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PHP Solutions: Dynamic Web Design Made Easy ReviewI'm about to start a new PHP project for our university website and was going to do it with the first edition of Dave Powers's PHP Solutions at my elbow. Now it will be the second edition. I have other PHP books and may dip into them a bit, but this is the one that will see me through.
It seems that Powers came to computer guru-dom from a career in broadcast journalism, and it shows in his ability to present exactly the information I need in exactly the way I need it. I'm a fairly experienced user-developer, but not a technical person. Powers is a wizard and at the same time a first-rate "host" to the reader. He understands the difference between making an explanation ALMOST confusion-free and getting it just right. His writing style pleasantly engages you on grown-up terms, with no static of jokiness to cut through.
As for content, PHP Solutions is, as the title declares, a solution-oriented approach to getting things done with PHP, not a ground-up tutorial or a dictionary-like reference. But I find that the challenges and solutions Powers has assembled amount to an important part of what I want to get done on a project. You can learn PHP basics anywhere (although Powers gives you a refresher in those, too) and then, when it comes to putting a particular capability into your website, turn to this book for the solution. For example, when I look at the code I wrote for my course-management system to display a list of students' reports with short extracts in screens of ten students each, I find the following comment:
// *** Prepare for paging through query results, displaying a specified number
//of records on the page and inserting a record-navigation system above and
//below the records. This is a heavily modified adaptation and combination of
//techniques from PHP Solutions by David Powers.
I really write comments like that, because I have to remember what parts of "my system" might need attribution if I describe it in an academic paper. The one above refers to the first edition of PHP Solutions, which brings us to an important point. I was working in PHP 4 at the time and dreading the move to PHP 5. Dave Powers took care of me at my own level but also showed how things could be done the newer way, thereby getting me started on the road to transition. If you're coming to PHP Solutions now, in the new edition, be aware that PHP 4 is a THING OF THE PAST -- and be glad! You shouldn't invest time and headaches in writing it at this date.
Note the following from the introduction to the book: "If you're in hurry or are daunted by the prospect of building class definitions, you can simply use the finished files. However, I encourage you to explore the class definitions. The code will teach you a lot of PHP that you'll find useful in other situations." Right. I started out pasting useful code snippets years ago but found that while it was the first step in learning the code, it was also the first step in a mess that I couldn't untangle when things didn't quite work. Do learn the lessons that Powers makes so learnable. They'll have you writing reusable code, and you'll understand how to deploy it. Still, you don't want to struggle with every last keystroke in making it run -- and that, of course, is why you want a book of solutions. So it's great having solid, tested examples to go from.
With many computer books, I feel that I've invested in a small number of valuable tips -- which is all right, if they're lifesavers. With PHP Solutions, the abundance of lifesavers and generally useful information is very rich. Since the original edition is my most-used computer book (literally), I'm happy to have had the chance to review this edition, working from a complimentary copy.
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