“PHP and MySQL for Dynamic Web Sites: Visual QuickPro Guide” (2nd Edition) Reviews and Comments

Formal Reviews

I have been trying to work through using MYSQL for a long time and this has been the book for me. I finally have a clean install and a working directory tree. I can not say enough about how this book talks through the workings of MYSQL. The back of the book even has a step by step guide for installing both PHP and MYSQL.

As with most books this one has tons of code and references for those of us that are still new to coding or use another language. The literal walk through and understanding that is given has made this book a real joy to read and learn with. Starting with the basic scripts all the way through handles and variables and Magic Quotes this has been a great learning tool. The way everything is broken down and explained is nice to have when your wondering what is really happening. This was truly fun to read.

Now for the best part MYSQL. There is a reason it’s called MYSQL, it should be yours and yours alone. Cut and dry it is what you make it to be. This book shows you the steps from designing a database to basic security of your data. I had never even heard of Hidden Form Input until I read this book. This even goes through the steps to sort information on forms. Even the new features of MYSQL are covered in this book for those of us looking for a reason to upgrade. The final steps are the must haves for all of us like managing files and upload of data, to the cookie and password management. This book has been a true helper and was very clear on the how and why of what your doing with the software.

This book has earned its place on the shelf of my computer desk and will be there for a long time to come, or at least until third edition.

This book gets a 5 out of 5 rating.

Huntsville New Technology Users Group (http://www.huntug.org/)

Reader Comments

Great book, by the way, and thanks for taking the time to write it. As one with absolute no knowledge about scripting or programming, I have learned a lot!

Håvard N. (Oslo, Norway)

Hi Larry, just wanted to say thanks for the great book. I worked through ‘PHP and MySQL for Dynamic Web Sites’ and found it incredible.
Scott B. (Canada)

I’ve been through “PHP and MySQL for Dynamic Web Sites 2nd Ed.” to complete a small CMS, and I couldn’t have done it without the book! I thank you, Larry, for being such a good teacher.
Gary S.

First of all, thank you for writing “PHP and MySQL for Dynamic Web Sites: Visual QuickPro Guide (2nd Edition).” I am a beginning PHP programmer (with background in HTML), and have found your book to be most helpful in getting my feet off the ground in PHP!
Ryan K.

Thank you so much for the fantastic book “PHP and MySQL 2nd Edition”. Your concise and informative descriptions make navigating the waters of interfacing MySQL to the web a rewarding experience. I find your examples very easy to follow and the beauty of your code shines through!
Leo D.

I just wanted to drop a note of thank you for the absolute best practical text available for web developers interested in making dynamic websites. For once, there’s a book that has proof-read code examples, tons of real-world uses, and a clear, concise style. You’ve got a real masterpiece here. Please don’t shy away from writing still more texts in the future. I would scoop them up in a second.
Brian W.

I just want to compliment you on your PHP and MySQL for Dynamic Web Sites (Second Edition) book. I have some programming and database experience, but I am new to PHP and MYSQL. Your book is very easy to read and understand and your example programs are practical. It’s been easy to learn from them and apply it to my applications.

I have purchased a lot of computer books in the past where the sample programs didn’t have much to do with practical application, or the programs were too complicated to understand if you didn’t already know the subject, or they just didn’t work. Those are books are sitting on my book shelf hardly used. But your book is so practical and useable that it’s my main PHP reference source right now, and I’ve already completed a couple working PHP applications that are now in up on the web.
Jenny B.

Initially I bought your book because I was asked to build a web application that my company was going to outsource for a huge amount of money. I told them that I would need to take some time to learn about these technologies that I had absolutely no foundation in. At first I was very worried and honestly didn’t think I was going to be able to learn it, let alone build it. Thanks to your book, the structure for the application is built and the site is almost complete. I can’t thank you enough for writing such a great book! It has really opened my eyes to the huge possibilities of PHP and mySQL. My next portfolio site WILL be built using these technologies.
Eric C.

This is an excellent book with easy-to-follow examples that provides quick and detailed learning.
Vincent W. (Hong Kong)

I love your book, I have always been afraid of programing language until now.
Brian A.

Just wanted to thank you for writing such a great book. Yours is the first book I have been able to find that explains PHP/MySQL at a level which does not assume a great level of programming knowledge at the outset. As a front end designer who is fascinated with the behind the scenes workings of dynamic websites, your book has helped me to greatly increase my offerings to my customers. As someone who better learns by example rather than just reading, your examples are a significant boost to my capability to learn. I wish every technical book was written like yours.
Eric J. (Idaho)

I checked plenty of other books on PHP and find yours a lot more structured and logical on the subject.
Marc

Thank you for the book you have published on PHP and MySQL. While I have yet to finish, I am leaps and bounds ahead of where I was even a couple weeks ago. Thank you.
Michael S.

I’m just about half way through your book and I have to say that it is at this point the best book on any programming language Most don’t clearly tell you why you’re putting in a piece of code, they just show you the code and tell what should happen if you wrote correctly. The why you’re putting it there explanations in you your book have made all the difference in the world. I’ve got further in the 3-4 days that I’ve been teaching myself PHP then in weeks with any other language and book. Thank you.
Mike D. (Florida)

I’m a long time C++/Windows programmer who has decided to jump to pure web development. I’m a Perl fan, so PHP was the logical choice.

I just wanted to say that your book lives up completely to the gushing praise you’ll see in the Amazon.com reviews. I’ve bought boatloads of books over the years to learn this or that new technology, yours is easily the best I’ve ever read. I’m actually learning useful things, and it’s not the whipping it often is.
Clear examples, doing things one might actually wish to do, appropriate level of detail at the right place, concise wording, a good balance of different types of background information, it’s all here.

It’s no small achievement to do something like this, and I’ve always thought that good writing is very similar to good programming. Keep up the good work.
Billy C.

I really appreciate using your book. I am a beginning programmer (high school student) learning PHP, and your book has really helped me.
Mendy F.

First off – I love your books. I bought your HTML and DHTML long ago when they first came out and they were quite helpful…I am really glad there are books like this available. It is well worth the money.
Grant S.

Last fall I took on a web site project for my camera club. I’ve been a programmer most of my life (I’m retired now), but I’ve never done a web site and had no knowledge of PHP (or any similar language; I did COBOL and RPG). My SQL experience was on an AS400, and I enjoyed coding the queries immensely, but had never done DB setup.

Your book has been a godsend. I initially set up the site using Excel spreadsheets for the “DB” because I didn’t want to take on both PHP and MySQL at the same time. 6 months later I am converting the site to MySQL, and I am delighted at the power and elegance of these products.
What I have found w/ your book (PHP and MySQL 2nd Ed) is that it is a constant friend, and no matter where I am in the learning curve, this book meets me head on. I am very, very grateful and know that without your book this might have been a very different story. Your writing is clear, complete, friendly. Thank you so much.
Linda S. (Minnesota)

I have most of the popular php and mysql books, and yours is by far the best. It would have been super cool if you would have included that nasty ol “sliding window” pagination algorithm, but you gotta draw the line somewhere.
Larry Z. (New Mexico)

wish to thank you for writing such a wonderful book (PHP and MySQL for Dynamic Web Sites: Visual QuickPro Guide (2nd Edition) ). I teach Internet Programming at the college level and I am very particular about what I require in a text book. Your book is perfect! And all of my students liked it as well.
Roger G. (Pennsylvania)

What a wonderfully executed book you’ve written! I have a couple of others on the same subject, but yours is by far the best.
Rochelle N. (Maryland)