Programming PHP

by Rasmus Lerdorf, Kevin Tatroe

PHP is a simple yet powerful open-source scripting language for creating dynamic web content. The millions of web sites powered by PHP are testament to its popularity and ease of use. PHP is used by both programmers, who appreciate its flexibility and speed, and web designers, who value its accessibility and convenience. Programming PHP is an authoritative guide to PHP 4 and is filled with the unique knowledge of the creator of PHP, Rasmus Lerdorf. This book explains PHP language syntax and programming techniques in a clear and concise manner, with numerous examples that illustrate both correct usage and common idioms. The book also includes style tips and practical programming advice that will help you become not just a PHP programmer, but a good PHP programmer. Programming PHP covers everything you need to know to create effective web applications with PHP. Contents include:

Genres: Programming, Technical, Nonfiction, Reference, Computers, Technology, Web

528 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent introduction to the PHP scripting language, written by its creator, Rasmus Lerdorf. The introductory chapters were concise yet informative, serving as an excellent primer to the basics of the language. Subsequent chapters deal with common applications of the language: dynamic web pages, interfacing with databases, and graphics applications. I highly recommend this book.

[Hendry Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mild introduction to PHP. Unlike other book, it gives quite a bit of examples of powerful PHP usage. This is more appropriate for programmers or developers who have some knowledge in other programming language.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the good fortune to meet Rasmus when I worked for Yahoo! This is a great book on PHP, and he is one of the great engineers living today.

I recommend this to anyone looking to learn PHP.

[Chance · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was good for beginner to intermediate PHP programming...back when I read it.

While I haven't actively worked with PHP since PHP 4 was still fairly new, I could already see that PHP was trending toward a more object-oriented style.

So it's interesting that the co-author of the book who happens to be the guy who fucking INVENTED PHP actually focuses the book around function-based programming.

As such, this is a good cover-to-cover read for beginners and a handy reference for looking up simple, high-level concepts you haven't touched in awhile.

I remember my primary concern going into the book was that someone who's obviously such a heavy programmer may not be able to communicate how to use his language very well...Rasmus proved me wrong.

[Mermarie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can remember reading this few years back, and it helped me in some rather difficult areas. It was written in a manner that appeals to most programmers 'language', and at first that was intimidating to me, but overall--it eventually panned out. I mostly used it for news/mini blogs, and cutenews accessories. :*) Needless to say, beginners, having little computer language experience, may find it difficult as an beginning guide. With this book and the PHP.net, you should be able to get a better understanding of the language itself. PHP.net have some indepth introduction tutorials that give you a better visual of the language put into effect!


Honestly, I'd still rather code HTML in notepad. ;P

[Faham]

no

[Ramya · Rating 5 out of 5]

it's very understand easily

[Prashanth · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is probably a good way to illustrate how programming books ought not to be written. I have high respects for the authors - especially Rasmus, all of us should be indebted to PHP founder. But, the book runs just like program documentation. Nothing wrong with it for super-geeks who learn everything from the man pages, but for the rest of us mortals there should be some mind-exercises, a few good problems, a theme to apply what we learn and what not. The book nicely goes from the basics to the more advanced concepts, but "provide it as a feature documentation" view doesn't help with the flow. The PERL camel book comes to my mind, probably writing a good teaching book requires more than just the expertise.

[Dennis · Rating 4 out of 5]

php

[Aruna Anandh]

great

[Phani Kumar s · Rating 5 out of 5]

verygood

[Mohamed Binothman · Rating 4 out of 5]

nice book

[Lasse Bunk · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't enjoy PHP very much, but this is a good book on the subject.

[Anandhmca05]

PHP testing

[Abdimalik · Rating 5 out of 5]

it is absolutely amazing book and it is usefull

[Frank · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good solid overall treatment of the web programming language PHP. Some of the examples are a little terse or strange, but not enough to cause disdain. I needed a book to get me up to speed on PHP and this one did the trick.

Additional kudo for a decent index -- possibly due to being published by quality publisher O'Reilly.

[MOSS Elo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good for a next level php programmer beginner.

[Darrell Ulm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good solid intro to PHP.

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rather to be used as a dictionary.

[علي العمامي · Rating 5 out of 5]

جميل جدا ⭐، يعطيك كل المعلومات الأساسية وأكثر عن ال php.
رغم ذلك الطريق لتطوير مواقع الويب أطول ^^، الحماية والتعامل مع قواعد البيانات وغيرها.
أنصح به 💜

[AmoureFlare · Rating 4 out of 5]

Книга совсем не подходит для новичков, больше похожа на справочник, а не на учебник

[Sammy · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best, most clear set of reasons and reflections I’ve ever read. Everything he writes is brilliant.

[Arun · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the kindle edition. Code sections are not badly formatted as is common in Kindle editions.

Good book, not so good language. Last few chapters doesn't go into much depth on the chapter topics but gives references for further study. The last section of the book has the entire function reference by category and alphabetical listing of PHP functions so it is useful as a reference.

So, in the end, PHP get things done! Read this book to know both good and the ugly side of the language. After all, the likes of Etsy and Facebook are using it successfully (could be my confirmation bias!) but YMMV.

[Michal Angelo · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the O'Reilly world there is a pecking-order that goes something like: [Learning abc], [Programming abc], [abc Cookbook], ... and I've come to depend on them as my career progresses through the decades. An embedded engineer by trade, I've a budding interest in web design and have already built my first simplistic page (woo-hoo!)

Already knowing what PHP's design was for, I simply wished for an overview of the language and found exactly what I was looking for here. The authors promise "if you make it through these chapters, you will have mastered PHP" and I believe them.

I'm not at the point to start cutting PHP just yet, but Programming PHP (2013 edition) will enter my research-library.

[Gerd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good for beginners. Provides a good balance between raw commands on the one hand (the function reference at the end is notable) and illustrative examples and code snippets on the other hand. Thus, that they can be used in immediate pratical applications. However, it does not cover advanced or enterprise topics such as frameworks and patterns. I am also reading 'PHP Objects, Patterns, and Practice' which is complementary to this book.
A drawback is that some chapters are just too short, failing to give even an overview. They might as well have been cut.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have my 1st PHP project at work in many a year. I don't even really remember this language, even though I wrote a few web sites in it years back. It looks like Perl to me . . . I find the online API documentation to be about the best way to figure out how to use this, though.

[Daynah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great mini reference book for PHP functions.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

The prose is second-rate, for the most part, but the breadth and depth are fantastic for a volume this length.

[Athul Jayachandran · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book to learn basic php programming.

[We Sy]

to read the book, and to learn it