Head First PHP & MySQL: Amazon.co.uk: Lynn Beighley, Michael Morrison: Books

Product Description

If you're ready to create web pages more complex than those you can build with HTML and CSS, Head First PHP & MySQL is the ultimate learning guide to building dynamic, database-driven websites using PHP and MySQL. Packed with real-world examples, this book teaches you all the essentials of server-side programming, from the fundamentals of PHP and MySQL coding to advanced topics such as form validation, session IDs, cookies, database queries and joins, file I/O operations, content management, and more.

Head First PHP & MySQL offers the same visually rich format that's turned every title in the Head First series into a bestseller, with plenty of exercises, quizzes, puzzles, and other interactive features to help you retain what you've learned.

Use PHP to transform static HTML pages into dynamic web sites
Create and populate your own MySQL database tables, and work with data stored in files
Perform sophisticated MySQL queries with joins, and refine your results with LIMIT and ORDER BY
Use cookies and sessions to track visitors' login information and personalize the site for users
Protect your data from SQL injection attacks
Use regular expressions to validate information on forms
Dynamically display text based on session info and create images on the fly
Pull syndicated data from other sites using PHP and XML

Throughout the book, you'll build sophisticated examples -- including a mailing list, a job board, and an online dating site -- to help you learn how to harness the power of PHP and MySQL in a variety of contexts. If you're ready to build a truly dynamic website, Head First PHP & MySQL is the ideal way to get going.

About the Author

Lynn Beighley is a fiction writer stuck in a technical book writer's body. Upon discovering that technical book writing actually paid real money, she learned to accept and enjoy it. After going back to school to get a Masters in Computer Science, she worked for the acronyms NRL and LANL. Then she discovered Flash, and wrote her first bestseller. A victim of bad timing, she moved to Silicon Valley just before the great crash. She spent several years working for Yahoo! and writing other books and training courses. Finally giving in to her creative writing bent, she moved to the New York area to get an MFA in Creative Writing. Her Head First-style thesis was delivered to a packed room of professors and fellow students. It was extremely well received, and she finished her degree, finished Head First SQL, and can't wait to begin her next book.

Lynn loves traveling, cooking, and making up elaborate background stories about complete strangers. She's a little scared of clowns.

Michael Morrison is a writer, developer, toy inventor, and author of a variety of books covering topics such as Java, Web scripting, game development, and mobile devices. Some of Michael's notable writing projects include JavaScript Bible, 6th Edition (Wiley, 2006),Teach Yourself HTML and CSS in 24 Hours, 7th Edition (Sams Publishing, 2005), Beginning Mobile Phone Game Programming (Sams Publishing, 2004) and Java Unleashed (Sams Publishing, 1997). Michael is the intructor of several Web-based courses, including DigitalThink's Introduction to Java 2 series, JavaBeans for Programmers series, and Win32 Programming series (www.digitalthink.com).

In addition to his primary profession as a writer and technical consultant, Michael is the founder of Stalefish Labs (www.stalefishlabs.com), an entertainment company specializing in games, toys, and interactive media. When not glued to his computer, skateboarding, playing hockey, or watching movies with his wife, Masheed, Michael enjoys hanging out by his koi pond.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

Head First has nailed it! 1 Nov 2009

By G. Hayward

Format:Paperback

Although, I am only halfway through the book (at the time of writing), I have been more than impressed with it. The skills the book has introduced to me are very practical, I have been able to apply them into my own work immediately. The book has not been afraid to repeat points, commands, etc - in fact that is one of the key concepts to the books way of teaching.

However, my one criticism for the book is the chapters are very long and I find it takes several hours to work through each one. For that reason it is more of a Sunday afternoon book and hence why I'm only halfway through it.

I would recommend this book to anyone that has read a few books on the subject of PHP MySQL as well as complete newbies, as it has consolidated what I already knew and introduced new ideas without being boring or insulting. In fact in many ways I wish I had read this book first.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

Not perfect but still better book to learn PHP 9 April 2011

By Luiza

I've tried to learn PHP many times before using several sources, but this one was the only learn material that did succeed.

They use examples and a lot of humor to make PHP fun, it was money well worth it, however the book isn't perfect, sometimes they give you a task but no solutions, also there are a few minor coding errors, but the big plus of this book is the on-line forum community for the book is really good and every time I came across a code error/got stuck someone on the forum was able to help me. if you've tried everything to learn PHP, try this book.

as always, the best tutorial around 25 Jun 2010

By Russell G. Williams

These Head first books are incredibly good value for money. They take the reader from an absolute beginner to a competent programmer in the time it takes to read the book. I heartily recommend it.

Heads or Tails?

When I came across the reviews for this book, I was optimistic it would help me through my A Level PHP and MySQL programming project. Read more

Published 1 month ago by SillyBilly

Head First PHP & MySQL

When I was trying to teach myself Java I tried a number of disappointing books before I eventually found "Head First Java", so when I needed to learn PhP and MySql I ordered the... Read more

Published 6 months ago by stevebaker

Awesome

An alround great book, introduces the language in a way thats fun and interesting.
Keeps you wanting to turn the next page as opposed to books that talk about boring math... Read more

Published 10 months ago by Johnno

An excellent way to learn

This is a great reference for beginners and those at an intermediate level. I truly wish my teachers at school had been as thorough and tongue-in-cheek serious at the same... Read more

Published 11 months ago by Sarah Edwards

The best PHP book for beginners!

Excellent for beginners. However it is not good for reference as it explains everything in terms of projects so if you want to loook up particular functions, chances are you will... Read more

Published 12 months ago by A. Kwabula

Enlivens the learning process, but useless for reference

If you sit down and read this book without working through the practical exercises at a computer, it provides a slow but easily understood introduction to the key concepts and... Read more

Published 16 months ago by jonners88

Easy learning

This book should be on every web designers shelf.
Easy to understand with what some would consider simple graphics, but just like all the other Head First books, a non hi-tech... Read more

Published 20 months ago by David Hunter

Head First PHP & MySQL [Paperback]

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