Intro to PHP book

what do you recommend

[Westat1]

I am looking for an introduction to PHP book, perferable with a cd that has sample code/snipets. I have some familarity with Perl but want to try to get my feet wet with PHP. Currently I do not have a database driven site, but know there is more than php and sql (right?)

Looking for your thoughts

[RussellC]

I recommend PHP and MySQL Web Development by Welling and Thompson. It is pretty in depth and has good real-world examples. Also, Build Your Own Database Driven Website Using PHP & MySQL by Kevin Yank is a short, very easy to understand, quick way to learn as well. The first book I mentioned ends up going into more detail though. The 2nd book just gets you started, but both are very good.

Hope that helps.

[bcolflesh]

I also recommend that book - I see it's in a second edition now:

ISBN: 067232525X

[jamie]

hi weststat

you might also like to think about online tutorials instead of / as well as a book.

zend.com and devshed.com are my favourites. i now have a whole folder of printed tutorials about a wealth of subjects.

the advantage of printing out articles from different authors is that you get a very rounded perspective of how to code and not just 1 person's view.

[Westat1]

Thanks all that is very helpful.

Have you been to phpide.de and download PHPTriad?
Not sure I understand what it is. It seems like it puts the functionality of PHP on a local desktop. Is that accurate. Do you use it?

[bcolflesh]

PHPTriad installs Apache, MySQL and PHP. This might be good for a first time user who is having trouble manually setting up the preferences to make them all work in conjunction - but I suggest you download each one separately, then read their install and config files first - that will give you a much better understanding of what is going on.

[Westat1]

The company that hosts my site has mysql, do I need to load anything locally? You have been very helpful. Greatly appreciate it.

[bcolflesh]

It would only help you to setup a similar environment on your own computer, for testing/development purposes -

[bcolflesh]

php.net/downloads.php
mysql.com/downloads/index.html
httpd.apache.org/download.cgi

[Westat1]

OK cool, so these downloads will emulate the scripts locally? That is exactly what I was hoping for.

[bcolflesh]

No emulation - It will really parse the scripts just like your server (in most cases).

[Tokey]

yeah, apache, php and mysql will basically turn your computer into a self-contained web server.

does anyone know if there's a difference between the linux and windows versions of these? i assume linux = more stable...

[lasko]

Would just like to put my little piece and say I bought a php book which had the mysql software, apache, and php.

Once I installed it (eventually) I started to make simple programs like form ID = Page ID and storing all contact info in mysql.

4 months ago I cried everytime I saw the words 'this php script requires a mysql database' in the free downloads, but now I laugh, its great when you get over the hurdle of learning something new and all I want to do now is create something new day after day.

My first php book don't laugh was php for dummies very good but I will now need to buy something a little more advanced as it does not go into too much detail of somethings I now need, great for beginners.

As for Linux or Windows, I don't know, i use windows and not had any problems. Yet!

[bcolflesh]

PHP has basically always been in "beta" for windows - mainly because of threading issues I believe. I use Windows for local dev and testing, then deploy on Linux or Solaris - I've never had problems on any platform (that weren't my own stupidity!).