A Programmer's Introduction to PHP 4.0

No matter what language you are familiar with, this book will benefit you. Beginning with a rapid introduction to PHP's syntax and basic functionality, you will swiftly understand PHP. The book then steers you toward advanced issues, like PHP's role in database manipulation, sessions, and user interactivity.

Author W.J. Gilmore also examines how PHP can work with XML, JavaScript, and the Component Object Model (COM). He loads the book with practical examples and several projects that can be immediately incorporated on any website. The invaluable A Programmer's Introduction to PHP 4.0 shows you how to make the most of PHP's powerful capabilities, regardless of your current scope of PHP knowledge.

User review
Decent content; too many typos/ambiguities. Unclear who the audience is.
OK, on the upside: This book is very readable, very light. Some texts are so dense that they almost necessitate being read in 10-page increments. Thankfully, this book is comparably straightforward, and there is a lot of relevant content covered.

Unfortunately, there are quite a few typos and numerous instances of ambiguous code that could easily throw off beginning programmers. These include:

1.) Multiple instances where `-` (single minus sign) is used as a decrement operator, which will not work (i.e., $x-; whereas it should be $x--;).

2.) Page 68 - Presents the do,,while loop in VB-style syntax (that is, with the do keyword followed by a colon and then line-separated statements, rather than with a C-style code block in {braces}). On the next page, the author then informs us that the VB-style syntax, which is offered for while loops and for loops, is actually not available for the do,,while loop. So why was it presented that way on the previous page? I suppose it was meant to be a pseudo-code representation, and not the actual syntax - but it's certainly misleading.

3.) Page 76 - Convoluted description of `continue n;` syntax: `The optional n acts as the opposite of the n accompanying the break statement, specifying to the end of how many levels of enclosing loops the continue statement should skip.` Eh? I found this one to be rather difficult to comprehend, especially since no example was provided.

4.) Page 66 - At the top of the page, the first line of code reads, 'if ($food == `pasta`)', but the accompanying comment for that line reads, '//check $pasta value', even though it is the value of $food we are checking (NOT the value of $pasta).

5.) For example, on pp. 90-91, the syntax for the 'include' function is listed first as 'include(path/filename);' (parentheses but no quotes around path) and then, alternatively, as 'include `path/filename`;' (with quotes around path, but no parens). But in the example that follows, it is written as 'include (`array_sorting.inc`);' - which contains both quotes AND parentheses. I suppose all three are acceptable - but this is not stated explicitly, and as such, it's very unclear.

All in all, not a bad book in terms of content covered, but it definitely should have been edited more carefully. If you're relatively comfortable with another programming language already, you'll probably catch most of the typos - but I'd still keep the PHP documentation handy.

User review
OK for my needs
-- but I don't have the needs that a serious PHP programmer does. All the basics seem to be here, in the form of examples. An experienced programmer can skip over the bumpy parts and fill in the blanks.

And there are lots of blanks. Boolean operators are introduced on page 60, including both bitwise and short-circuit OR operators. It gives an example of short-circuit behavior, but never really explains what that means. (If you never heard the term, `a OR b` in the short-circuit sense means `if a is true the expression as a whole is already true, so don't even evaluate expression b`, and don't create all the output and side effects that b would have created.) Likewise, p.216 shows a use of include() that doesn't mean what you probably want, but fails to explain why incorrect usage is incorrect. Escape tag configuration is set on p.20, but there never is a clear description of how escape tags interact with the code. The section on Javascript gives examples of files with that and PHP together, but never really spells out the source-level interactions between them.

Also, there is only a little mention of some of the peculiar capabilities of an interpreted language, like being able to use character strings as variable names. This borders on (and sometimes blurs the line with) self-modifying code. There's a lot of potential power there, but you're on your own if you try to tame it.

On the whole, the book gave a uniform impression. It sounds like a pretty good explanation of material that the author just barely understands. There's plenty of code-by-example material here, so I can probably get everything done that I need to. Someone who really needed to understand the language in finest detail would not get what they want, however.

//wiredweird

User review
Lots of errors
There are lots of errors in the code listings in this book, as well as a lot of typos in the text. This is not just annoying, but quite confusing. The concepts are explained well enough, but the errors really get in the way.

User review
3 thumbs up
Not for newbies to programming but if you know the basics
of html and javascript and basic database stuff but want the
heads up on PHP then this book is great !!!,,. Just the facts described short, sweet and to the point. Examples are perfect
without being overly complex. Good stuff.

User review
Somewhat misleading title, but the book is still great
A more appropriate title would have been 'An Introduction to PHP 4.0 for HTML Programmers'. The first five chapters cover basic programming concepts such as data types, conditional statements, functional programming, in arrays in very great detail. I found myself (a VB, C, and C++ programmer) skipping dozens of pages at a time. However, in addition to the basic theories, the book does do a good job explaining the various commands and functions PHP uses, although in a manner slightly more basic than I had expected.

Starting in chapter 6, however, Gilmore throws down new concepts fast and furiously. The quality of his explanations doesn't suffer, he simply covers more in a briefer period of time in a manner that a somewhat experienced programmer will easily understand.

On the whole, I was very impressed with this book. It does a fantastic job introducing PHP 4.0 and serves as a fantastic reference book as well.