Learning PHP Book

[getvisible]

So I'm on the look out for a PHP for absolute beginners books. I can see loads for PHP4 but nothing stands out for PHP5. Can anyone recommend a book for a complete beginner (i.e. doesn't develop anything at the mo - but can work his way around CSS)

[3wdl]

Everything you need can be found online. No need for a book.

[tbp]

Its true that everything you need can be found online, but I think when your learning something for the first time, its easier from a book, so everything is in one place, and you don't have to bother switching windows etc.

It depends on your programming level, ie whether you`ve done any in other languages. PHP is very easy to pick up if you understand the basic programming principles, such as conditions, loops etc. If you haven't done any programming before you have a bit more to learn.

From a beginners point of view the "Sams - Teach yourself" range are quite good, and take you through the basics. I originally learnt from the Sams - Teach yourself PHP in 24 hours book, not sure if its still available as it was a long time ago!

If your after something mid level "PHP and MySQL Web Development" by Luke Welling and Laura Thomson is good.

For something more hard core, the O'Reilly range are recommended.

Its a shame as a couple of years ago, I could have recommended a whole string of books, as I used to work as a freelance writer, tech editor and reviewer, and I worked on a number of PHP books, but most of the books I know are now out of print as the life of a computer book is so short.

[wibble99]

Are you sure you want to learn PHP5? Most hosts don't support PHP5 as it often breaks old scripts. It's been around for a few years now and most hosts don't provide it and probably won't for some time.

I'm currently developing in PHP4, as that way I can host it pretty much anywhere.

There are a lot of advantages to PHP5, e.g. it's a lot better with object oriented programming (though PHP4 does support it to a level), so you may want to learn/use it - just don't dismiss PHP4.

If you have a dedicated or VPS then you ought to be able to get PHP5 installed if you ask for it. Though I found with one of my hosts that while they installed it for me, they reverted me back to PHP4 some months later after an update and it broke my scripts. That's really why I've reverted back to PHP4 - I'm less likely to have a problem like that and if (when!) I move hosts I can choose from a huge selection rather than just a handful of hosts that provide PHP5.

So what I'm trying to say is that PHP4 isn't outdated, it's PHP5 you're more likely to have more problems with. But if you want the features of PHP5 and have hosting that provides it (and aren't running any 3rd party scripts that may not work under PHP5) then go for it!

[seekituk]

The first book I got (the only book in fact) was 'How to do everything with PHP & MySQL' by Vikram Vaswani.

I found it very easy to follow and there are some good example programs to work through (i.e. a basic shopping cart, news system content management etc).

[tbp]

Sorry, I missed the bit about PHP 5. As was suggested before learn PHP 4, and then the extras that come with PHP 5.

PHP 5 is a lot better, but isn't that widely supported yet, but if you can use it its a good idea too. I`ve always used my own server or VPS so its never been a problem, as I installed it myself, but a lot of hosting accounts don't allow it yet, although that will slowly change.

Compatability wise, its easy to go from PHP 4 to PHP 5, and existing scripts will need little modification, and the modifications are very simple things. PHP 5 is a bit stricter in terms of programming style, its a shame PHP 4 wasn't like it as it encourages good programming skills, and thats where the modifications come in, things you could get away with in PHP 4 you can't in 5.

PHP 5 has quite a few new commands which make life easier, if you use them you can't go back to a PHP 4 server.

So concentrate on learning PHP 4, and 5 will be easy to adapt to.

The best resource out there is the php manual, and even experienced programmers use it a lot, as there's no way you could remember all the commands

A good PHP programming environment helps a lot when your learning, such as Dreamweaver 8 which has syntax colouring and code hints, and makes it lot easier to write scripts, as as soon as you type a PHP function name for example, the parameters you need to give the function are shown. Also shows you if you have used a function name that doesn't exist, or is spelt wrong.

[ceetee]

I seem to remember reading that the 3rd edition of "PHP and MySQL Web Development" by Luke Welling and Laura Thomson covers PHP5. If it's as good as the 1st edition I recommend it.

My budget host hostwww.net are on PHP5 with register_globals off - did wonders for the overcrowded servers when they upgraded.

[Graham@Buyagift]

I had to do a bit in PHP a while back (which I've never used) and found w3schools to be very good - http://www.w3schools.com/php/default.asp. I've also used it to learn about asp, loops, databases etc.

Graham

[drivetowin]

Be careful even if you have a VPS or a dedicated server and want to install php5 - I was told by my hosts that even though I have a dedicated server that a) their standard was php4 and so every time there was an essential security update php4 would be reinstalled and I would have to reinstall php5 myself and b) that they had no experience of php5 so if I installed it they would no longer be able to guarantee my server uptime and so that section of my contract with them would be invalid.

So I took the easy option and stuck with php4...

[Vialli]

I have found the books over at Sitepoint seemed to be ok for me. Not sure how good they are in the views of any experts, but what I have used form them so far, seems to work ok

http://www.sitepoint.com/books/

[Adeel]

w3schools is the best source for beginers to learn php as mentioned by Graham above.. i learn it 4 yrs ago during bsc n found the site more useful than going through boring books from the library..