Following the popular Visual QuickPro Guide layout, this book consists of approximately 15 chapters of step-by-step content, aimed at teaching both advanced programming techniques and specific topics in direct, focused segments. The scripts featured in this book are based on features and capabilities that current PHP users most frequently inquire about as well as introducing emerging technologies. Topics include: /Advanced PHP programming concepts /Sophisticated database interactions /E-commerce /Object oriented programming /PHP interactions with a server /Networking with PHP /XML /Image generation /PDF generation /RSS (Real Simple Syndication) /Security /Using the PEAR code repository

PHP is currently one of the most popular server-side, HTML-embedded scripting language on the Web. It’s specifically designed for Web site creation and is frequently being used to replace the functionality created by Perl to write CGI scripts. PHP’s popularity and easier-to-learn appeal has spawned a new breed of programmer, those who are only familiar with and only use PHP.
 
Sharpen your PHP skills with the fully revised and updated, PHP 5 Advanced for the World Wide Web: Visual QuickPro Guide! Filled with fifteen chapters of step-by-step content and written by best-selling author and PHP programmer, Larry Ullman, this guide teaches specific topics in direct, focused segments, shows how PHP is used in real-world applications, features popular and most-asked-about scripts, and details those technologies that will be more important in the future. You’ll learn about object-oriented programming, PHP interactions with a server, XML, RSS, Networking with PHP, image and PDF generation, and more.

Larry Ullman is Lead PHP Programmer and Directory of Digital Media Technology at DMC Insights, Inc., a firm specializing in information technology. He is the author of several books on PHP, MySQL, Web development, and other programming languages. In addition to writing, he develops dynamic Web applications, conducts training seminars, and teaches PHP programming for the Web through the University of California at Berkeley Extension Online.

PHP is a server-side, HTML-embedded scripting language. It’s frequently being used to replace the functionality created by Perl to write CGI scripts). Similar to both HTML and CGI, PHP is faster to program in and faster to execute than CGI. PHP was written specifically for Web site creation, unlike Perl, C, or Java. Companies such as Honda, Patagonia, and Zoom all have Web sites utilizing PHP. PHP Advanced for the World Wide Web: Visual QuickPro Guide consists of approximately fifteen chapters of step-by-step content, aimed at teaching specific topics in direct, focused segments. The scripts featured in this book are based on features and capabilities that current PHP users most frequently inquire about (e.g. sessions, authentication, and object-oriented programming). as well as detailing those technologies that will be more important in the future, such as XML and Wireless Access Protocols.

PHP is currently one of the most popular server-side, HTML-embedded scripting language on the Web. It's specifically designed for Web site creation and is frequently being used to replace the functionality created by Perl to write CGI scripts. PHP's popularity and easier-to-learn appeal has spawned a new breed of programmer, those who are only familiar with and only use PHP.
 
Sharpen your PHP skills with the fully revised and updated, PHP 5 Advanced for the World Wide Web: Visual QuickPro Guide! Filled with fifteen chapters of step-by-step content and written by best-selling author and PHP programmer, Larry Ullman, this guide teaches specific topics in direct, focused segments, shows how PHP is used in real-world applications, features popular and most-asked-about scripts, and details those technologies that will be more important in the future. You'll learn about object-oriented programming, PHP interactions with a server, XML, RSS, Networking with PHP, image and PDF generation, and more.

Definitely the next step from PHP5 & MySQL (2nd Ed)
Have just started reading but so far it is explaining things that I had seen but didn’t quite understand. Larry Ullman explains all and will take the time to help on his forums for each book he writes. A must have for anyone learning PHP and wants to go to the next level.

Fantastic
I’ve purchased this book and PHP 6 and MySQL 5 for Dynamic Web Sites: Visual QuickPro Guide, both by Larry Ullman. They’re wonderful -- with them, I took my first steps into working with databases and a language like PHP. The step by step examples have made it very easy to learn and when I’ve been stuck -- I’ve gone to Larry’s site and he’s answered my questions in his forum. Two of the best purchases I’ve ever made. Highly recommended.

Advanced but not unlearnable
This book is a great continuation of the PHP5 Visual Quickstart Guide by the same company "Peachpit press). They stay with the same learning style that they have in the other books (visual and doing) but go into more advanced operations.

Solid
While not quite as good as its predecessor (PHP and MySQL for Dynamic Websites 2nd edition) in terms of readability and ease of understanding, Larry Ullman is still, with this book, miles in front of pretty much any other technical author I have read. The chapters on object oriented programming are certainly the best I have come across on the subject.

There is also a quick but useful demo of how to put a bit of AJAX in to a PHP site to increase usability.

The one thing missing from this book that I personally would like to have seen, would be an introduction to frameworks.

But let me stress this point: Larry Ullman is the best technical author, by a long, long way, on any subject I have ever read about in my life. I just wish he was an expert and wrote books on all the other things I want to learn about - that’s how good his teaching ability is.

Another excellent book by Larry Ullman
I’ve been reading Larry’s books since back in the early days when php/mysql books were barely found. I have to credit Larry’s books with helping me just get started learning about php & mysql, and even helping me with most of what I learn today. I’ve purchased every new version of his books and pick up new things every time. It’s so easy to step along with the examples, to help provide a solid understanding, and to give a fresh reassurance of what I may have already known... plus I always learn new tricks and techniques. I guess that’s why I keep getting his books. This book especially helped me with a few tricks just at the right time, right when I needed help with them. I have over twenty-five php books and his are all in the top of my favorites and most referenced to.

where is the code for this book
where is the code for this book. I even went to the site and signed in as an ’advanced user’ to view the additional chapters and I still cant find it

Wait for second edition
This is the first edition, which covers PHP3 and PHP4. PHP5 has been out for a while and supports much more OOP. A second edition will probably require much rewriting.

Intermediate but Very Good
There is a lot more to PHP than Ullman covers in his ’PHP Advanced’. But what he does cover, is well done. Not too verbose. Direct and to the point. I like his explanations & examples. It makes learning and referencing a subject easier and quicker.

Looking forward to 2nd edition & hoping he adds more advanced subjects.

This Guy Knows His Stuff
Coming from the world of ASP/VBS, etc., I thoroughly searched the local generic huge book store chain, and thumbed through and finally selected 3 books to teach me PHP/mySQL.

Only after I got home and read ’em in depth did I realize they were all written by the same guy, Larry Ullman:

MySQL; PHP for the WWW; and PHP Advanced.

All three books are great, they are easy to follow, I am getting better and better jobs because of the skills I’ve gleaned from these books. The author also hosts a forum for poeple who have questions about what’s in the boks.

Very helpful stuff, you’ll benefit from it.

Intermediate, a hard read, poor editing
A bunch of people are out there writing tons of PHP books, because it is such a "hot" web language. Do a quick Amazon search and you’ll find lots of "advanced" adjectives in titles. This text is not advanced (no detailed session management, minimal security descrition). The description of classes (objects) is okay, but could use a more in-depth discussion of object data access, function overloading, etc.. (realizing PHP’s objects are not "real" objects -- yet).

At a higher level, I find the Visual Quickpro format hard to read. They use a two-column newspaper style of typesetting that results in short sentances that I find hard to read. Everything is kind of "cramped-up". Also, some of the code examples show poor editing. For example; pgs 196 and 197 show two full pages of HTML OPTION values for months, days of month, years, etc.. Give me a break!, I don’t need to see all this stupid HTML if I am writing advanced PHP!! Also related to editing, some of the web-page examples are half-page size to fit the two-column typesetting.

Good sequel to PHP: Visual QuickStart Guide
I have been impressed with the Peachpit Press books in general. The visual examples and logical organization makes it easy to use as a reference or to simply learn something new. PHP Advanced is the next logical step to the Visual QuickStart Guide, and I’ve already found myself referencing this book for more complex statements. I’ve been developing web sites for almost 8 years now and have had a taste of Cold Fusion, ASP, and PHP -- these PHP references make it easier for me to refresh my memory as to what statements I need to use to obtain the desired results in PHP.

Barely "Advanced", maybe Intermediate
I’ve gotten to the point now after 3 years of PHP coding that I can write database based applications in my sleep. I’m familiar with at least 60% of the non-database related PHP functions. I consider myself an advanced PHP programmer.

When I read through this book, I found myself wanting more. Sure, it opened my eyes up to a few functions I wasn’t familiar with (such as using true type fonts for images), but I found it to be lacking overall. I was surprised that the ob_start()/ob_get_contents() related functions weren’t even mentioned with the ultra basic templating class used at the beginning of the book. Nor was custom error handling even touched on.

That’s not to say that the book doesn’t have any good qualities. The OOP chapter, while brief, was at least useful. And I absolutely loved the coding style in the book (all other book publishers should take a lesson from this). New lines of code are highlighted as red, and shown exactly where they’re supposed to go in relation to the code written 3 pages (or even 3 chapters) ago. It’s unfortunate that a CD of the sample code was not provided.

Worthwhile
This book has been quite useful in helping me to wrap my head around OOP. Like one of the earlier reviewers, I was initially suspicious of this series, as it has carried some lightweight books in the past, with loads of annoying, useless pictures of dialog boxes.

While some of those are still there, and still annoying, the layout of the series has been refined since I first looked at it. I was swayed by a comparison of this book and O’Reilley’s offering. For one thing, it was cheaper.

But more importantly, it’s more balanced, more approachable, and less boring. The design of the Html template classes are indeed a bit odd, but I presume Ullman designed them primarily as a teaching tool, not for a real site, and they do make his points clearly. After all, there is plenty of open source code on the web to emulate or build on -- the important thing is grasping the concepts. I think this book will help there.

One thing that I consider a serious drawback is that the entire book is littered with ugly table layouts. My eyes crossed from sifting through seas of ’s and ’s. A book on web design should have up to date design, and table layouts are not are
straight out of the 90s.

If only someone would come out with a book on PHP/MySql that used decent CSS, now that would be something I’d pay to read.

More than advanced :)
One of my problems with many books that are "advanced" is that they don’t really care about the world around them, and tell you too much information that you don’t really need about the language or product - but not with this book.

He not only covers all the issues to do with the more advanced side of PHP, but covers anything to do with it. Such as MySQL (database), a very important feature of a web site.

He explains how the server works with PHP, how XML and PHP work well together and a very good section about Security - a very important issue.

I have always loved the Visual Quickstart and Quickpro Guides from Peach Pit Press, and this one lives up to the standards that I have seen from the other books.

I brought the Quickstart PHP book on the same series by Ullman and anything that wasn’t explained in full because it was too completcated, has been explained in full in this book.

More than advanced :)
One of my problems with many books that are "advanced" is that they don’t really care about the world around them, and tell you too much information that you don’t really need about the language or product - but not with this book.

He not only covers all the issues to do with the more advanced side of PHP, but covers anything to do with it. Such as MySQL (database), a very important feature of a web site.

He explains how the server works with PHP, how XML and PHP work well together and a very good section about Security - a very important issue.

I have always loved the Visual Quickstart and Quickpro Guides from Peach Pit Press, and this one lives up to the standards that I have seen from the other books.

I brought the Quickstart PHP book on the same series by Ullman and anything that wasn’t explained in full because it was too completcated, has been explained in full in this book.

just another cookbook
This is a dissapointment, the authors quick start guide was just that, elementary but concise, I can recommend it to students who have come to electronic publishing with insufficient computing experience. This I had hoped would be an "advanced" version in the same clear, concise style. Unfortunately the text is bloated with cookbook style program examples: instead of highlighting the essentials of a technique, a full (yet nonetheless a toy) application is presented. On page 100 for example we have 40 lines of code of the same form: even the dimmest reader should be able to work out the code for every letter of the alphabet given the example case of "A". Elsewhere there are similar cases with names of months and days. And yet with all this verbosity of code the author admits on page 8 that "because of the confines of the book format [...] will not be as well-documented or organised as I would prefer".
The content is good, important topics such as object orientation, database design principles and security are not ignored. This will be a useful text, albeit low end "intermediate" rather than "advanced". It is just a pity that the publishers perception of what the market demands spoils a potentially great book, with superflous examples that would, for those who confuse memesis with learning, be better downloaded than rekeyed.

just another cookbook
This is a dissapointment, the authors quick start guide was just that, elementary but concise, I can recommend it to students who have come to electronic publishing with insufficient computing experience. This I had hoped would be an "advanced" version in the same clear, concise style. Unfortunately the text is bloated with cookbook style program examples: instead of highlighting the essentials of a technique, a full (yet nonetheless a toy) application is presented. On page 100 for example we have 40 lines of code of the same form: even the dimmest reader should be able to work out the code for every letter of the alphabet given the example case of "A". Elsewhere there are similar cases with names of months and days. And yet with all this verbosity of code the author admits on page 8 that "because of the confines of the book format [...] will not be as well-documented or organised as I would prefer".
The content is good, important topics such as object orientation, database design principles and security are not ignored. This will be a useful text, albeit low end "intermediate" rather than "advanced". It is just a pity that the publishers perception of what the market demands spoils a potentially great book, with superflous examples that would, for those who confuse memesis with learning, be better downloaded than rekeyed.