I have been trying to implement a simple to moderately complex PHP/mysql/website for some time and have searched all over the 'net' looking for simple practical ways to implement such a web site with PHP and mysql. I have purchased several books, and have tried demo versions of software that 'build' sites for you, but my lack of expertise in PHP makes it impossible to edit or customize the generated sites for my purpose. For newbies (and not OOP geeks) looking to learn PHP, this book is excellent and well written and will probably be my last 'shot' at building the site that currently exists only in my mind. But as the 1 to 3 star reviews point out, it is definitely a learning tool, not a reference book. Also, it does take time to get used to the two column format and the small print - but the effort is well worth it. (You can download all the scripts and view them in a 'php text editor' of your choice - that definitely helps when reading the book). And the scripts have lots of comments so reading and comprehending what they are doing and how they do it is fairly easy to accomplish. To conclude, if you cannot learn the basics of PHP and MYSQL from this book, and put together a simple web site, then you (and I) should probably find another hobby!

The book is very good for novices and intermediate PHP WEB developers who want to master the advanced skills of PHP and mysql , the book contains alot of scripts and figures illustrating each concept in the language in 620 pages by larry ullman a very expreienced programmer, the book devote the first three chapters for PHP fundamentals for creating dynamic web site including : PHP syntax , Handling user supplied data , validation , Templating system , Sticky forms and more ...
The second part of the book which begin with chapter 5 introduce Mysql database assuming that you never heared about it , then chapter 5 learn you the SQL syntax that you will need in any application you write like creating databses , retrieve, update, delete, using conditionals and functions also assuming that you don't know anything about SQL , then Chapter 5 for advanced SQL and mysql , this chapter rocks cover advanced database design concepts with figures, normalization, Full text searches and transactions for e-commerce web apps .
The third part of the book rollback the wheel again to Common programming techniques illustrate using hidden form fields, paginating query results and making sortable displays, sending mails, file uploads, PHP interaction with HTTP through PHP headers, cookies and sessions , then chapter 12 dive into security methods like preventing spam, improving seesion security, SQL injection attacks and database encryption .
The fourth part of the book illustrate Perl compatible regular expressoins, and Making universal websites through Unicode for non english programmers and translitration, and discuss language and timezone with Mysql and working with locales .
The last three chapters (120 pages) for three real world application Message board, user registeration and e-commerce website that will wrap your mind around all the concepts for best programming practices of php .

And the overwhelming positive reviews found here only add to the disappointment.

I will admit that the book gives a very good first impression. Sadly, after the initial reading and usage, it quickly becomes obvious that the book falls short in most critical areas.

Each and every line of code is repeated (and explained) over and over again, very redundant and annoying. Not only that, but the layout is very hard to read or follow.

Unfortunately, the book's contents do NOT make up for its weak presentation. For a 600+ page book, surprisingly little content (to accommodate all the repeated code) , making this book absolutely useless as a reference.

The worst part of this book is just how impractical it is. It teaches you the VERY basics of web programming as a concept (it doesn't even touch on the subject of OOP). Otherwise, just think of it as a detailed PHP lexicon. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone, and most certainly not to someone who's at all serious about web programming.

I give this book 2/5 because I did end up learning something from it. The author is obviously knowledgeable and writes beautifully, I will not shy away from his other books, just proceed with caution.

If you want to know how to set up an interactive web site where you want to set up a MySQL database and have internet users interact with that database through PHP code, and also learn how to implement security measures, and learn all of this in a step-by-step build up fashion from the first to the last chapter, then this is the book for you. You learn because you are literally forced to try out the code, FTP it to your site, and try it out.

If you don't have a domain name, along with the domain services offered by domain server entities, you will need to do that first before giving this book a try. I know that you can install Apache and MySQL on your local machine, but it's just not the same. There are certain things that this book will not tell you, simply because of the different ways that technical issues and procedures are set up in the different domain services out there.

Extremely well written, good learning curve, the author knows and explains the problems that you'll encounter in real life, rather to babble about some useless theory.

Highly recommended!

I don't understand why the same exact code needs to be repeated twice on the same page, every page. It's not only a waste of space, it's distracting and difficult.

The whole book could have been printed with less than half this number of pages. I'll work through it when I get the time and PATIENCE.

Shees.

PHP 6 and MySQL 5 by larry ullman is one of the best book I've read in my life , the book contain 17 chapters , covering topics for beginners to advanced topics and it is explain the most common web application examples like (develop user registration , build message board , e-commerce website) .

the book covers the fundamental details in very quick way and specific which is makes the reader build the web application in very short time .

the great thing about this book , it discuss the new improvement mySQL and unicode which is help non-English developers.

Although I have some background with programming (Basic, Pascal, COBAL) and desktop db business applications, I had been somewhat intimidated by the idea of server-side programming.

I can only tell you that I did in fact take this book one chapter at a time, sometimes re-reading some sections several times, and marking-up certain parts with a hi-liter and a red pen. I followed the tutorials, downloaded the scripts from the book's associated website, and even got help directly from the author at his website's forum.

Don't misunderstand me, that I marked-up the book, did homework, and asked questions was a reflection of how the book did engage me - AND TAUGHT ME. The book is well written, methodical, detailed, and its intended audience seemed to be someone with my background (pretty fluent in HTML, handy with CSS, has a basic understanding of databases and programming concepts, and who enjoys the learning process under a good professor).

This book will get you started and on your way - correctly. It was the perfect launch site for me (once you get through this book you will be in a good position to evaluate what you need to learn next). As for me, this book (alone) taught me to write programs/scripts to login users, develop MySQL databases, write database reports, do user input forms and process them at the back-end updating the database tables, sessions, cookies, etc. etc.

Select this book. Your php output will be, primarily, html markup. So if you don't know HTML - spend some time with that first -- along with CSS (I recommend CSS The Missing Manual by David S. McFarland).

I'll keep it brief since "Customer" nailed it with their review already, but wanted to say with this book and the free manuals on PHP and MySQL I was up to speed and developed my first dynamic web site in a matter of weeks, reading and learning part-time at night.

I wanted to go a bit further than just basic PHP and MySQL as part of a current personal project; researching and learning about open source CMS, web applications and web application frameworks, and how it all fits together.

This book is a complete waste of money. You can find all the material covered here for free online. The book is difficult to read because of all the author's tips, the small size of the letters in the text, and because the text in each page is divided in two columns wich is absurd. buy something else instead.

Larry Ullman's extensive experience as a developer and writer shows. This book is very well structured and builds upon itself intuitively to the reader. The exercises are pragmatic. The only thing that he might have touched upon in this book is OOP--fortunately his book PHP 5 Advanced: Visual QuickPro Guide covers the subject extensively.

This book also provides several key reference tables that I go back to often, e.g., MySQL data types (pg 110...got that memorized). So, the ongoing value is there. There have been a few times where the index didn't point me to the page I was looking for even though I know it's in the book somewhere.

I noticed that Larry's next book is on AIR (has his enthusiasm shifted, or perhaps it's just that he's covered PHP from every conceivable angle at this point??). While I'm sure he'll shed valuable light on AIR, I look forward to his return to PHP prose.

On a side note, Larry makes himself tirelessly available to his readers on his forum and via email. That's pretty extraordinary, too, I think, yet I'm bewildered how he finds the time.

Larry Ullman's "PHP 6 and MySQL 5 for Dynamic Web Sites: Visual QuickPro Guide" is great because it can be applied to real world websites. Mr. Ullman does a fine job in conveying the finer points of PHP.

This is definitely not for someone new to programming or relational databases. The pace is fast which works well if you already know those things but need to know how to do them in PHP and mySQL. Those new to either of those two concepts should probably look for something more basic

This is an excellent book. All the codes works! I recommend to buy it. It is worth for the money.

One of the best and easy to understand book. The author is very helpful as well. He is a serious author, who wants to please the readers. So for those who might not like his present books, be sure to check his future books. :)

I am about half way through the book, and as the title says - very new to PHP. So far I have found the book very useful and easy to understand, 80% of the time. The other 20% is just my ignorance to the subject matter. The author suggests that if you feel a slower pace might help, to try his other book "PHP for the World Wide Web: Visual QuickStart Guide," which goes at a more "tempered pace." I felt this might behoove me but when I found the book at Borders Books they only had the second addition which was copyrighted for 2004, the book before us is copy 2008, and I believe the easier version Mr. Ullman referred to only went to PHP 4. Perhaps that is the latest version of that book, and maybe it would not make that much difference about the versions. I did read them side by side and I believe he is right if you are a total beginner, as it seemed to be a little more hand-holding and pedantic with the details. I did not buy it however, as I feared there might be a newer model. Back to PHP 6 and MySQL 5, I will add that I am the type that does a lot of reviewing and checking up on these purchases, especially since I am having to self-teach on every subject from Dreamweaver and Photoshop to CSS and PHP, so I think it's accurate to say that I found this book always the top rated, and thus purchased it. I tend to lean toward the Head First series on the programming subjects, because they are perfect for the "real" beginner, but there was not an offering exactly like PHP & SQL from Head-First, , and as I say the Larry Ullman book always popped up as the book of choice in this subject. So far, it has been very helpful and I have no real complaints. Good job Mr. Ullman.
Richard Seymour
Boston, MA

I liked this book as an entrance to PHP and to lessen the somewhat steep learning curve of web site scripting. This book does that great! However, I don't like that the author seems to get lazy and doesn't fully explain an admin page that a user will get automatically redirected to when they log in with the correct username and password. "For the sake of brevity" is used too much. While sometimes this is fine and it can be figured out, the author really needs to elaborate on some permission and security issues with password authorization in PHP. There is really no mention on whether it can even be done with PHP and MySQL alone. Overall good book but I really wish Larry included at least one fully functional example.

I used to have the old version of this book as well as PHP4 & MySQL 4.1. I was in limbo, at the time I upgrade my version of MySQL 4.1 to MySQL 5.0. The current and stable version of MySQL has a lot of changes and added new features. It is not easy to just move to this new version without good knowledge of the old version and a good reference
to the new/current one. Currently, I am in chapter 8, enjoying it and learning it the right way. Thanks Larry great job!
John Anthony
Web Designer & Applications Programmer

I like this book. The postage packaging was good. That was good business.

Thanks a lot

Franklin

When I started trying to learn PHP on my own via web tutorials a few months ago, I almost gave up. Actually, I DID give up. But then I saw this book and decided to give PHP one more shot...

Larry Ullman does a fantastic job of explaining things as basic as what PHP is and why you would use it, to more intermediate-level things like login scripts, etc.

There are plenty of examples in the book, and the last few chapters basically walk you through the creation of a dynamic website. I have also found it to be a useful reference guide for quick look-ups.

Although it says on the back to be from beginner to advanced, I would just say beginner to intermediate. It gives the reader a great starting point in PHP and makes it easy to continue learning more advanced topics, but does not cover them.

Overall, it is a great book and I would not be creating dynamic web simulations today if it weren't for this book. I would definitely suggest this book to anyone interested in learning PHP and MySQL.

I purchased this book having absolutely zero PHP or MySQL experience. I had just finished reading a book on HTML and CSS (my only coding experience by the way) with the intention of creating a dynamic web site but first needed to learn how to do it.

Larry's book was EXTREMELY HELPFUL in teaching a total beginner such as myself how to read, write and understand PHP and MySQL scripts. Not only are the scripts and exercises in the book easy to learn, they are also incredibly practical and transferable in terms of customizing for use on personal projects. There are all kinds of wonderful scripts that can be reused hundreds of times once they have been written.

By far, one of the greatest things about this book, is that the author, Larry Ullman has an online forum which he moderates and personally answers questions from all the people who have purchased one of his many books.

I have not read any of Larry's other books yet, but I can honestly say that his teaching style in this one is absolutely fantastic and I would highly recommend it to anyone with a desire to learn PHP and MySQL!!!

I give this book 100 stars!!!

I have had this book lying around the office for about a year, but never opened it because I program with Coldfusion, not php. But recently I have been working with a MySQL database and needed to read up on it. I had already read "Teach yourself MySQL in 10 minutes a day" and found that to be a bit confusing. I don't think it lays enough groundwork. So I thought, what the heck I'll read the chapters on MySQL in this book. They were excellent! The author lays the groundwork and gets you up to speed in just two chapters. The book is worth the price for just the sections on MySQL.

This is a huge book, approximately 665 pages, however it is quite hard to find anything of help in it. It's great if you are going to go through and do all of the examples, I'm sure you would learn something from it, but it's terrible when you want a quick answer, or you really need to know the details on something. I frequently find myself searching the net instead of this book because it is huge and there is no good way to find the answers. Additionally, when you do find the answers it is just a continuation of a previous example and does not explain in depth on how to use the various functions and such.

In conclusion, it's probably just fine if you are a student and want to go page by page and read the book and learn by examples. But it's terrible as a quick reference, and for more advanced users needing in-depth information you should look elsewhere.

We had to hire a programmer to construct a MySql database and construct the PHP code to complete the site project. Time was critical.
After the job was done, however, I had the time to teach myself the basics of MySql, especially, and enough PHP to modify the new code, or at least understand what was done.
I am still going through the book as time permits, but the book is an excellent starter, and gets you through the basics with excellent examples, well-written explanations and plenty of screen prints to show you what you should see onscreen. I really like the MySql section. I would highly recommend this book to anyone anxious to get up to speed on MySql and PHP.

This book was an excellent introduction for someone like me, a professional programmer with no web programming experience, to get started. The project being carried through the book was broad enough to cover a diverse set of topics, and the code examples permitted exploration and experimentation. It doesn't cover object-oriented PHP, but that can be picked up later. I don't think the book will serve as a reference later, but it provides a lot of pointers to other reference information, including the web site associated with the book.

This is a great book, easy to understand and use as a reference guide through my first PHP/MYSQL creations. The supporting website is informative and the supporting forums are very helpful, Larry (the author) has replied to my posts a few times which led to fixing my problems quite easily. Well done Larry and thanks for your support!

If other tech book writers could learn to write like Larry Ullman does, we'd all be a hell of a lot smarter. I picked this up as a complete newbie to php, with some sql experience and found it very easy to use, but also very informative. I have used it as both a learning php guide, and also as a quick reference to re-check my syntaxes and code use. The book contains useful and intelligent examples, backed up with great support from the publisher and the author. I count this as one of the best investments in a book I have ever made.

this book was great. the author explained everything very clearly and was easy to follow. I read and understood everything the first time through. I now use the book as a reference and it also does the job there for basic to moderate PHP.

this book was great. the author explained everything very clearly and was easy to follow. I read and understood everything the first time through. I now use the book as a reference and it also does the job there for basic to moderate PHP.

Don't know about you out there, but I hate reading boring long theoretical technical texts. i also didn't come from programming background, but IT networking/security. This book was absolutely great for these reasons:

1. no long page upon page babbling by author
2. real hands on action oriented tasks with quick exciting results
3. minimal text, maximum practice with excellent explanations
4. integration of PHP with MySQL for optimal value and practical world
5. Downloadable scripts to validate against your work for accuracy
6. All chapters and hands-on work are aligned to the most frequently
encountered practical real world needs, to plug-n-play for your web
site [...]

Don't know about you out there, but I hate reading boring long theoretical technical texts. i also didn't come from programming background, but IT networking/security. This book was absolutely great for these reasons:

1. no long page upon page babbling by author
2. real hands on action oriented tasks with quick exciting results
3. minimal text, maximum practice with excellent explanations
4. integration of PHP with MySQL for optimal value and practical world
5. Downloadable scripts to validate against your work for accuracy
6. All chapters and hands-on work are aligned to the most frequently
encountered practical real world needs, to plug-n-play for your web
site [...]

The book itself is very helpful. I wish that tutorial books such as this would present the bottom line code first and then go back and explain. This one presents several different versions of a certain script, then improves on them in future chapters. I would have preferred doing it the best way the first time.

Also, another reviewer mentioned that the binding was faulty. Mine was as well. The very first time I opened it, the back of the pages tore from the spine. It's been a pain to use, but I really needed the information and didn't have time to send it back. Since I used it extensively and highlighted important info, I'm probably pretty much stuck with it now.

After reading this book, I can very quickly set up dynamic web sites built upon a MySQL database. In one weekend I created a new website that displays information from a database. The next weekend I built in a content management system so my client could update it on their own. I'm very impressed with the quality of this book series and the author, so much so, that I will likely purchase the other books by Ullman as reference. Well done.

This book helped me a lot with the basics. And it freshens up your html-knowledge. Well written and easy enough to follow. Still it left some unanswered questions.

Very good starter book on PHP and MYSQL. It really explains the interaction of PHP with the MYSQL database. I already have my website in progress.

But not for a seasoned programmer either. Luckily I fit that description! I found the book useful and the examples were easy to follow. Can't say I always understood but it has given me a better understanding of PHP and how it works with MySQL. I was able to adapt the code in most instances for a project I am working on. Although I would of loved to have seen more in the ecommerce example, such as how to add custom options to products (i.e. size/color/qty) as well as adding coupon codes to the checkout. I still am clueless as to how to do this and will need to outsource this portion :(.

I've bought and begun so many technical books that just had me bored or baffled in a few pages. This book is a refreshing change! Larry Ullman is a very talented writer/teacher who not only has a thorough knowledge of his subject, but also has the skill to communicate that knowledge in such a way that he doesn't talk down to you or leave you in the dust. Although I'm not too far along in the book, I can tell that this is going to give me a good grasp of PHP and MySQL, something I haven't found in a lot of online resources I've tried. It's rare that I feel this way about a technical book, but every time I pick this book up and read a bit more, I am more and more glad I chose this book over some of the others. Another excellent part of this purchase is that the author has made himself available to answer questions. How great is that? It's like getting access to a professor for a fraction of the cost of taking a class. I plan on buying other books from this author as needed.

Excellent Book. It's not to slow yet it never assumes that you know how to do something. It goes step by step through every php and sql command, explaining how it works and when to use it and then it gives simple examples to follow up to see how it commands works.
I hightly recommend this book.

I'm a professional programmer but was new to Php and MySql. This book answered all my questions and allowed me to create a sophisticated php page with a database backend in just a couple weeks. I designed my page layout and then just worked on it as I read the book learning the needed techniques. He covers everything I needed. You can't go wrong with this book.

If you want to write PHP coded webpages...this is the book for you. SQL is a pretty common backend for the data that PHP sites use, so having both in one book is ideal. I have a PHP book and an SQL book, but I use this combined book MUCH more frequently than either of those. It is a great resource for learning from the ground up, or for a more advanced programmer it is a good reference guide. It has many full examples that are explained throughout, so it is easy to see EXACTLY what they are talking about.

Despite treating this book with care, the binding began seperating from sections of the book after a few months, and now, after only five months or so, whole sections of the book are falling out. I basically agree with the concensus as far as the content goes, but what is the good of it if the book is falling apart, and so soon after I bought it. I expect a book to stay in one piece for years, not a few months. Another case of a business which cuts corners to make more money at the expense of their integrity.

One of the other readers provided a glowing review of this book. I can only second those thoughts.

Having spent 2 years working on learning PHP and MySQL and having purchased 5 other books on PHP-MySQL, I can say without a doubt that Larry Ullman's book is a gem, well worth buying. It may take a beginner awhile to complete the entire book, but there is no doubt that anyone with beginning to intermediate computer skills can learn PHP-MySQL from this book if you take the time.

Without listing the other books that I no longer even open, I would suggest that you put this book at the top of your choices if you are hoping to learn PHP-MySQL. It will take you well into intermediate to advanced skill levels in short order. Congratulations to Mr. Ullman. (P.S., I have no conflict of interest and decided to write this review because I was so impressed with the book).

I will admit that I don't know either PHP or MYSQL, however I do have a lot of experience with a number of other 4th generation Database Query languages and know a few other programming languages. I picked up this book mostly to get a feel for the syntax of PHP an MYSQL rather than to actually learn something.

My initial opinion through the first 75 pages or so was that it was well written if a bit verbose. But as I kept going I noticed that the author would spend an innordinate amount of time discussing fairly trivial points. As I got further and further into the book I came to the realization that if I hadn't already known pretty much what the author was talking about, I still wouldn't have a clue after reading this book.

I don't know what the problem is. Like I mentioned before the writing is decent. There is just some sort of disconnect somewhere. I wish I had less programming experience because then I would maybe be able to put my finger on the problem a little better. It doesn't help that the way that the formating of the book was done ensures that all the sample code has been put into the most assinine tiny little margins.

Frankly if you want a good PHP/SQL text you could do worse than this book, but somewhere out there you must be able to do better.

When I first started reading this book, I thought that it was going to be another one of these things that I get through the first 40 or so pages, try a couple of the examples and throw it on the pile of worthless computer books I've tried to this point.
How mistaken I was. After getting a thrd of the way through this book, I realized the attention to detail the author has put into it. I love it and would recommend it along with any of the "Head First" series of books.
One thing I am impressed with is the errata section on the companion wesite which is an indication to me that the authors and editors take into consideration the users experience once the book is purchased.
So many times I've been to an errata guide on a publishers website only to find 10 or 11 listings in regards a 700+ page book.
I realize that in technical books such as these, there are going to be editing errors. However it is also true that with technical books such as these, even the smallest editing error can make a huge difference. It seems that other books don't include extensive errata guides in fear that their books will be percieved by the buyer to be improperly edited or else that the errors are to frivolous to point out.
The problem however is when I follow along with the code and the code doesn't work as expected, I question whether it was my fault, or the fault of the code presented to me. With the marvelous job done by the authors on editors on this book, I know exactly when the problem is with me or the sample code. Too many other books overlook this issue.
I highly suggest this book.

I got this book because I was taking a course in LAMP development and couldn't find a copy of the textbook. I figured this book would be a nice temporary reference, until someone got the textbook (the WROX book, "Beginning PHP, Apache, MySQL Web Development") in stock. It turns out that even after I got the class text, I almost exclusively used this book. It has a nice index and a lot of tabular references which make finding information quite easy. It's perfect for my style of learning, where I like to experiment and just turn to the text when I need to look something up. In my opinion, it's much better than the WROX title. It *was* written for PHP 3 & 4, and MySQL 3 & 4, but virtually all of the material is still accurate and relevant.

I have learned a lot with this book by looking at the examples provided. The technic provided in this book helps you to undrestand the code and reasons for using certain functions. Also it has the URL of all of the examples in which you can download and play with them to help yourself better undrestand PHP. Once you complete reading the book and experementing PHP with the book examples then you may download PHP manual from offical PHP websites and learn more functions to tuneup your codes. Reading this book helps you to better undrestand PHP manual.

This is the best PHP and MySQL learning tool I have ever picked up. In fact, it's the best learning *anything* tool I have ever picked up. Larry Ullman teaches PHP and MySQL in a way that makes it very, very easy to understand. He has made most of the other PHP and MySQL references I have seen look embarrassing. I found this book to be better than the short course I did on PHP and MySQL, which was 20 times more expensive.

If you're wanting to learn PHP and MySQL, I can not recommend this gem more highly.

At first, I was a little apprehensive about the book - I was thinking it was a repackaged 'Teach Yourself in 5 seconds a day' kind of thing where you end up flying throughout through the content without really learning anything. I needed to actually learn this topic and I needed to do it quickly - I bought this book on a Monday and had a MAJOR project for my Database Systems class due Friday night at midnight.

I got started writing every piece of code in the book and finished on Wednesday. By Thursday, I had extended it with the functionality I needed to complete this project and it looked and worked GREAT! I went from zero to hero in just under a week with this book. All the code works and everything is downloadable from the book website!

I'll definitely be buying more of Larry's books in the future!

As a beginner in the PHP & MySQL world, this book provided everything I needed to go from nothing to a fully functioning dynamic site within days. Great examples, and most importantly he covers security concerns as well as best-practices for keeping everything running smooth.

I was also happy that he answered my questions on his support forum within 24 hours of posting. I'm very happy I bought this book, it's been a great learning experience.

I will be ordering more books from this author in the future, and if you are looking to extend your knowledge of dynamic websites, this is certainly a great first step.

As a whole, the Visual Quickstart and QuickPro guides are a great series, and this title - now in its second edition - is no exception.

Ullman provides an excellent overview of PHP, from the basics of the language to advanced features such as implementing shopping carts and using PHP to send email. Ullman's writing style, combined with the easy-to-follow design that this book shares with the rest of the series, make this text easy to follow and learn from.

In addition to PHP, Ullman also covers MySQL development - a necessary secondary skill for PHP developers - over the course of several chapters.

The final three chapters of the book are essentially labs that allow readers to pull together the skills learned through the rest of the text into actual sample applications, including an e-commerce site and a content management system. This seemingly obvious step of creating a practical, realistic site is missing in the vast majority of texts, which leave it up to the reader to pull together the information gleaned in the rest of the book, and they alone would make the book worthwhile.

The book also provides an excellent appendix that provides step-by-step instructions for downloading and configuring PHP, MySQL, and the Apache web server. Here again, many authors seem to think that this is a simple and intuitive process and tend to skip it altogether, leaving readers not left in the dark, unable to even get started, because the software isn't working. Ullman never makes this assumption, and instead makes sure that he covers all of this bases.

Given the popularity of PHP, the market is flooded with books on the topic, but I would never hesitate to recommend this one above the rest, and think that this is the one PHP book every new developer should have on their shelf.