Website, Books? What do you recommend?

If you're completely new to php I would suggest, along with the O'reilly books Learning PHP and PHP in a Nutshell, to sign up for lynda.com for a month and go through the video tutorial, it's quite good. My background is in Cold Fusion and this combo got me up to speed quickly with php. Not that I'm an expert, but I have handle on the basics now.

This thread got killed quick.... LOL. Look, there's nothing wrong with designing in PHP, I'm not trying to talk you out of it. Just make sure you understand the big picture and whether that's the path you want to go down. I have yet to meet someone that loves designing in both... it's pro one way or pro the other, and both have valid points.

PHP with MySQL vs. ASP/.NET with SQL.
If you're looking to learn a new skill to make yourself well rounded, that's great. But if understand what you're saying, you're looking to choose a path to take here.... take the time to look at all your options. Once you start to head down one of these two roads, you rarely look back. That's not to say there aren't designers that can design sites using both ways, but you don't usually find designers that are as versed with one as well as they are the other. Consider trying your luck with both until you know what works best for you... especially working with the servers and software you will be using to run these languages. Both are efficient at keeping your data organized and readily available through a user interface, but they differ drastically in many areas.

Following are some specific technical differences in MySQL and SQL Server when it comes down to the ANSI SQL standard:

* MySQL does not support Triggers, SQL Server does.
* MySQL does not support User Defined Functions, SQL Server does.
* MySQL does not have Cursor Support, SQL Server does.
* MySQL does not support Stored Procedures, SQL Server does.
* MySQL does not have FULL JOIN capabilities, SQL Server does.
* MySQL has limited Import/Export capabilities, SQL Server has full support for Import/Export.
* MySQL has limited Transaction Support while SQL Server offers full Transaction Support.

So, it becomes clear that SQL Server is an obvious choice for the company or individual that needs to have FULL control over their data to manipulate and change it as they need. Now, does that concern you? Maybe it does, or maybe this is more then you'll ever do anyway. How about costs? MySQL is free, SQL is far from it.

Like I said, if you're choosing a path (and the more you learn, the harder it feels to start over with a new language), you better make sure it's the future you're looking for. Personally, I think SQL provides a much more robust future as a designer, and the software is much more user friendly. Take all of this into consideration if you're only starting this process.

On Sun, 29 Apr 2007 17:44:21 +0000 (UTC), "comarell"
<webforumsuser@macromedia.com> wrote:

>Austin, I mean David Powers

:-)
--
Steve Fleischer
steve at flyingtigerwebdesign dot com
Hong Kong

i have PHP Web Development Dreamweaver Mx 2004, PHP for Dreamweaver 8,
and PHP Solutions all by Austin, I mean David Powers. I have done all the exercises and found them to be very helpful. I especially like PHP for Dreamweaver 8 and highly recommend it.
marjie

Another one worth looking at:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/learnphp5/


--
----------------------------
Massimo Foti, web-programmer for hire
Tools for ColdFusion and Dreamweaver developers:
http://www.massimocorner.com
----------------------------

AdonaiEchad wrote:
> Hello everyone. I was wondering all those who are PHP programmers, because I
> am new in the field of PHP is there any good books out there that teaches you
> PHP from the simple and gradually work your way up to the advanced step by step.

I'm very biased, but I like my own books. ;-)

http://foundationphp.com/dreamweaver8/
http://foundationphp.com/phpsolutions/

Don't just take my word for it. Visit Amazon.com and read the reviews.
You can also download sample chapters from www.friendsofed.com to see if
the writing style suits your way of learning.

--
David Powers, Adobe Community Expert
Author, "Foundation PHP for Dreamweaver 8" (friends of ED)
Author, "PHP Solutions" (friends of ED)
http://foundationphp.com/