I bought this book several years ago for my son when he was in high school. Since then I've kept it in work and it's been borrowed many times by ASP and Java programmers looking to broaden their knowledge, modify existing systems or to customized any of the many PHP based applications and frameworks that are available on the internet.
It's a great book to learn what is still one of the most commonly used language on the web.

After a long search and 3 PHP books later, I have finally found something that was perfectly structured and EASY TO UNDERSTAND. If you are looking to learn PHP fast, start with this book. 4 stars instead of 5 only because its a bit dated, though still an excelent foundation.

Perfect for a newbie programmer. I had more trouble installing PHP than using the book.

This thing was the best computer book that I have ever purchased. The way it was layed out was the easiest I've ever had to learn anything in computers...and I'm a network engineer, and have been for 10 years.

Great book...get it!

This thing was the best computer book that I have ever purchased. The way it was layed out was the easiest I've ever had to learn anything in computers...and I'm a network engineer, and have been for 10 years.

Great book...get it!

This book is a must have reference to PHP programming. It's a bit difficult to read, but it's great to have around. If you are an absoulte beginer looking to learn PHP, this isn't your book right away...wait a couple of months and then buy it.

This book is a must have reference to PHP programming. It's a bit difficult to read, but it's great to have around. If you are an absoulte beginer looking to learn PHP, this isn't your book right away...wait a couple of months and then buy it.

Books on PHP are definately improving as time goes on. This is the best book I've seen so far for the beginner, and I definately wish I had it when I was started learning 3 years ago. A wide variety of functions were covered to get the novice familiar with how PHP works, giving them a good foundation to move onto more advanced books and/or tutorials.

I would have given it 5 stars if it weren't for the fact that it failed to stress the importance of form related security (which should definately be taught from the beginning), as well as writing with registered_globals off (which is the default setting in PHP for 4.2 or later). Many beginners who follow this book may wonder why their scripts aren't working because of it.

Overall, though, I was very impressed with the layout of the example code, with plenty of pointers explaining what each part of the code is doing, as well as how easy it was to skim the text that came with it.

This is not the book to be used for developing an e-commerce site (security issues left out)nor is it for advanced PHP features nor is it reference of all the PHP features. Its a book for someone who has had some little exposure to some other programming language and would like to develop a web site in PHP. This book takes from you from beginning through intermediate level and it does it very well and very clearly without confusing you with endless options and parameters and permutations of every PHP function. It covers the most usefull and basic fucntions and does a very good job. I have three books on PHP, this is the one I start with to learn a concept because it is quick, clear, and to the point. As I want to learn more advanced features I consult other books later or php.net

This is not the book to be used for developing an e-commerce site (security issues left out)nor is it for advanced PHP features nor is it reference of all the PHP features. Its a book for someone who has had some little exposure to some other programming language and would like to develop a web site in PHP. This book takes from you from beginning through intermediate level and it does it very well and very clearly without confusing you with endless options and parameters and permutations of every PHP function. It covers the most usefull and basic fucntions and does a very good job. I have three books on PHP, this is the one I start with to learn a concept because it is quick, clear, and to the point. As I want to learn more advanced features I consult other books later or php.net

Straight to the point is the best way to describe this book. If your new to programming, the sections on arrays, strings and program flow will give you a solid foundation on which to build your skills. BUY IT!

I am currently in college for computer programing and have read many books, some for college and some not. Between classes and homework time was a tight issue. Many books have alot of text, which can be hard to read all at once. With this book I could pick it up on any page that I was reading without having to backtrack and remember what has already been explained. This is extremly helpful because of the tight time. I am surprised how fast I learned the syntax of PHP, I think this was due to the pictures explaining how things work. And being able to take breaks inbetwen reading. I would recomend this book to anyone who wants to learn PHP, although the book is small, and doesn't have many pages do not be sceptical for it really is great. I also have the Visual Blue Print for mySQL which is what I will be reading next if it is as easy to read and learn as this one, I will be buying alot more "Visual Blue Print" books.

As an developer wanting to learn additional languages and distinguis between the syntax differences of web-coding languages, I was particularly happy to find a book that served as a true example-based reference guide. Ironically, I've not even "cracked" the CD packaging!

Whether you need to install and configure Apache, install PHP or use it to code, install MySQL or use it in your PHP scripts, this book walks you through it all. There's even a handy comprehensive PHP functions reference in the back of the book. Personallly, I liked this book better than the one for dummies.

I would definitely recommend this book for anyone wanting to know more about PHP.

If you are a beginner to programming languages this book is very good. If you are a proffesional this is a book that you would breeze through in a night, maybe two to get an overview of the language.

The book is good for a beginner because you cannot get more detailed about the small topic chunks they covered at any given time. The books assumes you know nothing or virtually nothing of programming languages or server side scripting.

The book is only a wet your lips kind of thing for a proffessional. It will not give you everything you need to really write good production sites. You need another book for that. Even though it only wets your lips, this book is a good book even for the proffesional because it is a very quick read for someone who knows other programming languages.