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PHP @ Web Programming
Programming Shed : Programmer Store & Resources |
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PHP Index - PHP Book :
Php Functions Essential Reference
by Zak Greant (Editor), Graeme Merrall, Torben Wilson, Brett Michlitsch Paperback: 768 pages Dimensions (in inches): 1.58 x 8.97 x 6.01 Publisher: New Riders Publishing ISBN: 073570970X; 1st edition Sterling Hughes, PHP Core Developer and author: This book is an excellent complement to other, more tutorial focused books, or even to the PHP Manual itself. Book Description: If you're a programmer looking for the most effective uses of PHP, this book will provide you with: • A clear guide to common function usage and pitfalls • Easy to find, detailed information on the most important PHP functions • Practical examples of each function's use • Overview's that discuss how and why to use a particular group of functions • Practical, complete documentation on powerful but obscure functions such as pack and unpack From the Author: Much of the attraction that PHP holds for its developers is its extensible nature. Adding functionality to the language in the form of optional modules is not only allowed, but encouraged- and often users find that an extension they've written makes its way into the official distribution. However, this extensibility comes at a price: There is a vast amount of documentation of which only a fraction is generally applicable to any given project. This book solves the problem of widely scattered documentation by providing, in printed form and on the book's web site, extensive coverage of every essential PHP function. Zak Greant From the Inside Flap: The web site for PHP Functions Essential Reference contains materials to support and expand on the book. Over 700 additional function writeups are available, along with updates, errata, and a few surprises. From the Back Cover: PHP is swiftly gaining market share and is expected to become the leading add-on module for Apache (the leading Web server) within the next 3-4 months. PHP is a server-side scripting language for creating dynamic Web pages, and it is the Open Source alternative to Active Server Pages. PHP is a server-side scripting language for creating dynamic Web pages. You create pages with PHP and HTML. When a visitor opens the page, the server processes the PHP commands and then sends the results to the visitor's browser, just as with ASP or ColdFusion. Unlike ASP or ColdFusion, however, PHP is Open Source and cross-platform. PHP runs on Windows NT and many Unix versions, and it can be built as an Apache module and as a binary that can run as a CGI. When built as an Apache module, PHP is especially lightweight and speedy. This book is a reference of all PHP functions and features, through PHP4, presented in the very accessible manner of an Essential Reference. About the Author: Zak Greant is lead developer for 51 Degrees North and is the founder of the Foo & Associates programmer's cooperative. He leads the PHP Quality Assurance Team and (when not writing) is an active contributor to the PHP documentation, mailing lists, and source code. Graeme Merrall graduated from university in 1993 with a degree in biochemistry. While at university, he discovered the Internet while it was still very much in its infancy. This led him away from biochemistry into employment with an ISP and later with a leading web design firm in New Zealand, where he developed his skills in PHP and ASP. As well as his programming, Graeme has written for the local newspaper in his former home town in New Zealand, and has written several tutorials and articles on PHP for Wired Digital's Web Monkey. Born and raised in New Zealand, Graeme currently resides in Sydney, where he runs his own consultancy, specializing in e-commerce and business integration with the Internet. In his spare time, he enjoys modern literature, music, and crocodile wrestling. Torben Wilson is a freelance developer, technical writer, and member of the Foo & Associates programmer's cooperative. He has been programming in PHP since 1996 and has been a contributing author to the official PHP manual since 1997. Brett Michlitsch is a producer/senior developer at a leading multimedia training development company based in Minneapolis, MN. As a leader in software design and development, Brett has mentored aspiring developers, led in-services on database design and software architecture, and been recognized by colleagues for his outstanding technical feats. In addition, he has led the design of several web sites and web applications, overseeing the database, business logic, and interface design, and using scripting languages such as PHP, ASP, and Perl to carry out his designs. Customer Reviews Reviewer: Ernest Correale from Clearwater, Florida United States This is the perfect book for someone who wants a comprehensive reference of the functions available to PHP programmers. An brief description and example usage is provided for each function. I must have 10 books on PHP and MySQL, this is the one I use the most. Reviewer: Mike Robinson from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada Whether you are new to PHP or a seasoned web developer, this reference book is an absolutely must. Clean, concise, and well written, the authors are well-known and respected in the PHP community. Zak Greant heads up the PHP quality assurance squad, Torben Wilson is one of the longest-running credited authors of the PHP manual, and Graeme Merrall contributes to several areas of PHP development. This book is fast. You can get to what you need quickly, and if you're not sure what you need, the logical hierarchy and table of contents makes narrowing things down very snappy. Within minutes of picking up the book, I've learned new things about PHP, even after 4 years of hardcore PHP development. Not too many books do that. The only downside I can find with it is it won't fit in my shirt pocket. This book has many other strengths. - It has a companion website that compliments the book and is maintained by the authors. - It has been released under a license that reflects the very nature of PHP and Open Source Software, a real credit to the authors. - One of the Technical Reviewers of the book during the process of it being written was none other than Ken Coar, one of the leaders of the Apache Foundation (author of the best darn web server ever made) and one of the Open Source movement's greatest assets. Buying a PHP book reviewed by Ken Coar is like buying a Bible blessed by the Pope. Reviewer: Andra from Chicago I found this book surprisingly useful as an ordinary PHP user. I thought it might be only for gurus, but when I picked up the book it fell open to a function that could have saved me hours of programming on a previous project. I built it from scratch when I didn't know the function already existed. That's the value in this book. There are hundreds of PHP functions, the vast majority of which are unknown to the casual user. If you're on deadline there isn't time to learn them all, or even to wander the PHP sites until you hit paydirt. This book simply lays them out, with a clear description and example attached to each. It's a huge time-saver. My one suggestion is that the book would benefit from having a usage index. Right now, functions are grouped by type (say, time & date functions), then listed alphabetically. But often users don't know what a function is called. They only know what they want it to do. It would save even more time if there was an extra index where you might look things up by use, say, "Create random password." That would make this time-saver even faster. Reviewer: Stephen VanDyke from Atlanta, GA USA While no function reference can top the ease of use and simplicity of php.net/$function_name, some manage to hold their own. This isn't just another regurgitation of the downloadable help system, this book actually manages to give you usable examples along with function explanations you can wrap your head around. This is not a book for those just beginning PHP, and I pity anyone who write an application using only this book. You better have some preliminary knowledge of PHP before picking up this book, but beyond that it's probably one of the best reference books available, and small too! |
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