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Book ReviewsBeginning PHP 5 and MySQL: From Novice to Professional |
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Book: Beginning PHP 5 and MySQL: From Novice to Professional
Written by: W. J. Gilmore |
Publisher: Apress
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5
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Well written, but has its quirks
Rating:
4 / 5
The book is very well written but it almost assumes that you have had some type of programming experience. Reading the book I had to refer back to other programming languages I have learned like Java and C++ that have similar syntax in order to fully understand the concepts that he was trying to get across. Most of the book is understandable, but certain areas of the book (for example when he covered the printf() function) are a little bit vague. Overall it's a pretty good book, if he ever comes out with a second edition I'm sure it'll be extremely popular.
Some good info, but not ideal for beginners
Rating:
3 / 5
I read this book primarily to gain a better understanding of the new features available in PHP 5, and in many cases this book excelled in that aspect. Particularly, I felt the chapters on object-oriented programming were the most valuable. On the other hand, I was somewhat disappointed that the author didn't cover the new MySQLi extension for use with MySQL 4.1, as I felt that this was another prominent upgrade in PHP.
This book does cover some topics that many PHP authors tend to skip. Some examples of these include Templating with Smarty, LDAP, and RSS. If any of these topics interest you, or if you're looking for a solid reference on object-oriented programming in PHP 5, then I highly recommend this book. As an introduction to PHP, however, I'd have to say this isn't the book you're looking for. Part of the reason I make this statement is the order of the topics. For example, MySQL isn't even introduced until the end of the book, long after more advanced topics are covered. It seems to me that someone learning PHP should learn about basic database interaction long before they have any interest in advanced networking functions, or creating a SOAP server. Additionally, I would expect a "Beginning" book to contain more practical examples and sample projects (just my opinion).
Overall, I'll give this book a rating of 3 stars. While I enjoyed the authors tone and writing style in general, the content, order of topics, and misleading title left me a bit disappointed. I have had better luck with other Apress books.
Book Review
Rating:
5 / 5
I thought this book was over all very helpfull. I have a degree in CS and speaking from a person with a lot of programming experience it was very easy to read and find help on the topics i needed too. I like how the author explains a lot of the programming style, principals and general good coding technique as well as the PHP synax, fuctions and what they do. If you have a bit of experiece this book is a good quick read. If your new to the field there's a lot to take in and you won't cover the entire book in a week but it's a good thing that all the information is there.
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