PHP Solutions [electronic resource] : Dynamic Web Design Made Easy /
Powers, David.author.
This is the third edition of David Powers' highly-respected PHP Solutions: Dynamic Web Design Made Easy. This new edition has been updated by David to incorporate changes to PHP since the second edition and to offer the latest techniques-a classic guide modernized for 21st century PHP techniques, innovations, and best practices. You want to make your websites more dynamic by adding a feedback form, creating a private area where members can upload images that are automatically resized, or perhaps storing all your content in a database. The problem is, you're not a programmer and the thought of writing code sends a chill up your spine. Or maybe you've dabbled a bit in PHP and MySQL, but you can't get past baby steps. If this describes you, then you've just found the right book. PHP and the MySQL database are deservedly the most popular combination for creating dynamic websites. They're free, easy to use, and provided by many web hosting companies in their standard packages. Unfortunately, most PHP books either expect you to be an expert already or force you to go through endless exercises of little practical value. In contrast, this book gives you real value right away through a series of practical examples that you can incorporate directly into your sites, optimizing performance and adding functionality such as file uploading, email feedback forms, image galleries, content management systems, and much more. Each solution is created with not only functionality in mind, but also visual design. But this book doesn't just provide a collection of ready-made scripts: each PHP Solution builds on what's gone before, teaching you the basics of PHP and database design quickly and painlessly. By the end of the book, you'll have the confidence to start writing your own scripts or-if you prefer to leave that task to others-to adapt existing scripts to your own requirements. Right from the start, you're shown how easy it is to protect your sites by adopting secure coding practices.
Contents at a Glance; Contents; About the Author; About the Technical Reviewer; Acknowledgments; Introduction; Chapter 1: What Is PHP-And Why Should I Care?; How PHP Has Grown; How PHP Makes Pages Dynamic; Creating Pages That Think for Themselves; How Hard Is PHP to Use and Learn?; Can I Just Copy and Paste the Code?; How Safe Is PHP?; What Software Do I Need to Write PHP?; What to Look for When Choosing a PHP Editor; So, Let's Get on with It . . .; Chapter 2: Getting Ready to Work with PHP; Checking Whether Your Website Supports PHP; Deciding Where to Test Your Pages
What You Need for a Local Test EnvironmentIndividual Programs or an All-in-one Package?; Setting Up on Windows; Getting Windows to Display Filename Extensions; Choosing a Web Server; Installing an All-in-one Package on Windows; Setting Up on Mac OS X; Installing MAMP; Testing and configuring MAMP; Where to Locate Your PHP Files (Windows & Mac); Using Virtual Hosts; Checking Your PHP Settings; Displaying the Server Configuration with phpinfo(); Editing php.ini; What's Next?; Chapter 3: How to Write PHP Scripts; PHP: The Big Picture; Telling the Server to Process PHP; Embedding PHP in a Webpage
Storing PHP in an External FileUsing Variables to Represent Changing Values; Naming Variables; Assigning Values to Variables; Ending Commands With a Semicolon; Commenting Scripts; Single-line Comments; Multi-line Comments; Using Arrays to Store Multiple Values; PHP's Built-in Superglobal Arrays; Understanding When to Use Quotes; Special Cases: True, False, and Null; Making Decisions; Making Comparisons; Using Indenting and Whitespace for Clarity; Using Loops for Repetitive Tasks; Using Functions for Preset Tasks; Understanding PHP Classes and Objects; Displaying PHP Output
Using Echo Shortcut SyntaxJoining Strings Together; Working With Numbers; Understanding PHP Error Messages; Why is My Page Blank?; Handling Exceptions; PHP: A Quick Reference; Using PHP in an Existing Website; Data Types in PHP; Doing Calculations with PHP; Arithmetic Operators; Determining the Order of Calculations; Combining Calculations and Assignment; Adding to an existing string; All You Ever Wanted to Know About Quotes-and More; How PHP Treats Variables Inside Strings; Using Escape Sequences Inside Double Quotes; Embedding Associative Array Elements in a String
Breaking Out Of a Loop
Includes index.
This is the third edition of David Powers' highly-respected PHP Solutions: Dynamic Web Design Made Easy. This new edition has been updated by David to incorporate changes to PHP since the second edition and to offer the latest techniques-a classic guide modernized for 21st century PHP techniques, innovations, and best practices. You want to make your websites more dynamic by adding a feedback form, creating a private area where members can upload images that are automatically resized, or perhaps storing all your content in a database. The problem is, you're not a programmer and the thought of writing code sends a chill up your spine. Or maybe you've dabbled a bit in PHP and MySQL, but you can't get past baby steps. If this describes you, then you've just found the right book. PHP and the MySQL database are deservedly the most popular combination for creating dynamic websites. They're free, easy to use, and provided by many web hosting companies in their standard packages. Unfortunately, most PHP books either expect you to be an expert already or force you to go through endless exercises of little practical value. In contrast, this book gives you real value right away through a series of practical examples that you can incorporate directly into your sites, optimizing performance and adding functionality such as file uploading, email feedback forms, image galleries, content management systems, and much more. Each solution is created with not only functionality in mind, but also visual design. But this book doesn't just provide a collection of ready-made scripts: each PHP Solution builds on what's gone before, teaching you the basics of PHP and database design quickly and painlessly. By the end of the book, you'll have the confidence to start writing your own scripts or-if you prefer to leave that task to others-to adapt existing scripts to your own requirements. Right from the start, you're shown how easy it is to protect your sites by adopting secure coding practices.
Computer programming.
Software engineering.
Web Development.
Software Engineering/Programming and Operating Systems.