PHP Essentials (Prima Tech Linux Series) - Softcover

Meloni, Julie C.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 076152729X ISBN 13: 9780761527299

Publisher: Cengage Learning PTR, 2000

Synopsis

Whether you're a first-time programmer or have been developing Web applications for years, this straightforward guide will open your eyes to the power of PHP. Using a learn-by-example approach to programming, PHP Essentials takes you from "Hello World" scripts to database-driven applications and e-commerce solutions. PHP is used on more than one million servers, and its popularity is growing rapidly. You will find this book an invaluable tool for creating dynamic Web pages using PHP.

About this title

Review

PHP is getting lots of attention as an open-source alternative to Microsoft Active Server Pages, not least because it runs on Linux and other Unix-like systems as well as on Windows. It is a server-side parsing engine that lets you put dynamic content such as online databases on your Web site. The beauty of server-side processing is that any browser can view the results, provided of course that you are careful with your Web-page authoring.

Few books on PHP are available, so PHP Essentials is particularly welcome. The author is a PHP enthusiast and also uses it professionally. Her aim is to provide a hands-on guide to installing and using PHP for those who have no previous knowledge of the product. The book's based on version 3 but covers new PHP 4 features too. Readers are expected to have a basic knowledge of HTML, though. Although databases such as SQL Server and Oracle are briefly discussed, there is a special focus on using PHP with MySQL, an excellent open-source database server. (This is a common partnership, so the focus is appropriate.)

After tackling installation and basic PHP scripts, the book gets straight to the business of linking with a database. The text includes a short introduction to SQL and a complete example of how to create and query a database table. Further chapters cover user authentication, session management with cookies, and Web-based database administration. Finally, a complete e-commerce example in included, with code both printed in the book and available from a supporting Web site. An appendix offers a PHP language reference.

This book teaches by example. It is manageable in size and has a friendly, real-world feel. It is not the last word on the subject, though, so it's best suited to PHP newcomers or those using rival technology who want an idea of what PHP can do. --Tim Anderson, Amazon.co.uk

About the Author

Julie Meloni is the technical director for i2i Interactive, a multimedia company located in Los Altos, CA. She's been developing Web-based applications since the Web first saw the light of day and remembers the excitement surrounding the first GUI Web browser. She is the author of several books and articles on Web-based programming languages and database topics, and you can find translations of her work in several languages, including Chinese, Italian, Portuguese, Polish, and even Serbian.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cengage Learning PTR
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 076152729X
• ISBN 13: 9780761527299
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 384