PHP Fast & Easy Web Development W/CD [With CDROM]

I went to the book store looking for begining PHP by the Wrox group but I saw this book and decided to take a look at it. When I did it looked like a good tutorial/beginners book. I compared the two and after about an hour I went with this one and boy am I glad that I did!!I especially like the fact that Ms. Meloni goes into detail about how to install mySQL, Apache, and PHP on a Windows computer. I bought several other books and returned them simply becuase I couldnt get these items installed on my computer.

This is an extraordinarily helpful and well-written book for the person who wants to move from static web pages to data driven pages. Each step is carefully explained in detail, and each chapter builds a useful category of web page, so that you find yourself moving very quickly into doing useful work. I started out learning PHP with a different book and was bogged down with esoteric details, but when I went back to PHP with this book everything fit and everything worked. For those who do not yet have Apache, PHP and MySql on their machines, the book furnishes a CD with these programs for both Linux and Windows, along with the usual detailed explanation of how to install and configure them. At some point you will probably want to get a more advanced book to do wild and crazy things, but if you are like me, you will still find yourself coming back to this one to be sure you got it right. Great book!

This is one of the best beginner PHP books I've seen. It has a nice visual layout and it addresses both Windows and Linux users. You'll find a great walk-through for building scripts that do the following: generate messages to HTML pages, work with system variables, connect to a database (MySql), create/modify/delete tables and records for the database, work with cookies, and more. There's no fluff in this book. It does not waste your time explaining normalization or database design. (If you need to learn about those things, then get a book about databases.) Also, I liked seeing all the references placed neatly in the back of the book, instead of sprinkled distractingly throughout the lesson examples.The only thing I saw missing was a comment that could have been made about the .php file extension. (Throughout the book, .php is used. However, some host providers (like mine!) use PHP3 and this requires giving your files a .php3 extension instead.)Overall though, the book is excellent. My goal was to build a shopping cart that would work with a database. By using this book, I was able to build the table and record creation scripts very quickly. If you're a master programmer, you might find the book too easy. However, I appreciated the clarity and ease in which the content was delivered, and I think most beginners will appreciate it as well.

I actually bought "Professional PHP Programming" out of Wrox Publishing as my very first PHP book to help me learn it. I had SO many problems grasping many of the areas that I actually walked away from learning PHP for a month. It's a good book, but there is just too much detail information in there for the newbie. Then I went out and bought PHP Fast & Easy. It made it so easy that I couldn't put the book down! This is easily the most useful web development book I ever bought. You'd have to be brain dead to have any trouble learning PHP with this book sitting in front of you.

This should be the Number 1 Best Seller!There is just not enough advertising out on this book! Some marketeer needs to pick up this book and run with it on commission.I have two other books on PHP. One for PHP3 and One for PHP4. I had a bit of trouble with the other two, a friend suggested this one and WOW it has made things so simple. This book will jump start you into PHP no matter what level you are at!Thanks to the Author Julie, this is the best book I have ever read in programming. Information step by step like this is invaluable. This is like winning the lottery!Also, If you have thought about Using PHP, MySql and Apache then get this book now!