Good books about PHP

[M_R_Biesheuvel]

For the last years I worked for a company and I was primarily coding in ASP.NET C#. Now that I'm unemployed I'm considering to change from working with ASP.NET to PHP. I think about changing the workflow to Dreamweaver / Flash / Flex and concentrate more on actionscript / javascript and I have the strange feeling that somehow PHP is more flexible and if I want to work freelance it better suits my needs (for smaller projects) . I'm looking for is a good book with in dept knowledge about PHP. To some extend I need books that explain the syntax but I don't want to spend money on books with twenty pages explaining me how to do a if then statement or something like that.

Furthermore, if I change to to PHP should I concentrate on PHP 5 or PHP 6?

[jon8]

There's more money to be made in C#.NET to be very upfront with you.  It's corporate city, and pays better.  PHP is, however, a much better community and a joy to code in.  I wouldn't abandon C# anytime soon... it's not going anywhere.  Instead, keep up with both technologies so you can attract both the hip blogger, up and coming business, and social networking giants.... as well as the corporate IT stiff.  Focus on PHP 5.  6 is a ways away, and is not stable enough for production.

get your books from amazon... much cheaper.  Two books I recommend:

- http://www.amazon.com/Beginning-PHP-MySQL-Novice-Professional/dp/1590598628/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256336132&sr=8-4

- http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Guide-Dreamweaver-CS4-Ajax/dp/B001NLL8P6/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256336217&sr=8-3

Check out my blog about this topic:

How Do You Decide Between C#, Java, PHP, And Python?

http://cmiwebstudio.com/blog/index.php/how-do-you-decide-between-c-java-php-and-python/

[M_R_Biesheuvel]

Well its allways hard when it comes down to choosing technologies. For now I'm working hard to get some basis idea of actionscript. (I'm not the one who claimes total understanding after just a few weeks of practice). On one hand I really love to program in C# but PHP looks very tempting and I noticed in some cases its very flexible. To learn new technologies up to the point where you can make money out of it takes lots of times, so I think I will continue working with ASP.NET but also start learning PHP (also for the love of coding). I think ASP.NET is a strong server side technology but you are more or less confined to the structure Microsoft layed out. So in some cases its a powerfull tool but you still need crazy work arounds to do simple things and that's what I don't like about ASP.NET.

[jon8]

I think ASP.NET is a strong server side technology but you are more or less confined to the structure Microsoft layed out. So in some cases its a powerfull tool but you still need crazy work arounds to do simple things and that's what I don't like about ASP.NET.

This is the very thing I dislike about ASP.NET, but IT guys that steer the technology directions of corporations just don't get it.  It's like always using an 18 wheeler when a wheel barrow would have done the job.  The PHP community is great, and code is documented everywhere.  It's a fantastic language to work in.

As for Dreamweaver, it's great for anything front end design related and PHP.  All the others are either outdated or poorly supported in the software in my opinion, but great for what you want to do.

Actionscript 3 is a totally different world of interactive media design and vector art.  That will take you in a very different direction from where you've been.

[M_R_Biesheuvel]

jon@cmiwebstudio wrote:

Actionscript 3 is a totally different world of interactive media design and vector art.  That will take you in a very different direction from where you've been.

Well I've mainly written server side code the last few years (That doesn't mean I'm a stranger to HTML and CSS, that's impossible in the world of web developing) but I think RIA will become a part of the very near future. Bandwidth will slowly become less important because that's increasing by the day. (Here in the Netherlands and especially the region where I live super fiber power is becoming the standard). It's only thirty years ago when I was programming a ZX81 with the fabulous memory of 16KB and the internet will keep developing the same way.

The reason to choose Flash above Silverlight is quite easy, Flash is more or less a standard and with AS 3 it has evolved to a mature programming environment.

There's also a personal reason to choose Flash, it's fun to pay around with.

[David_Powers]

M.R.Biesheuvel wrote:

I'm looking for is a good book with in dept knowledge about PHP. To some extend I need books that explain the syntax but I don't want to spend money on books with twenty pages explaining me how to do a if then statement or something like that.

I write books about Dreamweaver and PHP. You can see the details on my website at http://foundationphp.com/.

With the exception of "PHP Object-Oriented Solutions", my books are aimed at the beginner/intermediate level, and the Dreamweaver titles consider PHP specifically in the context of Dreamweaver server behaviors. So, they might not be the most appropriate choice for someone like yourself who already has a background in a server-side language.

Two books on PHP that I would recommend are "PHP and MySQL Web Development" by Luke Welling and Laura Thomson, and "Programming PHP" by Rasmuf Lerdorf, Kevin Tatroe, and Peter MacIntyre.

I haven't seen the latest edition of the first book, but earlier editions were excellent. The first few chapters give you the basic syntax of PHP. The rest of the book is devoted to practical projects.

The second book has as one of its authors Rasmus Lerdoft, the guy who originally created PHP and who remains actively involved in the direction it takes. It's basically a PHP grammar book. My copy of the first edition is very dog-eared.

Furthermore, if I change to to PHP should I concentrate on PHP 5 or PHP 6?

PHP 5. A lot of books now have PHP 6 in their titles, but this is mainly marketing hype. PHP 6 hasn't even reached alpha status yet. Members of the PHP development team acknowledge it's still a long way off, and even when it is released, they don't expect rapid adoption. The principal focus of PHP 6 is making everything fully Unicode compliant. If you learn PHP 5 and avoid bad coding practices, you should be able to switch easily to PHP 6 when it eventually emerges.

[DwFAQ]

I'm looking for is a good book with in dept knowledge about PHP. To some extend I need books that explain the syntax but I don't want to spend money on books with twenty pages explaining me how to do a if then statement or something like that.

Don't buy david's book then.

It's a shameless plug for something you specifically said that you didn't want.

[jon8]

Davids book is an excellent resource for the beginning-novice php developer working in dreamweaver.  As David mentioned, it's a book geared toward someone starting out with PHP, as is the OP.  If it's hard core code that's needed, then just go to php.net.  The nice thing about php, it's very well documented across the web.

[David_Powers]

DwFAQ wrote:

Don't buy david's book then.

It's a shameless plug for something you specifically said that you didn't want.

Read again what I wrote:

my books are aimed at the beginner/intermediate level, and the Dreamweaver titles consider PHP specifically in the context of Dreamweaver server behaviors. So, they might not be the most appropriate choice for someone like yourself who already has a background in a server-side language.

I then went on to recommend two books written by others that I thought the OP might find useful, and explained briefly why I recommended them.

However, it's obvious you've never read one of my books if you think I spend 20 pages describing how to do an if statement.

If you want to make a contribution to this thread, come up with some positive suggestions of your own.

[DwFAQ]

I believe informing the OP that your book is probably not what they're looking for is a valuable contribution to this thread thank you. Especially when the information you charge for in your book can easily be found for free.

I read your post the first time. There's no need for you to quote it again that your book is most likely not what they're looking for. And there really isn't a need to even suggest it in the first place because, as previously mentioned by yourself and mentioned several times since, it's probably not what they're looking for.

[jon8]

wow... relax. are you here to contribute and help dreamweaver users?  doesn't seem like it.  David has been a great contributor to these forums, and certainly doesn't deserve flak in an unnecessarily confrontational manner.  i don't know what's happened to you lately, but maybe a break from the forums is in order until you can get it all straightened out. Hope you're feeling better.

[RJweb]

how many books have you written, I feel davids books are excellent, and he comes here and gives plenty of good advice, where you give answers that are not constructive, I am not making this a flam but sticking up what I think is right, thx

PS david waiting for your CSS book to come to the store

[jon8]

that's cool... I didn't know he had a css book coming out.  i agree with your other comments.

[David_Powers]

RJweb wrote:

PS david waiting for your CSS book to come to the store

The book is finished. I delivered the manuscript on time at the end of August. Unfortunately, a combination of the flu epidemic and technical problems have delayed its release. I'm still waiting for the page proofs. Once they're done, it usually takes about three weeks to distribute a book. So, it looks like late November at the earliest or possibly early December. Sorry about that.

[M_R_Biesheuvel]

For me it's perfectly fine that David mentions it's book. If somebody would ask me (even if he is an experienced programmer) about the best book for C# I allways suggest "Beginning C# in objects" because it an important book about OOP in C#. So maybe David's book about OOP in PHP can contribute and is nice for a litle start. In the thirty years that I'm programming I learned to begin with the structure and after that  the syntax.

If I asked for good books I really appreciate that people tke the time to give me some advise, no need for bashing other people, thanks