Core PHP Programming: Using PHP to Build Dynamic Web Sites - Softcover

Atkinson, Leon

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0130893986 ISBN 13: 9780130893987

Publisher: Prentice Hall, 2000

Synopsis

For courses in Web Programming and Design and Numerical Methods.

This thoroughly updated and revised second edition of the best-selling developer's guide features a comprehensive reference with examples of every key PHP function. The edition also covers all the latest developments in the language; in particular, PHP's newest version 4.0 and that PHP now works with Microsoft's Internet Information Server so PHP can be used on Windows NT/2000 running IIS.

About this title

Review

Revised for PHP version 4, the new edition of Core PHP Programming is a comprehensive tutorial and reference to one of today's hottest scripting languages. Part tutorial and part reference, this book will get beginners started with PHP, as well as provide a convenient desktop resource for more experienced PHP developers.

Early sections show what PHP is and how it works, with basic data types, flow control, and other topics you'll need to get started. But the heart of the book is a full reference to PHP 4 functions. Organised by topic, this text provides over 400 pages of reference to several hundred PHP calls, along with a description of what they do. Clearly organised and presented, this book will help you find what you need quickly (instead of relying on PHP's often cumbersome online help). In particular, readers will appreciate the coverage of database functions, including the separate calls for MySQL, ODBC, and Oracle. You'll also see what PHP can do with XML.

The last part of the book reverts to tutorial mode, first with a section on algorithms that discusses ways to sort and search PHP arrays. Final sections look at some strategies you can use to integrate PHP into the software design process, in which the strategies of combining HTML content with dynamic PHP scripts are shown. There is also useful advice for increasing performance with PHP. (It would seem that upgrading to PHP 4 is a must, because the new version offers a real performance boost.)

PHP is clearly a popular choice for Web applications today. If you buy just one book on PHP, consider Core PHP Programming. It offers an approachable tutorial that will put basic PHP script development into the hands of beginners, and provides a useful reference for everyday development once you've gotten a handle on how to use it. --Richard Dragan

From the Publisher

summary and table of contents
This book is a guide to programming in PHP, a server-side scripting language primarily designed for use with the Apache web server. PHP is a high-level, C-like scripting language that is designed to be embedded in HTML pages. Unlike Javascript and jscript. PHP is not browser dependent. A CD-ROM with all source code and compiled versions of the Apache Server will be included.

CONTENTS

Preface.

I. PROGRAMMING WITH PHP.

1. An Introduction to PHP. 2. Variables, Operators, and Expressions. 3. Control Statements. 4. Functions. 5. Arrays. 6. Classes. 7. I/O and Disk Access.

II. FUNCTIONAL REFERENCE.

8. I/O Functions. 9. Data Functions. 10. Mathematical Functions. 11. Time, Date, and Configuration Functions. 12. Image Functions. 13. Database Functions.

III. ALGORITHMS.

14. Sorting, Searching, and Random Numbers. 15. Parsing and String Evaluation. 16. Database Integration. 17. Generating Graphics.

IV. SOFTWARE ENGINEERING.

18. Integration with HTML. 19. Design. 20. Efficiency and Debugging. Appendix A. Backslash Codes. Appendix B. ASCII Codes. Appendix C. Operators. Appendix D. PHP Tags. Appendix E. Installing PHP. Index.

Edition details

• Publisher: Prentice Hall
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0130893986
• ISBN 13: 9780130893987
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 800