Want to assert yourself as a cutting-edge PHP web developer? Take a practical approach, learning by example from author Quentin Zervaas, and discover how to bring together the many technologies needed to create a successful, modern web application.

In Practical Web 2.0 Applications with PHP, PHP, MySQL, CSS, XHTML, and JavaScript/Ajax development techniques are brought together to show you how to create the hottest PHP web applications, from planning and design up to final implementation, without going over unnecessary basics that will hold you back. This book includes must-have application features such as search functionality, maps, blogs, dynamic image galleries, and personalized user areas. The Zend Framework is used extensively to build the application, allowing you to focus on developing the application rather than on reinventing the wheel.

Topics covered include application planning and design; setting up the application framework; using CSS for easier styling; adding dynamic effects the easy way using JavaScript libraries such as Prototype and script.aculo.us; and implementing several must-have web application features such as user login, blogs, dynamic image galleries, search functionality, mapping with Google Maps, and much more. Zervaas covers everything in a practical, tutorial style so you can start working on your own projects as quickly as possible.

• Create cutting-edge PHP/MySQL web applications.

• Implement must-have functionality such as blogs, maps, search functionality, and dynamic image galleries.

• Master styling with CSS and dynamic effects using Ajax/JavaScript libraries.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 18 Ratings

Bad use of zend framework - 2009-05-13
Reviewer Rating:
The autor, doesnt follow any convention of the zend framework. He constantly uses some of his clases developed years ago, integrating those classes with the zend framework, but he never explains deeply how they work, so you must followe along with out understanding how thing works.
And with more than 20 php books readed, i think i cant tell that this book, is not good for learning, neither zend framework, or oop

Needs an update - 2009-07-13
Reviewer Rating:
What attracted me to this book is that, instead of vomiting out a bunch of technology choices and disparate code snippets, the author focuses on a project using his favorite toolset. But I also know that critics believe books like this are kind of a 2-edged sword, because while the principles can be distilled and applied to other tools, it's not always easy. Say you want to use the Zend Framework but choose to use the PHTML-based view scripts instead of Smarty. Well then you are going to have a rough ride through this book in places. Still, I appreciate this kind of put-it-all-together approach.

That said, I can't give this book a higher score. One show stopper in 2009 is that the Zend Framework is quite different today than it was when this book was published. So, as early as chapter 2, you'll find deprecated methods (like Zend_Loader::registerAutoload()). In fact, because of ZF 1.8 and Zend_Application, I would not recommend implementing any of the bootstrap approach employed in the book. It is so much simpler now. I really hope that Mr. Zervaas publishes an updated edition that takes some of these updates into consideration.

I also agree with other reviews here that question the choice of the custom DatabaseObject class. There are a number of problems with this class, even after refactoring in some Zend_Db functionality. I won't repeat the arguments, but here is another opportunity for an update.

Excellent Book on PHP using Zend Framework, and Web 2.0 Technologies - 2009-06-10
Reviewer Rating:
This is a great book that deserves 5 stars. First, let me say that I don't normally give reviews but this book has compelled me to.

First, the guy who gave it 2 stars doesn't understand that the whole point of the Zend Framework is that you don't have to abide by a strict set of rules. It's a glue framework.

The author uses some custom abstract classes for interacting with the database and handling forms. He doesn't explain how they work but the whole point of OOP is encapsulation. Your using those classes (extending them) but you don't necessarily understand how they work completely. I mean do you understand how everything in the Zend Framework works? NO and thats the point of using a frame work because you extend from it. All his custom code has been unit tested as well too.

I understand that Zend Framework has classes for interacting with the database and form processing and eventually will look into them.

That being said, I have had the time to work through this book ( I'm half way into it) and the authors writing style is great and very consise. There are a few typos (errata) which can be found on the Apress web site to fix as you go along. People have posted solutions to a minor few bugs because of newer code being used like Prototype as well.

You will learn a great deal from this book. I have a background in front end web development and some Jquery. I studied Java, Ruby so I had some knowledge of OOP and most recently before I started this book I studied a lot of procedural PHP. That helped before diving in OOP PHP and the Zend Framework.

So, I guess I'm trying to say that this book is very approachable and satisfying because you are building something that you can use as a library of code for your own projects.

Although, you should prepare yourself with knowedge of OOP PHP, maybe do a Zend Framework Tutotial which can be found at the official site. Also, having some knowledge of a Javascript library and CSS as well as investigating what Smarty templates are would be beneficial if you are totally new to how modern web applications are built.

Definitely by this book. You want be disappointed!!!

I got so much use from the code in this book. - 2009-07-17
Reviewer Rating:
This book has great examples, and great explanation of the code. I can't remember getting as much mileage out of a tech book before.
I particularly liked the intro to the Zend Framework and Prototype/Scriptaculous. I was very, very impressed.

Good Book - 2009-04-30
Reviewer Rating:
When it comes to learning a new technical skill or programming
language, Apress has always provided me with excellent resources that go in-depth and fully explain the language inside and out. "Practical Web 2.0 Applications with PHP" is no different. It covers everything from planning and design to walking you through constructing a simple blog system using the popular PHP Zend Framework as well as a smattering of Web 2.0 concepts, ideologies and design patterns thrown in between.

When I set out to read this book, I was not looking to learn much in terms of PHP, but was looking for some new web design practices that have come about with the dawn of Web 2.0, and I must say that I was not disappointed. I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking to further their knowledge of Web 2.0 designs and practices. But beware, the book does assume that you have knowledge of PHP and dives straight into the Zend Framework to illustrate the usefulness of dynamically generated web content.

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