Revised for PHP version 4, the new edition of Core PHP Programming is a comprehensive tutorial and reference to one of today's hottest scripting languages. Part tutorial and part reference, this book will get beginners started with PHP, as well as provide a convenient desktop resource for more experienced PHP developers.

Early sections show what PHP is and how it works, with basic data types, flow control, and other topics you'll need to get started. But the heart of the book is a full reference to PHP 4 functions. Organised by topic, this text provides over 400 pages of reference to several hundred PHP calls, along with a description of what they do. Clearly organised and presented, this book will help you find what you need quickly (instead of relying on PHP's often cumbersome online help). In particular, readers will appreciate the coverage of database functions, including the separate calls for MySQL, ODBC, and Oracle. You'll also see what PHP can do with XML.

The last part of the book reverts to tutorial mode, first with a section on algorithms that discusses ways to sort and search PHP arrays. Final sections look at some strategies you can use to integrate PHP into the software design process, in which the strategies of combining HTML content with dynamic PHP scripts are shown. There is also useful advice for increasing performance with PHP. (It would seem that upgrading to PHP 4 is a must, because the new version offers a real performance boost.)

PHP is clearly a popular choice for Web applications today. If you buy just one book on PHP, consider Core PHP Programming. It offers an approachable tutorial that will put basic PHP script development into the hands of beginners, and provides a useful reference for everyday development once you've gotten a handle on how to use it. --Richard Dragan

From Library Journal

The next hot environment is going to be PHP, a server-side, cross-platform, HTML-embedded scripting language that is open source (free) and completely Y2K compliant. PHP code is embedded within HTML, and the files are saved with either .phtml or .php3 extensions. For readers with a programming background, this solid guide has four sections: a basic introduction to the programming environment, a PHP function reference, algorithms, and software engineering for integrating PHP with HTML and the cgi for interactive programming and database querying. For larger computer collections.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Customer Reviews

28 Reviews

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4 star:		(4)
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2.9 out of 5 stars (28 customer reviews)

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1.0 out of 5 stars big, friendly and not useful, Feb 3 2004

John Broglio (Florence, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Core PHP Programming (Paperback)

[Reviewing 2nd edition.] This is definitely not a CORE quality book (especially compared to the outstanding CORE Java series).
Section 1, 100 pages of introductory material, tell you what RAM is (sort of), but doesn't tell you what happens when a cookie and a POST variable have the same name.
Section 2, 450 pages of this book, is a function reference, but the online php manual is free, easier to read and has more examples.
Section 3 has some exploratory examples -- I think there are better examples in the online manual and elsewhere on the net.
The book is confused about its audience. Beginning programmers should NOT start with php (or any scripting language) unless they are forced to put up a php web site overnight -- in which case they need a "cookbook", which this is definitely not. Experienced programmers will be terminally frustrated with the book's disorganization, poor layout and lack of crucial information.
Summary: It's not a cookbook, not a usable reference book and has no best practices advice.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Great work for intermediate level users, Oct 8 2003

"rathaur" (Malaysia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Core PHP Programming (Paperback)

One deniable fact of the book is the presentation. The presentation is simple and easy to understood. Language used is simple , attractive and not complicated as others. Explanations are clear and direct to the point , embedded with examples which makes the book worth. Its a rare ability in programmers/ developers to put into simple words, but the author has possed such skills.

Another added advantage is the organization of the book itself. Organized in such way , thats to introduce PHP and Web based developments efficiently to newbie or intermediate users whom is seeking to improve the coding style. Explains are so beneficial with so many functions explained by using example and thats great for beginners.

But if you are a experienced and advance level user, this book might not satisfy your need, but rather a quick reference with example for advance users.

Chapter on Software Engineering is another strentgh, presented in simpler way on how someone could achieve/acquire the designing skills as the desinging skills is equally important with coding. An intelligent coding could be handicapped with a poor design.

Basically , new users and intermediate users will benefit alot from this book.

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5.0 out of 5 stars a great way to start, Mar 14 2003

S. Koopmanschap (Utrecht, Utrecht Netherlands) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Core PHP Programming: Using PHP to Build Dynamic Web Sites (Paperback)

this book is a great way to start programming php. it is the book I used to learn php. It goes into the basics well, and doesn't dig too deep into the code.

it's definately not your choice when looking for a detailed reference. it *is* your choice when looking for a book to learn php from, or to use as a reference when just starting out.

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Most recent customer reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Bad Code -- No Doughnut!
I have the second edition. I have used it off and on over the last year or so.

I wish I had never bought it. Read more

Published on Oct 17 2002 by Alan Olsen

3.0 out of 5 stars Nice but.......
This was the first book I bought on PHP. I had bought Core Java 1 & 2 before as recommendation from a friend and was thrilled to find Core PHP. I liked it from the start. Read more