Best PHP & MySQL book ever
937331
For the past 3 months I've trying to learn PHP & MySQL without any luck. After trying to understand books like:

1) Spring into PHP5 by Steven Holzner (bad learning format)

2) PHP5 fast&easy web development by Julie Meloni (simple but not with great depth)

3) and others

I've finally bought this book last week and been learning ever since. It's unfortunate I've been wasting my time and even feeling like fool for not understanding the concepts from the other books.

This book is amazing. I'm setting up my first big web project which includes a CMS (Content Mangement System) / Updatable Staff list and other things and I finally making it all happen. Thank to Mr. Ullman.

Thank you for giving me hope Mr. Ullman!
568176
This book is just great to quickly get a grip of simple to intermediate applications using mySQL and the powerful "web language" PHP. This book is not for beginners in web development or programming, though. If you are a web programmer that really need serious in-depth knowledge about PHP og mySQL, this book is not for you either.
4104463
Reese hits a solid triple to start the inning off and scores easily on the wild pitch thrown by the reader who says that the GRANT section is wrong.

This book works easily and appropriately at your deskside.  I found the book to be a very simple, easy-to-navigate reference text that presents the most important aspects of MySQL in the quickest, most logical manner.

It is very easy to thumb through with every possible random page landing at a topic of interest.  In a way, it was like working with a familiar dictionary, you know the kind, where you just kind of naturally crack it open near the word you're accessing and flip a couple of pages either direction to arrive at the exact reference location.

In that vein, I'd perhaps recommend that the margins contain "bread crumbs" telling us where we are in the book, but it isn't necessary since thicker sections often obviate themselves with just another page turn.  Each page does have the chapter title in the margin, so my point is really one of nit-pickieness rather than a true critique.

To its credit, the layout of the book presents the content in a manner that follows the O'Reilly "risen bar" standard.  It is easy to scan through the entire reference flipping pages as quickly as possible so that you are able to arrive at your sought information within as much as a second or two.  The bold text draws your eye to the page and the size of the page allows one to capture everything in a single glance.

In my usage of the book, I found it very accurate and useful.  I am a regular MySQL user and the formatting is very familiar to me.  I highly recommend this book.  If you are already familiar with SQL and the basics of database schema design, this is the perfect reference.  I found it amazingly faster than loading the MySQL PDF manual and searching through potentially dozens of hits for the keywords sought.  Even at the full cover price, this book is a value-added service at my side.

The sections on operators, functions, stored procedures and triggers make this book an invaluable tool for the DBA or programmer who knows the material, but fails to remember every single aspect about the syntax AND who is tired of seeing that familiar:

"You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near..."

The text also finds welcomed complement from the numerous examples of using commands and SQL keywords.  They are invaluable for immediately deciphering the sometimes too-numerous options of a command.

I don't know that the book has taught me anything new at this point, but it certainly makes finding the details of what I already know much easier.  Because of its brevity and its ease-of-use, it has made me want to play around with some of the various features of MySQL that I do not regularly use.  That alone is going to teach me something new sooner or later!

If your budget is constrained to a single reference item on MySQL, you can't go wrong with this very portable pocket reference.

The back cover says: "When you reach a sticking point, but have to get to a solution quickly, MySQL Pocket Reference is the book you need."

I agree completely.
4542132
This is definitely the best book I've read in the programming world. There are some very good PHP books, but this is so far the best. Why? I have a MS in English Lit and some of the books I have read have left me furious over the poor quality of the editing and general sloppyness. Not so here! Amusing at times but not self-involved. Appropriate for an adult. A clear intent to educate that succeeds!
Good job.
PS - Almost done and no typos!
566511
I feel the book is great for anyone with an advanced knowledge into the workings of PHP and database functions.  Although it has plenty of code samples scattered throughout the book, it does not cover some of the  important functions, but, rather, covers more lessly used functions from  PHP.
I can't be biased, as any book is help, but this one is exceptional,  thus my rating.
658673
ATTN:  If you are a beginner, or if you just want to brush up on your MYSQL skills, then this is the book.  I also purchased two other MYSQL books but they are not half as easy to read as this.  Ben Forta is technical but explains everything in such a way that anyone could learn this stuff.  He provides detailed examples in this book as well as well as GOOD explanations of how the code is to be used and why.  THIS IS A VERY QUICK READING BOOK AND IF YOU NEED TO LEARN FAST, THEN WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR... BUY THE CHEAP BOOK!!
1329744
Each one is aware on how popular PHP and it had been used widely. And this is a complete guide in learning the basic principles on PHP programming. Whats best about this PHP is you can get its software for free, it is efficient of handling websites, syntax are easily readable and understandable, platform independent, all major web services are supported, support all major databases, faster development, secure. Large communities and proven and trusted. The installation procedure is different for each operating system. By just following the procedures given, PHP programming will be installed properly. Even for those new in computer literacy will easily learn with the aid of this very informative book. Recommend to it to everyone out there.
572318
This book has to have any MySQL DBA (both administrators and architects). It provides very deep view on how MySQL works and reacts on your configuration and SQL.

If you are programmer, you should browse this book too, to get background about MySQL and what it can do for you and what you can do for MySQL to get best performance SQL.

This probably should not be your first book about MySQL (not only knowledge but some experience is handy) but definitely second one ;)
1706303
With very little previous web programming experience (though I have recent experience with PL/SQL), I started using PHP 1 year ago. I've read several PHP/MySQL books during the past year, but this one is the best. As others have noted, it may not be for the pure beginner, but at my level it's perfect. It helps me better understand concepts (session usage) that I was justing using by rote before. It reminds me of things I should return to in my code (like authentication) that I may have been sloppy with. And it's pretty easy to read. If you got tired of waiting for this edition to finally be published, you might want to check it out now.
4617347
MySQL is assuming increased importance as an enterprise database and has become the de-facto standard with web hosting companies. A number of books have appeared in recent years, covering various aspects of MySQL. In Understanding MySQL Internals, Sasha Pachev, a MySQL-focused consultant and former member of the MySQL development team, takes us on a tour of how MySQL works and how it is built.

Starting with an overview of MySQL history and architecture, the book quickly moves us through working with the source code to build and run the product in a debugger. Drawing on his deep experience with the software, Mr. Pachev explains the coding conventions used to develop MySQL and why you should use them when modifying the software yourself.

The author delineates the different functional "modules" (a term he coined himself to better explain the database, technically speaking there are no defined modules in MySQL's architecture) of MySQL and how they interrelate. Herein lies the key to how this book teaches the reader the vast intricacy of such a complex piece of software. The author recognizes the subject is huge and the source code changing. What he does in the book is serve as our tour guide, driving us through the various areas and explaining as much relevant information as he reasonably can. He constantly illustrates key pieces of source code and data structures; but perhaps more importantly he makes reference to the actual source files utilized by each functional component of the system, while encouraging us to explore further on our own. His approach is very much "top down".

As he takes us on this tour, the author explains many of the design decisions behind the various MySQL components, often imparting the historical perspective behind them. I appreciate how, throughout the book, the author shares some of his "inside information" about MySQL's development. There is also a section where he examines the code stability of each module and speculates on what the future may hold for each module. The author's writing style is clear and easy to read. I found Understanding MySQL Internals interesting and fun, and surprisingly easy to read for a book covering such a sophisticated piece of software. The author also does a good job explaining the engineering trade-offs of different MySQL configurations. Speaking of configuration, the book shows you how to add your own configuration option to the mysqld daemon.

Chapter 7, the largest chapter in the book, is 41 pages long. It covers the MySQL storage engine interface. This chapter explains how to integrate your own custom storage engine into MySQL and contains the source code for two custom storage engine examples (one for MySQL 4.1, the other for version 5.1). You can download this source code from O'Reilly's web site. Despite this one long chapter, the book is surprising short, only 234 pages.

I believe this book has value outside of MySQL. It does a good job showing how MySQL is essentially a well designed piece of software:  a high-performance, reliable Unix server. The book also touches on the multi-platform aspects of MySQL design. Those of you designing other types of server software may benefit from studying how MySQL is constructed.

This book isn't for everyone, but if you are serious about MySQL in particular or database software design in general then this title certainly deserves a look.
2461252
Most of the great texts are appropriately named and hold themselves in particularly high esteem.  This book doesn't do that, its about solutions.  It offers practical solutions to every day problems (really, the book in many cases has actually had the exact solution to the problems I had!)  And not only that, but the book is also very easy to read from front to back.  Although its not intended as a book that should be read fluently, reading it chapter by chapter will actually increase your knowledge of PHP a hundred fold, both authors are on the PHP Development team, and they explain how PHP really works, inside out.  A must have for any intermediate-experienced coder, looking to take there coding skills to the next level.
4568409
I probably have every book Larry Ullman has written and PHP 5 Advanced has been like a bible to me for the past year or so. It is absolutely FULL of useful information, ideas and tips. There is very little that you can't do with PHP if you completely grasp the contents of this book. If you have this book and "PHP 6 and MySQL 5 for Dynamic Web Sites: Visual QuickPro Guide" that makes a fantastic set.
 It is so easy to follow and understand, very detailed and well indexed. The example content can be a building block to get you going in the right direction. I do not use any of the scripts directly from Larry's books, but they stimulate ideas and have given me a much better holistic understanding and direction for web based application architecture.
I cannot recommend this book enough. It's a triumph in the mastery of teaching advanced php, especially Object Oriented.
3747939
This is easily the best book I've found on PHP for beginners. It's not the only book I'm using, but boy am I glad I started here. I have several years of experience with HTML, CSS, and ASP, and have recently decided to learn PHP/MySQL. If you have some background in web design, and want to learn PHP, David Powers is your man. Keep writing David!
1957504
PHP Object-Oriented Solutions by David Powers gives a great explanation to anyone that wants to jump into the world of Object-Oriented Programming in PHP.  I can't stress enough how many times I've come back to this book as a quick reference on encapsulation, inheritance, and polymorphism.  The first two chapters are quintessential in learning the foundation of how PHP classes are written and how they work.  The following chapters utilize what's shown in the first two by creating your own classes to help handle dates, validate forms, and even create RSS feeds.

The book is geared towards an intermediate PHP developer who knows the basics of PHP and is comfortable with procedural programming.  It could be used by an advanced programmer as a reference as well.  It's easy to read and worded in "simple terms" so that it is much easier to understand than other books I've read on OOP.

This book significantly helped me learn the basics of OOP and now I'm more than comfortable using frameworks such as Yii or building my own OOP frameworks to create new web apps.  I highly recommend this book to anyone that's new to OOP and wants to learn more about it.
4035247
This is one of the best sams books I have bought.  I bought this book knowing nothing about mysql or php.  This book has great examples and is clear and concise.  If you know SQl and already have experience with a server side programming language then you wil have a web application up in a week.  Even if you don't know anything about server side programming or sql this book will serve as a great intro for the two.  I HIGHLY recommend this book.
4677213
This book is great for the new and maybe even helpfull for the expert. I am new to the MySQL world and after running through half this book, I can shoot with the best of them. It covers everything from setting up MySQL to  Administration and maintenance. If you are getting into MySQL, go to  Starbuck's, get a venti iced mocha and sit down with this book. You will  not regret this purchase.
2186478
In this "MySQL Cookbook", Paul DuBois ensured that a wide range of topics were covered. In fact, most Unix and Mac OS X users would cherish the contents of this text. Comprehensive information were presented in a very uncomplicated way. The book did advanced analysis of all MySQL-based scripts which are applicable to Java, Perl, Python and PHP. The same story goes for MySQL-based web scripts under Apache and Tomcat. It gave readers sufficient guidance to codes, using time-saving illustrative examples. However, beginners who need to start from the scratch may not appreciate this advanced approach.
In conclusion, this is a dependable text that both intermediate and advanced MySQL learners would appreciate.