PHP & MySQL For Dummies, 4th Edition

I got this book to learn the basics of MySQL and get a background in PHP beyond what I happened to pick up on my own. This book is good, a little funny (as all For Dummies books should be), an easy read, and full of good information. It doesn't really go into much detail on what PHP can do except for in terms of MySQL. (I guess, get a book dedicated to just PHP if you want to learn what the language can really do.)The biggest problem I have with this book is the countless typos, particularly in the code (which is the worst place for typos). Pretty disappointing for a 4th edition. For example, on the very last page (438, the index), it lists, under 'Y', ysquli_num_fields($result) function, but it is actually "mysqli....." (with the m in front). It is sometimes inconsistant with variable functions (like $firstname vs $firstName) which can cause problems, it talks about the "xor" operator but refers to it once as "or" which causes confusion, most of the time the die() function is used, there is a space before the parenthesis (which I haven't tested myself to see if that is ok, but I would think a function needs the parenthesis right after the word with no space). Some other things that annoy me are more annoying than they are serious, like inconsistant spacing in code, or I saw once where the '$' mark before an in-text variable name that wasn't formatted with the same font as the variable name itself. Also, the author's use of HTML doesn't really jive with me (some minor coding problems) but it's not a huge deal either. Or, there are some places where quote marks in code are bottom-quote-marks (looks like double-commas) instead of normal quote marks as they should look. These are mainly annoyances and not serious problems if you know to keep your eyes open.

I am very pleased with the condition of this book, it was better that I expected. When I first ordered it I was expecting a delivery date of 5 to 6 working days out, but was given much longer delivery time of about 3 weeks. If you needed a book sooner, this would not be the way to go. However; that being said, it arrived about a week earlier. Overall I am a happy with my choice to get a used book through this vendor. The condition was like off the book shelf at a store.

This book is an excellent tutorial for someone who already knows how to program and wants to learn PHP and MySQL. It describes many of the callable functions available in the language, but it tells you to go to the PHO web site for a complete list of all the functions and features. The reason I bought a book is so that I can have the book open in front of me and not have to jump back and forth to the web site to look stuff up.

I'm about half way through the book and so far I have found the book very effective. It is filled with good examples of code. The book is well laid out and also spends plenty of time reviewing the basics before attempting to move on to more complicated program development. The user with some experience using statements in excel or other programs may find that a few sections of the book provide more detail than necessary but the book was developed for the beginner so that's okay. As the author states a basic knowledge of Html is assumed so if you have no Web Page scripting experience you should purchase a good Html/css book first.

I bought this book while writing a web app. Although I had some previous experience, I didn't have much in PhP and the book did an excellent job of describing the basics. Similarly, with MySqL I had little experience and it really helped.The book has you work through examples, and then has the programs written out later on so you can go look at what they did.

Something can understand. ***** Again, words being added as the review process will not let just the facts speak and be concise BUT requires --- certain amount --- almost like the government -- with useless words, actions and regulations, just as "filler".

Everyone has a different learning style, and I found some free interactive videos online that are helping me learn php and MySQL better than a book. Motivation to learn would help, but I suppose my intellect has been formatted to require a teacher rather than learn independently. This is a good reference book if accompanied by a more interactive learning situation.

Great read for beginners

I chose this as I have not used PHP except for pre-made scripts, and wanted to learn how to incorporate PHP and MySQL myself for custom projects. Unfortunately, on the introduction Janet says she's assuming knowledge of PHP and writing scripts. For Dummies? FAIL.The book uses 2 examples: a simple online shop for a Pet Store; and a Membership Site. These examples are followed through the book until almost the final chapter where instructions on how to use the PHP and MySQL in a website are shown - but at this, possibly most important step - she refers to the Membership Site as the Pet Store customers database. This new nomenclature made me stop and go back and re-read and stop, and go back and re-read again until I realised this was actually the same thing.There are literally chapters devoted to how to use a database, how to execute various queries on an SQL database. The instructions on how to actually use the wretched things in a web building environment are one chapter and rushed through.

Needed to get to grips with MySql and this helped. Gave me the basics but I had to go online to learn how to administer accounts from the command line

This book is pretty poorly written, lowering the bar for the usually good 'For Dummies' series.The information is presented terribly, in such a way that makes it extremely hard to follow. For example, a 10 step guide skips back and fourth without proper order, thus confusing and bewildering anyone who does not already know about MySQL and PHP.Other information is factually inaccurate, which is an absolute sin for a book to do with coding. Again, if you don't already know what you are doing you could easily go wrong if following the authors exact directions, and have absolutely no clue how to troubleshoot it.All in all, it is not worth buying.

Thats it simply not in good condition and not great for beginners as is made out.

Being quite new to php this book is written in a way that even the dumbest (me) person can follow and understand. I enjoyed reading the book and actually have learned basic php.I would recommend this book to anyone who needs to learn php and MySQL. Brilliant