Learning PHP: A Gentle Introduction to the Web's Most Popular Language

by David Sklar

If you want to get started with PHP, this book is essential. Author David Sklar (PHP Cookbook) guides you through aspects of the language you need to build dynamic server-side websites. By exploring features of PHP 5.x and the exciting enhancements in the latest release, PHP 7, you’ll learn how to work with web servers, browsers, databases, and web services. End-of-chapter exercises help you make the lessons stick.

Whether you’re a hobbyist looking to build dynamic websites, a frontend developer ready to add server-side programs, or an experienced programmer who wants to get up to speed with this language, this gentle introduction also covers aspects of modern PHP, such as internationalization, using PHP from the command line, and package management.

Learn how PHP interacts with browsers and serversUnderstand data types, variables, logic, looping, and other language basicsExplore how to use arrays, functions, and objectsBuild and validate web formsWork with databases and session managementAccess APIs to interact with web services and other websitesJumpstart your project with popular PHP web application frameworks

676 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 14, 2016

About the author

David Sklar, MD is the author of “La Clinica,” a memoir of his experience as a volunteer in a rural Mexican clinic and “Atlas of Men,” an award-winning novel about a secret research project. He is an emergency physician, professor at Arizona State University and medical researcher who has authored or co-authored more than 200 articles about medical education, emergency health care, and global health. He is former editor-in-chief of Academic Medicine, the leading medical education journal in the US. He lives in Phoenix, Arizona. To learn more about his life and work, visit www.davidpsklar.com.

Reviews

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a bad book at all. I needed a refresher on PHP7 for a coding gig and this brought me up to speed on things. It's not one you'll be cracking open every day as a reference, but that's not what it set out to accomplish. It has exercise problems at the end of each chapter that you can use to get some real-world code in your GitHub repository. The end of the book has entire chapters on some more advanced topics, like Composer, web APIs, frameworks, etc.