PHP Hacks: Tips & Tools For Creating Dynamic Websites

by Jack D. Herrington

Programmers love its flexibility and speed; designers love its accessibility and convenience. When it comes to creating web sites, the PHP scripting language is truly a red-hot property. In fact, PHP is currently used on more than 19 million web sites, surpassing Microsoft's ASP .NET technology in popularity. Not surprisingly, this surge in usage has resulted in a number of PHP books hitting the market. Only one, though, takes the language beyond traditional Web programming and into mapping, graphing, multimedia, and beyond: PHP Hacks.

In PHP Hacks, author Jack Herrington wrings out his 20 years of code generation experience to deliver hands-on tools ranging from basic PHP and PEAR installation and scripting to advanced multimedia and database optimizing tricks.

On the practical side of things, PHP Hacks helps you develop more robust PHP applications by explaining how to improve your database design, automate application testing, and employ design patterns in your PHP scripts and classes. In the category of "cool," Herrington explains how to upgrade your Web interface through the creation of tabs, stickies, popups, and calendars. He even examines how to leverage maps and graphics in PHP. There's also a bounty of image and application hacks, including those that show you how to:

Integrate web sites with Google maps and satellite imaging Dynamically display iPhoto libraries online Add IRC, SMS, and Instant Messaging capabilities to your Web applications Drop the latest Wikipedia dictionary onto your Sony PSP Render graphics and user interfaces with SVG, DHTML, and Ajax

Whether you're a newcomer or an expert, you'll find great value in PHP Hacks, the only PHP guide that offers something useful and fun for everyone.

Genres: Programming, Technical

468 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent resource/teaching guide to getting into PHP. I feel that I can actually pull-together some code of my own now that I've been transcribing the samples in the book over and over and over again.

The only problem I encountered was related to the fact that I have no control over my PHP server settings and that I am still getting my PHP-feet wet and don't yet have an intimate knowledge of these serverside settings/options. I had been able to pull-down the Configuration/PHP Core settings, but I didn't always know what Directive was being accessed by any given hack. In a couple of cases I only discovered the applicable Directive setting when I got an error message after I had run the app. 'Twas a bit frustrating; I would have liked to have been told that a specific hack required a specific Directive to be set one way or another.

[Kenneth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good utility book to have around when you encounter a new problem, and are wondering if someone else already came up with a solution you can use.

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