If you're ready to create web pages more complex than those you can build with HTML and CSS, Head First PHP & MySQL is the ultimate learning guide to building dynamic, database-driven websites using PHP and MySQL. Packed with real-world examples, this book teaches you all the essentials of server-side programming, from the fundamentals of PHP and MySQL coding to advanced topics such as form validation, session IDs, cookies, database queries and joins, file I/O operations, content management, and more. Head First PHP & MySQL offers the same visually rich format that's turned every title in the Head First series into a bestseller, with plenty of exercises, quizzes, puzzles, and other interactive features to help you retain what you've learned.

• Use PHP to transform static HTML pages into dynamic web sites

• Create and populate your own MySQL database tables, and work with data stored in files

• Perform sophisticated MySQL queries with joins, and refine your results with LIMIT and ORDER BY

• Use cookies and sessions to track visitors' login information and personalize the site for users

• Protect your data from SQL injection attacks

• Use regular expressions to validate information on forms

• Dynamically display text based on session info and create images on the fly

• Pull syndicated data from other sites using PHP and XML

Throughout the book, you'll build sophisticated examples -- including a mailing list, a job board, and an online dating site -- to help you learn how to harness the power of PHP and MySQL in a variety of contexts. If you're ready to build a truly dynamic website, Head First PHP & MySQL is the ideal way to get going.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 25 Ratings

unacceptable - 2009-10-14
Reviewer Rating:
The reason I bought this book was because I breezed through the Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML in less than a week and found it to be a superb tutorial. I soon found out that NOT ALL HEAD FIRST BOOKS ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL however. Head First PHP & MySQL has a horrible format for training someone. You're reading along and it's telling you about various concepts and you're thinking ok, am I supposed to code this now? But instead of spelling out exactly how the code should be written in PHP they never get that detailed. They just keep using hypothetical labels, as if you're having a conversation with someone who has no intention of actually making such a page. Then after covering about 5 new concepts they finally tell you to stop and create a page that displays this, moves that, inputs this, calculates that (as if you've been doing this long enough to already know all the details by memory). Even if you do manage to piece together what they want you to do, it always has errors because they intend for it to be that way! After agonizing for hours about what I could have done wrong, I finally just gave up and decided to read past it where I encountered "So... such and such didn't work right? Here's what you need to do to fix it," followed by "better, but we still need to change blah blah blah for it to work," followed by "we're getting there, but you should have done blah blah blah," each time telling you to upload the page and test it out again. You may get some general concepts or techniques out of just reading through the book, but don't expect to be able to follow along and get any real hands-on experience.

No complaints... - 2009-11-09
Reviewer Rating:
This book was exactly what I ordered, excellent condition, and great delivery time! While I have not read the entire book year, it is exactly what I need to get started with PHP. I knew nothing about PHP before receiving this book, and I am now well on my way to becoming a PHP programmer! This is a great book for beginners, and is an excellent shelf item for reference for those who already know what they are doing.

Skill Builder - 2009-11-07
Reviewer Rating:
This is an excellent book to learn a valuable skill. I think that this is a new way of writing text books that has a more definitive impact on the learner. I feel much more confident with the subject matter and appreciate that people are still innovating new ways to learn. I will continue to use HEAD FIRST for future topics that I wish to learn.

Awesome hands-on book - 2009-11-04
Reviewer Rating:
I learn best by doing, and this book had me creating sites, then modifying them to add the next logical step. The book is easy to read, easy to understand, and a little fun besides.

Best Learning Book I've Ever Bought! - 2009-11-04
Reviewer Rating:
This was the first HeadFirst book I've ever bought and it was my final choice after trying to decide from several in the book store. And I must say, this was by far the BEST choice!

I've picked up other books in the past when trying to learn PHP and they left me more confused than anything. But the HeadFirst PHP & MySQL actually explains things to where I can understand them instead of just assuming I'll somehow understand it on my own.

I got about half way through the book and was able to venture off writing my own web apps and had the ability to understand more complex functions and syntax. This book was an awesome foundation for beginning PHP!

The reason I left one star off was after a few chapters, they become not-so-clear on where or how to add the code to the work-along scripts and therefore it leaves you using the downloaded ones off their site. I'd rather write it all out myself to help me understand it, practice writing it, and help memorize technicalities of the syntax.

But all in all, this is an awesome book and a great one for anyone serious about wanting to learn PHP.

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