked thru the above suggestions and what I'd like to know if those come with a cd that will install Apache on my pc? Notice that Sams says:

"Sam's Teach Yourself Php, Mysql and Apache in 24 Hours

==

Revised and updated to reflect major changes in new versions of PHP, MySQL, and PHP 5.

Carefully steps the reader through the basic set up of PHP, MySQL, and Apache, and shows how to combine these technologies to quickly create simple interactive Web applications.

CD-ROM allows the reader to install a safe, foolproof learning environment for either a

Windows or Linux-based PC."

So does that mean you can test the scripts without being online? What I would like to do is when I working on my phpBB board, is to be able make changes in the script without uploading and then testing.

Also the review didn't look to good for:

Php and Mysql for Dummies

===

"When you buy a software manual, especially a beginners for "Dummies" book, with a CD that has source code with all sorts of typo errors, and an Apache windows host installation that has a missing critical php_so mod, so that you can't use the Apache installation, you're behind the eight ball from the very beginning.

So, count on all sorts of frustrations just trying to get an installation working. Did these people ever hear of quality control or are they just trying to piss off someone trying to learn this stuff to no end. Because I opened the CD, I can't return this piece of crap. It now occupies spacer duty along with some old yellow pages under a monitor.

It's not even useful as a toilet paper source."

===

Got to admit that is kind of a funny review. :wallbash:

What do you suggest. I'm not a wiz with the pc to install Apache myself.

Thanks

Greg

**Pendragon** · March 21, 2005

If they don't, NuSphere has a package that will install apache, php and mysql (all will run on windows platform).

It's called the NuSphere TechPlatform, and it's a free download from their website (www.nusphere.com).

**TCH-Bruce** · March 21, 2005

You can get a free distribution called XAMPP which has Apache, MySQL and PHP. You can also get a Perl add-on.

**carbonize** · March 21, 2005

I mostly learnt by reverse engineering peoples scripts. I eventually bought a book though. I purchased PHP for the world wide web b Larry Ullman. It's mostly for PHP4 but also covers 5.

**Ayman** · March 21, 2005

Apache, PHP, and MySQL are all available as free downloads, the book PHP and MySQL Web development has a chapter on how to install these apps and configure them to work together under Windows and Linux, I think the book's CD has the apps too, not sure, but why not get the latest versions off the web?

**TCH-Bruce** · March 21, 2005

Most of the time it's not the downloading of Apache, MySQL and PHP but the installing and configuring that is the problem.

The XAMPP distribution installs everything in one folder and configures it properly. It also puts a control panel shortcut on your desktop so you can turn on/off the web server and services.

You can configure for PHP 4 or 5. PHP 5 is the default.

Not trying to promote this as I have only started playing with it. But it was a simple install. When you are done with it and no longer want it on your system just delete the folder you installed it into.

**OldTimer** · March 21, 2005

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Think I'll give XAMPP a shot. However I'm not sure which zip I should download.

As I'm on dialup, I don't want to be getting the wrong zip. So Bruce could you tell me which of those I need to download? (off 2 a good start, I'm not tech savy)

I'm guessing the full version is better than the lite. Here's a pic of the options.

Thanks 4 the time

Greg :lol:

**carbonize** · March 21, 2005

And for your PHP scripting I recommend a program called PS Pad. It's free, small and portable.

**TCH-Bruce** · March 21, 2005

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Think I'll give XAMPP a shot. However I'm not sure which zip I should download.

As I'm on dialup, I don't want to be getting the wrong zip. So Bruce could you tell me which of those I need to download? (off 2 a good start, I'm not tech savy)

I'm guessing the full version is better than the lite. Here's a pic of the options.

Thanks 4 the time

Greg, I downloaded the 25MB installer but I am on cable. If you scroll further down the page there is a lite version that may get you started. Get the EXE which contains the 7-zip files which is only 9MB.

Not sure how long it would take to download 25MB at 56k

**OldTimer** · March 21, 2005

Thanks carbonize for the tip.

Thanks Bruce The 25MB would take about 1 hour 40 min. I figure it takes about 4 min. per MB. How long did cable take? Just curious.

In your opinion, would the 25MB be the better option? Just want whatever is the easiest to install. I have weeds that need to be pulled. So time wise it doesn't really matter.

Sure thankyou for your help :lol:

Greg

**TCH-Bruce** · March 22, 2005

I couldn't remember so I downloaded it again. Took all of a minute and 30 seconds.

Yes, I believe the 25MB download is the better of the two options. It includes both PHP 4 and 5.

**carbonize** · March 22, 2005

I remember downloading an 80MB file on dial up once. I was getting about 3K/sec and it took about 13 hours :|

Does Xampp need installing or can it be run from a usb stick/thumb drive? It would be great if I could carry a server, PHP and MySQL database on my stick as I could then do more work on the guestbook whilst in work.

**TCH-Bruce** · March 22, 2005

I believe it can be installed to a USB drive. Since everything is all installed to the same folder.

By installed I mean extracted to one folder. There are start and stop batch files to start the services.

**John Carney** · March 22, 2005

My web designer brother recommended the book "PHP 5 In Easy Steps," by Mike McGrath. I have scanned it but haven't yet had a chance to work my way through it.

**carbonize** · March 22, 2005

While PHP 5 is great and more powerful than PHP 4 you are still best learning PHP 4 as thats what most hosts use. Also if, like me, you make scripts that are for public use then you HAVE to use PHP 4 as this is the most common version. Anyway even if you are writing scripts for your own use Total Choice Hosting uses PHP 4.3.10.

**OldTimer** · March 22, 2005

I couldn't remember so I downloaded it again. Took all of a minute and 30 seconds.

Gosh what a difference in time. Couldn't pull to many weeds in minute and a half

Ok Think I'm ready to go, knock wood.

Thanks

Greg

**OldTimer** · March 22, 2005

carbonize Thanks for the advice. I'd have to go with the 25MB version then.

Thanks John Carney. Your brothers name wouldn't happen to be Art would it?

Greg

**TCH-Don** · March 22, 2005

Greg, you might look into a download manager

I used getright and it would open 3 connections at once, resume download later where it left off.

**John Carney** · March 22, 2005

carbonize Thanks for the advice. I'd have to go with the 25MB version then.
Thanks John Carney. Your brother's name wouldn't happen to be Art would it?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

No, but I'd definitely have claimed him if he were kin. And I'm also not the NFL kicker John Carney, or the magician / standup comic John Carney, or the St. Louis radio personality John Carney.

**carbonize** · March 22, 2005

I just downloaded the lite version of Xampp. It only has the essentials

XAMPP Lite is a very reduced version of XAMPP with Apache 2.0.53 + PHP 5.0.3 (without PEAR) + MySQL 4.1.10 + PHPMyAdmin 2.6.1 pl3 + Openssl 0.9.7e + SQLite 2.8.15 + eAccelerator 0.9.2a. For lovers ... For the lite versions exist no upgrades or addons. XAMPP Lite is an only "Take-Run-Delete-Forget-it" package.

and the self extractor is only 9MB. I just installed it on my USB Stick. It's about 50MB extracted.

**OldTimer** · March 22, 2005

1 hour & 20 minutes later got the 25MB Didn't pull weeds thou. ThankYou rain.

Thanks Don (wish I had a scanner so I could show you how much you resemble my dad (R.I.P.)

Mr.Carney Yhea Art Carney was a fuuny dude. Grew up watching him on the HoneyMooners.

Thanks again carbonize

Now I just have to install it. Hope there won't be to much

Greg

**carbonize** · March 22, 2005

If anybody else is thinking of downloading Xampp to help them with their PHP scripting I'd recommend the lite version as the full version comes with a lot of excess baggage aimed at full servers.

MiniPerl 5.8.3, Openssl 0.9.7e, PHPMyAdmin 2.6.1, XAMPP Control Panel 1.0, eAccelerator 0.9.2a, Webalizer 2.01-10, Mercury Mail Transport System for Win32 and NetWare Systems v4.01a, FileZilla FTP Server 0.9.4e, SQLite 2.8.15, ADODB 4.60, Zend Optimizer 2.5.7, XAMPP Security.

as you can see the full version includes an SMTP server, stats script, FTP server etc all of which you will have no need of.

**OldTimer** · March 22, 2005

While PHP 5 is great and more powerful than PHP 4 you are still best learning PHP 4 as thats what most hosts use. Also if, like me, you make scripts that are for public use then you HAVE to use PHP 4 as this is the most common version. Anyway even if you are writing scripts for your own use Total Choice Hosting uses PHP 4.3.10.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Now I'm confused. Lite has PHP 5.0.3, so now what. I've already got the full version, so would you say the lite would be a better choice?

Greg

**carbonize** · March 22, 2005

Yes lite comes with PHP 5 but PHP 5 still supports PHP 4 functions and code. What I am saying is that while it's all very well learning PHP 5 it is no good writing scripts using functions that only exist in PHP 5 as your host, like most peoples hosts, only supply you with PHP 4.

**D.Slatk** · March 22, 2005

I recommend a prgram called "PHP Designer" for creating and editing php. It's not just PHP though, it can do HTML, CSS, PHP, Perl, and XML as well. Nice syntax highlighting as well, not too large either. ^^

http://www.mpsoftware.dk/phpdesigner.php

**carbonize** · March 22, 2005

I recommend a prgram called "PHP Designer" for creating and editing php. It's not just PHP though, it can do HTML, CSS, PHP, Perl, and XML as well. Nice syntax highlighting as well, not too large either. ^^

http://www.mpsoftware.dk/phpdesigner.php

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Tried that once, and the other two programs they offer. Can't say I was overly impressed with them. the main reasons I like PS Pad are syntax hilighting, code snippets, code completion, FTP (very important) and mostly that it doesn't need installing and so can be run from my USB Stick (which now also has Apache, PHP and MySQL on it thanks to this thread ).

**OldTimer** · March 28, 2005

Just an update:

Installed XAMPP Lite over the weekend. Not one problem.

Also learned how to create my first database with MyPHPAdmin.

What a treat not having to go online to test out a script.

I'm one happy camper. <_<

Just wanted to thank you all, for the help and suggestions.

Greg

**TCH-Bruce** · March 28, 2005

I've switched to the lite version as well. Didn't need all the other crap loaded with the full version.

**carbonize** · March 28, 2005

Don't even need everything that comes with the lite version. All the lite version really needs to be is Apache, PHP, MySQL and some way of controlling the MySQL which in Xampp's case is phpMyAdmin.

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Books For Learning Php

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