PHP
REFERENCE SOURCES
BOOKS
There
are masses of books available on the subject of PHP and
on PHP with MySQL - like books on most computing subjects,
in fact. And, like most computing books, they come in
small
and large formats, some are thin and some are very thick
and, generally, they are all quite expensive. So it helps
to have some guidance when it comes to buying any.
The
four books mentioned below are all quite good: I own
a copy of each but otherwise don't have any axe to
grind. I also own another couple of books on PHP which
I won't
mention here - draw your own conclusions.
I
think these books combined with a few judicious web searches
should be enough to take anyone with a bit of aptitude
and a good attitude from absolute beginner to proficient
PHP programmer.
If
you have any favourite texts please let me know - Also,
if you have an opinion on any of these books mentioned
below, I'd like to hear that, too: chrisgpearson@hotmail.com.
Thanks!
PHP
Pocket Reference
Rasmus Lerdorf
O'Reilly
ISBN 1-56592-769-9
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PHP
for the Word Wide Web
Larry Ullman
Peachpit Press
ISBN 0-201-72787-0 |
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|
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This
is a book that does exactly what it says on the
cover: It's a pocket reference, not a tutorial
or a how-to
book. It provides an answer to probably every PHP
question you're likely to have. But you need to
have that knowledge at the back of your mind first.
It's
ideal for those occasions when you don't have access
to the net to look up something when you just know
you've done it before but can't quite remember
exactly how you did it.
And,
being written by Lerdorf himself, it gives an impression
of authority. A bit like a latter day version of
the old, dog-eared, but cherished Kernighan and
Ritchie . . . |
|
I
bought this because I'd got JavaScript for the World
Wide Web (ISBN 0-201-35463-2) several years ago and
had found it easy going and useful.
This
book is very similar and, as a beginner's guide
or early tutorial it is excellent. You'll probably
soon leave it behind. But then I think that's what
is intended.
It
is also good value. Like most of this range of
Peachpit books it comes in under GBP 20.00 (around
USD 20.00 in the US) |
PHP
Developer's Cookbook
Sterling Hughes
Sams
ISBN 0-672-32325-7
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|
PHP
and MySQL Web Development
Luke Welling and Laura Thomson
Sams
ISBN 0-672-31784-2
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|
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A
book of worked examples: Samples, in fact, to adapt
to your own needs.
This
book makes a good companion to the other Sams book,
opposite, but is probably best suited to those
with intermediate skills - Especially if you aren't
using PHP every day and find those great code achievements
fading in a haze of PHP, C#, VB.Net and JavaScript
memories.
A
good book - and useful - but probably the final purchase
of the four on this page. |
|
A
big book this one: About 850 pages and not cheap,
either. But a good general reference for the open
source duo and probably a useful next book after,
say, the Peachpit offering, above.
This
is also one of those books that - once you've got
to know it - you can dive into for answers when you
need them.
Of
the four books here, this is by far the most complete
as a combination of learning resource and further
reference. |
|
THE
WEB
I
find that the best way to get information about PHP -
there being so many sites providing different types and
different styles of resouces - is to search for specific
terms, like PHP array or PHP "file access".
Two
sites that consistently provide answers are these
| http://php.resourceindex.com/ |
 |
There is a wealth of information available through
the links on the home page alone |
| http://www.php.net/ |
 |
This
is the definitive site for information on PHP: Masses
of information and some very formal definitions,
too |
|
|
|
Go
on,
try a search engine: http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=PHP gets
more than a handful of results! (About 183 million, it
says)
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