* Offers a simple and universal cross-platform solution for e-commerce, complex web, and database-driven applications. * A resource for working PHP developers who want to take their skills to the next level. Includes case studies on a user privilege system and a multi-tiered WML-based shopping cart. * Covers installation on *nix, Windows, and MacOS X, PHP with PostgreSQL and ODBC, PHP support for LDAP, PHP with MySQL, PHP’s interactions with XML, multi-tiered development using PHP, and PHP extension libraries

Get professional insight about Web application development with this complete guide to creating sophisticated and dynamic Web applications with PHP. Readers will learn how to handle hot topics like XML, WDDX, and e-commerce efficiently with PHP and also read about PHP's advanced syntax and features.

What is this book about? With the release of PHP 5 and the Zend Engine 2, PHP finally graduates from it earliest days as a lightweight scripting syntax to an powerful object oriented programming language that can hold its own against the Java and .NET architectures that currently dominate corporate software development. This book has a pragmatic focus on how to use PHP in the larger scheme of enterprise-class software development. What does this book cover? Unlike Java or .NET, there is little discussion of the application of design patterns, component architectures, and best-practices to the development of applications using PHP. Software written in the absence of this sort of higher-order architecture will never be able to match the robust frameworks that Java and .NET ship with out of the box. This book addresses this issue by covering the following material: Part 1 discusses the OO concepts that were initially explored in Beginning PHP 5 and a demonstration of how to implement them in PHP 5. This section also covers UML modeling and provides a brief introduction to project management techniques that are covered in more depth in Part 4. Parts 2 and 3 present objects and object hierarchies that, when completed, comprise a robust toolkit that developers will be able to reuse on future projects. These chapters are designed to arm the professional PHP developer with the sort of constructs that are available out of the box with platforms such as Java and .NET — from simple utility classes like Collection and Iterator, to more complex constructs like Model/View/Controller architectures and state machines. Part 4 shows how to use the toolkit from Parts 2 and 3 to create real-world applications. We look at the development of a robust contact management system that will leverage the componentry and concepts already discussed and introduce project management and software architecture concepts that enable developers to accurately identify business requirements, design scalable, extensible platforms, and handle change management effectively. It covers the waterfall and spiral project management paradigms and include a discussion on eXtreme Programming and other approaches to software development. The Appendices include an extended discussion on the effective use of CVS, introduce the Zend Studio IDE and related tools, and discuss performance tuning and scalability.

The aim of this text is to define a good methodology for creating a web site (with functionality that is used on many different kinds of sites, and that programmers may well be working on in the future) by identifying problems, surmising solutions to those problems, and then implementing those solutions using modern development practices.

Programming PHP, 2nd Edition, is the authoritative guide to PHP 5 and is filled with the unique knowledge of the creator of PHP (Rasmus Lerdorf) and other PHP experts. When it comes to creating websites, the PHP scripting language is truly a red-hot property. In fact, PHP is currently used on more than 19 million websites, surpassing Microsoft's ASP .NET technology in popularity. Programmers love its flexibility and speed; designers love its accessibility and convenience. As the industry standard book on PHP, all of the essentials are covered in a clear and concise manner. Language syntax and programming techniques are coupled with numerous examples that illustrate both correct usage and common idioms. With style tips and practical programming advice, this book will help you become not just a PHP programmer, but a good PHP programmer. Programming PHP, Second Edition covers everything you need to know to create effective web applications with PHP. Contents include: Detailed information on the basics of the PHP language, including data types, variables, operators, and flow control statements Chapters outlining the basics of functions, strings, arrays, and objects Coverage of common PHP web application techniques, such as form processing and validation, session tracking, and cookies Material on interacting with relational databases, such as MySQL and Oracle, using the database-independent PEAR DB library and the new PDO Library Chapters that show you how to generate dynamic images, create PDF files, and parse XML files with PHP Advanced topics, such as creating secure scripts, error handling, performance tuning, and writing your own C language extensions to PHP A handy quick reference to all the core functions in PHP and all the standard extensions that ship with PHP Praise for the first edition: "If you are just getting into the dynamic Web development world or youare considering migrating from another dynamic web product to PHP, Programming PHP is the book of choice to get you up, running, and productive in a short time." --Peter MacIntrye, eWeek "I think this is a great book for programmers who want to start developing dynamic websites with PHP. It gives a detailed overview of PHP, lots of valuable tips, and a good sense of PHP's strengths." --David Dooling, Slashdot.org

* Shows how to take advantage of MySQL's built-in functions, minimizing the need to process data once it's been retrieved from the database. * Demonstrates how to write and use advanced and complex queries to cut down on (middleware) application logic, including nested sub-queries and virtual tables (added since MySQL 4.1). * Points out database design do's and don'ts, including many real-world examples of bad database designs and how the databases were subsequently improved. * Includes a review of MySQL fundamentals and essential theory, such as naming conventions and connections, for quick reference purposes.

* Most JavaScript books are very long-winded, boring, and developer-oriented – this one provides a quick and easy reference for those who are not code experts, but want to quickly learn and take advantage of JavaScript/DOM to add cool functionality to their web sites. * Shows readers how to build several real world projects. * All examples are fiercely standards compliant and up-to-date.