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1     Preface

This is NOT the latest copy of this book; click here for the latest version.

Welcome, reader, to the world of PHP. You're about to learn to use the most powerful web development language that can be found, and, what's more, you will do so with the minimum of fuss.

I myself started programming in PHP back in 1997 when Perl was at its apogee, and after only two weeks, I had converted most if not all of my Perl scripts into PHP. The reasons I were drawn so strongly towards PHP are many, but mainly it was ease of use - even after having used Perl for so long.

Through this book, I hope for you to be able to switch to PHP in the same kind of time frame, if not less. Back when I made the switch, I was not lucky enough to have a book like this to learn from!

I have written this book with the goal of making the task of learning PHP something fun that you do not have to worry about. As such, you will find lots of information for newcomers, even those who have not programmed much before. On the other end of the scale, I must admit that I have worked hard to put in this book lots of information on advanced functionality in PHP - if you are a veteran user looking to take your PHP skills above and beyond where they are right now, I am hoping you will find there is lots to be had here.

My goal for this book has been to produce a book you can read in whatever order you want. Once you have the basics down, I encourage you to flick through the table of contents, find something that interests you most, and start reading from there.


Chapter contents

1.1. Is this book for you?
1.2. Who this book is not for
1.3. What you will get out of this book
1.4. How to use this book
1.5. A note for programmers coming from Perl
1.6. A note for programmers coming from C, C++, or Java
1.7. Cross-platform PHP
1.8. Tips for success
1.9. About the Publisher
1.10. Copyright and usage rights
1.11. Give something back!
1.12. About me
1.13. Acknowledgements



<< Table of Contents   1.1 Is this book for you? >>
Table of Contents
Want to see this stuff in print? PHP in a Nutshell takes the core topics covered here, adds in thousands of edits from the editorial team and myself, and combines them to make an unbeatable reference for PHP programmers at all levels.



My latest book has hundreds more tips on how to use PHP, Apache, and MySQL, plus Perl, Python, shell scripts, performance tuning, and more!



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Comments from other readers
gud_man - 04 Jul 2008

hi u are gud -- in hindi gud means wonderful

Russian Scientist ( Federal ) - 04 Jul 2008

is the grst bts in ruffle russia sputnik slova kalsh vako sato en duplicata NASA. Voda las ni kov del mar dost en India. -- en technology er mein GR8 JOB INDIA !

A PHP User - 04 Jul 2008

wtfOMFGroflkopterstfu!!!! o_O

parimalr@gtllimited.com - 04 Jul 2008

hi,
Nice book, more to develop in php.

foo

lolo from microsoft - 04 Jul 2008

i don't like open source. i dont like software to be shared, even if someone really needs it. i think that i can sell the software that is so insecure and unsharing to buy a ferrari. the opensource guys make software that they need and just distribute it to junk up the net. -- MY NET !!.

Pankaj Sharma ( gtl mail server ) - 04 Jul 2008

FYI

Wonderful book created, u look to be a hard-working and knowledge-sharing personality. And lots of funny comments down below !! I hope other users enjoy reading these ;)

Love Day - 04 Jul 2008

Hello :)

After Reading this book, everyone becomes Love-Day .

In Hindi, Loveday means " Fine "
tip : to make a Indian human happy tell him :

Boss, You Are a Loveday . Namaste ( like Welcome )
I treied this on my boss, and he was very happy.

e-effect - 04 Jul 2008

For those of you who haven't checked out the print version, do. It's really complimentary to what's online and in reading both php has become so much more clear to me. Thanks, Hud!

e

ganesh morti - 04 Jul 2008

hello

I won a complementary gift. A book -- but i don't read books. write comments everyday. look for my email id below.I write software. i LEARN books. and you don't waste time.

ganeshm@gtl... - 04 Jul 2008

Its O.K. I am SORRY.

ganeshm@gtllimited.com - 04 Jul 2008

I am a great programmer and setteled in life. I am now looking for a girlfrend. Please be my frend. I am handsome and smart, 25 fair and handsome male ( I have tested my sexuality and now it is working fine ).

Mr. Right - 04 Jul 2008

This book is great and it suuccckkkkssss. Anyways it sucks. and you reading this also suck. YOU SUCK ! sorry man but in this world you SUUCCCKKKHHHH !!

A PHP User - 04 Jul 2008

thanks for the great book

A PHP User - 04 Jul 2008

Sorry for being a grammar nazi, but the following line:

"The reasons I were drawn so strongly towards PHP..."

Should be:

"The reasons I was drawn so strongly towards PHP..."

Given this is going/is in print, wanted to point that out.

piisami - 04 Jul 2008

minä tiedän vastauksen

piisami - 04 Jul 2008

minä tiedän vastauksen

A PHP User - 04 Jul 2008

ahven im gonna kill you, dont ever mark php users

A PHP User - 04 Jul 2008

SORRY death

-ahven-

A PHP User - 04 Jul 2008

SORRY death

-ahven-

Piisami hater - 04 Jul 2008

Piisami dont try anything funny.
i know where you live.
see ya in hell.

A PHP User - 04 Jul 2008

ahven im gonna kill you, dont ever mark php users

A PHP User - 04 Jul 2008

i just love it T: piisami

A PHP User - 04 Jul 2008

SORRY death

-ahven-

True fan - 04 Jul 2008

Omg! who is that piisami who's marking on us!

make him suffer!

*sharpen he's blade*

A PHP User - 04 Jul 2008

you all php users are deadth in my eyes.

-ahven-

A PHP User - 04 Jul 2008

i just love it T: piisami

Bosadika Loveda - 04 Jul 2008

oh man i am in the process of becoming GOD!!

Danny - 04 Jul 2008

Great book, I wish you would make it available for download. Because I do most of my learning not at home at my laptop it would come in handy. Now I have to save the pages to my laptop manually.

I guess I can understand the reasons though.

Keep up the great work.

A PHP User Whit Computername Dendries0 - 04 Jul 2008

Omg, this book is crazy! So great! This must be aviable in other languages to.

A PHP User Whit Computername Dendries0 - 04 Jul 2008

Omg, this book is crazy! So great! This must be aviable in other languages to.

A PHP User Whit Computername Dendries0 - 04 Jul 2008

Omg, this book is crazy! So great! This must be aviable in other languages to.

Pedro - 04 Jul 2008

Paul,
Thanks for making this book available.
No idea if it's good, will let you know as I read through it.

To Tmitsuruyi's question:
What is the name of the Book???
I want to get it...
The Book name: PHP in a Nutshell

Thanks again!
Pedro,
San Diego, CA

Need to understand PHP - 04 Jul 2008

Hi Paul

It's now London time 12 in the afternoon, December 20th '05.
I shall start with your PHP guide book, step by step and see my progress from here.

Time to have sleepless nights and hope I survive unscratched.

I wanna learn PHP
anis

A PHP User - 04 Jul 2008

Please make a zip file so that some of us can be able to download this very GOOD book.

confused user - 04 Jul 2008

Why do all comments in this "book" have today's date on them (december 15, 2005)?

pankajs@gtllimited.com - 04 Jul 2008

f u

A PHP User - 04 Jul 2008

Its excellent to use PHP.
I am writing a program that will make a man out of nothing in PHP. dont write bad program b cause it is boring and no money for it is there in the universe.

Regards;
matrix programmer.

A PHP User - 04 Jul 2008

Its excellent to use PHP.
I am writing a program that will make a man out of nothing in PHP. dont write bad program b cause it is boring and no money for it is there in the universe.

Regards;
matrix programmer.

Rajko Tomic, Srbija - 04 Jul 2008

Velike stvari su jednostavne, sitnice su komplikovane. LeonBilderberg

PHP user from Russia - 04 Jul 2008

Hello! It's a pity that my previous message, written in Russian, cannot be displayed correctly. Well, thank you for a good book! I liked it and I will recommend it if someone would ask me about php studying.

PHP user from Russia - 04 Jul 2008

Hello! It's a pity that my previous message, written in Russian, cannot be displayed correctly. Well, thank you for a good book! I liked it and I will recommend it if someone would ask me about php studying.

PHP user from Russia - 04 Jul 2008

Ïðèâåò, Ïîë! Êëàññíàÿ êíèãà, ñïàñèáî! Îñîáåííî ïîíðàâèëàñü ãëàâà Practical PHP ñ ðåàëüíûìè ïðèìåðàìè ïðîãðàìì. ß âîò ïî-ðóññêè ïèøó ïðîñòî äëÿ ïðèêîëà. Òàê ÷òî òåáÿ, Ïîë, ÷èòàþò è â Ðîññèè, âî êàê ;-)

mitsuruyi - 04 Jul 2008

What is the name of the Book???
I want to get it...

Romack - 04 Jul 2008

this book is good,
read it...

more programming
more power

POWER!!!

noypi ka nga!!!

please visit our website
http://www.angdatingdaan.org :)

Essam - 04 Jul 2008

Just started learning php and found this site very helpful.
I was actually wondering if you plan to have a copy of your tutorials available for download. That would be great, as I am on dial up and would save me a lot of time if i had this tutorial offline.

Thanks a lot.

A PHP User - 04 Jul 2008

Thanks for the great book!

lyric-source.com - 04 Jul 2008

Thanks a ton, I appreciate the effort you went through to make this. Contact me at webmaster@lyric-source.com and I'll be one of the first to purchase this book off yo hands :)

A PHP User - 04 Jul 2008

Thanks very much for the time and effort you put into making this book. I only wish it were easier to find!

THY - 04 Jul 2008

tks, now i can start learning PHP. great effort put in to compile this. keep it up bro

smita034 (LXF Forums User :p) - 04 Jul 2008

This book is great, I wish you well with it, I have pointed alot of my Friends that wanted something to read about PHP to this site and they have loved it as well.

Thanks again!

Alex

A PHP User - 04 Jul 2008

bout time i found something like this

A PHP User - 04 Jul 2008

awesome

Negative Gravity - 04 Jul 2008

This book is awesome man! I can't believe how can somebody type so much and still be alive o.O



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