PHP Solutions, Second Edition: Dynamic Web Design Made Easy

This is the second edition of David Power's highly-respected PHP Solutions: Dynamic Web Design Made Easy. This new edition has been updated by David to incorporate changes to PHP since the first edition and to offer the latest techniques--a classic guide modernized for 21st century PHP techniques, innovations, and best practices.

You want to make your websites more dynamic by adding a feedback form, creating a private area where members can upload images that are automatically resized, or perhaps storing all your content in a database. The problem is, you're not a programmer and the thought of writing code sends a chill up your spine. Or maybe you've dabbled a bit in PHP and MySQL, but you can't get past baby steps. If this describes you, then you've just found the right book. PHP and the MySQL database are deservedly the most popular combination for creating dynamic websites. They're free, easy to use, and provided by many web hosting companies in their standard packages.

Unfortunately, most PHP books either expect you to be an expert already or force you to go through endless exercises of little practical value. In contrast, this book gives you real value right away through a series of practical examples that you can incorporate directly into your sites, optimizing performance and adding functionality such as file uploading, email feedback forms, image galleries, content management systems, and much more. Each solution is created with not only functionality in mind, but also visual design.

But this book doesn't just provide a collection of ready-made scripts: each PHP Solution builds on what's gone before, teaching you the basics of PHP and database design quickly and painlessly. By the end of the book, you'll have the confidence to start writing your own scripts or--if you prefer to leave that task to others--to adapt existing scripts to your own requirements. Right from the start, you're shown how easy it is to protect your sites by adopting secure coding practices.

David Powers is the author of a series of highly successful books on PHP, Dreamweaver, and web development. He began developing websites in 1994 when - as Editor, BBC Japanese TV - he needed a way to promote his fledgling TV channel, but didn't have an advertising budget. He persuaded the IT department to let him have some space on the BBC's server, and hand-coded a bilingual website from scratch. That experience ignited a passion for web development that consumes him to this day.

After a career spanning three decades in radio and TV news, David left the BBC in 1999 to work independently, and developed an online system with PHP and MySQL to deliver daily economic and political analysis in Japanese for the clients of a leading international consultancy. Since 2004, he has devoted most of his time to writing books and teaching web development. His clear writing style is valued not only in the English-speaking world; several of his books have been translated into Spanish and Polish.

David is an Adobe Community Professional and Adobe Certified Instructor for Dreamweaver. In 2010, he became one of the first people to qualify as a PHP 5.3 Zend Certified Engineer.