Archives For yiibk

Yii 2 and the Yii Book

September 12, 2012

As you may know, I’ll be writing and self-publishing a book on the Yii framework this fall. I’m working on the table of contents now, and will likely post that in a week. You may also know that Qiang Xue, the creator of Yii, has graciously offered to act as the personal tech editor for the book, as has Alex Makarov, author of the popular Yii 1.1 Application Development Cookbook (Packt Publishing). It’s a great honor that both men have offered their time and assistance, and will clearly make for a better book.

With Yii 2 on the horizon, many readers asked if I planned to write the book for version 2 of the framework. And that answer was “yes”. But with Yii 2 not yet out, other readers are now asking if I’m still planning on writing the book for version 2. Well, in communicating with Qiang, there’s been a bit of a change of plans…

Qiang is working very hard on getting version 2 of his framework right (plus he has a job and family and other things to do). As of now, Qiang expects the alpha of Yii 2 to be out by the end of the year. Once the alpha is available, it would probably only be a couple of months before Yii 2 is production ready. Trying to be flexible, let’s assume that Yii 2 might be out in December and production ready in March 2013. (I know people are eagerly awaiting Yii 2, but the changes in this new version will be in place for years to come, so the new version shouldn’t be rushed. Also, Qiang is one guy, doing all this for free, so let’s cut him some slack, eh?)

Anyway, what does this mean in terms of my Yii book? What I’ve decided to do is write the book now for Yii 1: the version of the framework that you can use today. That way, if you buy the book now, you can use the information now.

If you haven’t caught this part of the plan before, know that I’ll be selling electronic versions of the book to start, and you’ll be able to buy it as I write it, and receive free updates as they are posted.

Next, when Yii 2 is out, I’ll update the book for Yii 2. I’ll probably do this when Yii 2 is in alpha or beta, so as to time the updated book’s completion with the production release of the framework. Those people that bought the Yii 1 version of the book will be able to download the Yii 2 version for free.

This approach means more work for me, but as I’m asking readers to take a bit of a risk in buying the book as I write it, I think it’s the fairest solution. If you buy the book, you’ll get a Yii 1 book and, when the time comes, a Yii 2 book, too.

I expect most people to be pleased with this solution, but let me know if you have any questions or comments. Thanks for the interest in the book!

In MySQL, PHP, Web Development , , ,
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My Yii Book Update

November 3, 2011

I’ve received a few comments and questions lately about my intentions to write a book on the Yii framework. I’ve never formally discussed the idea, and so it seems like it’s about time I do so.

I first started using the Yii framework about two and half years ago. I’ve never been much of a framework person, but Yii really felt right to me, quite similar to Ruby on Rails, which I also always liked. Being a writer, after learning to use the framework, I wrote an introductory series on the subject, which has been quite popular. In all modesty, many have suggested it’s the best documentation available. In fact, the creator of Yii liked my series so much that he listed it prominently on the official Yii documentation page (it’s now under tutorials). Some time after writing that series, I started thinking about writing a full book on Yii, because that’s what I do.

When I decided to write a book on Yii, I figured I’d self-publish it, for a couple of reasons. First, even though I have a wonderful relationship with Peachpit Press, I’m not sure they’d want to do a book on Yii, as the market is kind of small. Second, even if Peachpit would publish such a book, I doubt I’d make much money on the project, considering the small market. By comparison, if I self-publish, I can make 4-5 times per book what I’d make if I went through a publisher. The higher per copy amount could be enough to make up for the smaller sales, ending up with a project that’s financially worth my time to do (sorry to be crass about the money, but writing a book is a lot of work and I do have bills to pay!). Fourth, I’ve been intrigued about self-publishing for some time. And, fifth, self-publishing would give me the opportunity to distribute the book in unique formats and channels, such as a chapter at a time.

If I had my act together (which is to say, if my life were other than it is, in about ten ways), I would have been on the ball and published this book a year or more ago. Sadly, that has not been the case. I keep fairly busy work-wise, and I don’t actually have the time (due to personal constraints) to put in 40-hour weeks, so it’s really hard to add new projects, especially on the level of an entire book. Moreover, self-publishing means no guaranteed money, so I’d have to not do paying work while not making money working on the Yii book, which is a tough situation to be in.

All that being said, it is still my intention to write and self-publish a book on Yii. The only question is: when? This is the question I’m getting asked a lot lately. Before I do anything towards a book on Yii, I still have to:

  • Finish my Modern JavaScript: Develop and Design book (which I’m weeks late on as is)
  • Write one more article in support of my PHP and MySQL for Dynamic Web Sites: Visual QuickPro Guide (4th Edition) [I’ve written two out of three articles, but I’m weeks late on that, too.]
  • Come up with a list of videos to do in support of my Modern JavaScript: Develop and Design book
  • Actually do those videos
  • Continue doing the Web development and other work I have for my clients

So…yikes. Don’t get my wrong: I’m quite fortunate to be busy, but yikes! I’ll be crying if I haven’t finished all of the above by the end of this year, which means in theory I can begin the Yii book at the beginning of 2012. However, I have the third edition of my PHP 5 Advanced: Visual QuickPro Guide due at the end of April. That does give me four months, but I’d like actually make that deadline for a change (my publisher is wonderfully understanding, but…).

Also, along with writing the Yii book, I’m going to have to come up with a site and an ecommerce system and so forth (I already have the software that can output PDFs, ePubs, and mobis). If I’m being optimistic, perhaps in 2012 I can do two Yii chapters per month, but the PHP 5 Advanced book will need to be my first priority. I also don’t want to start the Yii book, get some people paying for it (in part or in whole), and then have the project drag out. I don’t know. We shall see.

I very much thank everyone for their interest in my writing a book on Yii and I hope to make that happen. If you follow the blog and/or subscribe to my newsletter, you’ll get updates as to how this is progressing, when and if it does actually progress.

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