This book is intended for anyone starting out with PHP programming. If you’ve previously worked in another programming language such as Java, C#, or Perl, you’ll probably pick up the concepts in the earlier chapters quickly; however, the book assumes no prior experience of programming or of building Web applications.
That said, because PHP is primarily a Web technology, it will help if you have at least some knowledge of other Web technologies, particularly HTML and CSS.
Many Web applications make use of a database to store data, and this book contains three chapters on working with My SQL databases. Once again, if you’re already familiar with databases in general — and My SQL in particular — you’ll be able to fly through these chapters. However, even if you’ve never touched a database before in your life, you should still be able to pick up a working knowledge by reading through these chapters.
Tabella dei contenuti
Introduction xxvii
Part I: Getting Up and Running with PHP
Chapter 1: Introducing PHP 3
Chapter 2: Your First PHP Script 11
Part II: Learning the Language
Chapter 3: PHP Language Basics 33
Chapter 4: Decisions and Loops 51
Chapter 5: Strings 73
Chapter 6: Arrays 101
Chapter 7: Functions 141
Chapter 8: Objects 165
Part III: Using PHP in Practice
Chapter 9: Handling HTML Forms with PHP 221
Chapter 10: Preserving State With Query Strings, Cookies, and Sessions 267
Chapter 11: Working with Files and Directories 297
Chapter 12: Introducing Databases and SQL 337
Chapter 13: Retrieving Data from My SQL with PHP 367
Chapter 14: Manipulating My SQL Data with PHP 403
Chapter 15: Making Your Job Easier with PEAR 441
Chapter 16: PHP and the Outside World 471
Chapter 17: Generating Images with PHP 507
Chapter 18: String Matching with Regular Expressions 539
Chapter 19: Working with XML 573
Chapter 20: Writing High-Quality Code 619
Appendix A: Solutions to Exercises 673
Appendix B: Configuring PHP 719
Appendix C: Alternatives to My SQL 757
Appendix D: Using PHP from the Command Line 765
Index 775
Circa l’autore
Matt Doyle has worn many hats in his professional career, including working in the fields of system administration, computer training, software development, graphic design, and website creation.