April 25, 2002

O'Reilly's Much Anticipated "Programming PHP" Offers Mastery of the Language for Web Authors

Sebastopol, CA--PHP is a simple yet powerful language designed for creating HTML content. Since its inception in 1994, PHP has swept over the Web, and the millions of web sites powered by it are a testament to the language's popularity and ease of use. Both programmers and web designers turn to PHP, valuing it for its flexibility, speed, accessibility and convenience. Although there are many books on the subject of PHP, Programming PHP (O'Reilly, US $39.95) by Rasmus Lerdorf, creator and lead developer of PHP, and Kevin Tatroe, aims to be the solid reference manual that PHP has been lacking until now. As the authors explain, some books focus on just the details the author is familiar with and don't, for instance, explain boundary cases, error conditions, and the principles underlying PHP. This can be frustrating as programmers run into situations that aren't described in the book.

"Programming PHP" was written for anyone who isn't a PHP guru, but wants to be. The book is an authoritative guide to PHP 4, the latest version of the language and covers everything a programmer or web designer would need to know to create effective web applications. The book explains PHP language syntax and programming techniques in a clear and concise manner, with numerous examples that illustrate both correct usage and common idioms. As the authors say, "The practical programming advice and many style tips will help you become not just a PHP programmer, but a good PHP programmer."

An open source, HTML-embedded scripting language, PHP allows web authors to serve dynamic web content by performing such tasks as processing form input and accessing databases directly in HTML pages, rather than through CGI scripts. "A lot of non-programmers assume that PHP, as a programming language, is too difficult for them to possibly be able to grasp," says coauthor Tatroe. "Conversely, a lot of programmers assume PHP is a 'toy language' and that it can't be used to develop real solutions. Both camps are wrong. PHP scales very well to the level of knowledge a user has."

Filled with the inimitable knowledge of PHP's creator, this book offers readers information and insights from years of experience and expertise. The contents include detailed information on the basics of the PHP language; separate chapters on functions, strings, arrays, and objects; coverage of common PHP web application techniques such as form processing and validation, session tracking, cookies, and much more. "Programming PHP" also includes a quick reference to all the core functions in PHP and all the standard extensions that ship with PHP.

This long-awaited guide promises to teach programmers and web designers all they will need to master the PHP language. "When you finish this book," Lerdorf and Tatroe write, "you will know how the PHP language works, how to use the many powerful extensions that come standard with PHP, and how to design and build your own PHP web applications."

Additional resources:

Programming PHP
By Rasmus Lerdorf and Kevin Tatroe
ISBN 1-56592-610-2, 507 pages, $39.95 (US), $61.95 (CAN)

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