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.
(more…)

You could think of Setting Up LAMP as four books in one, but it�s actually something much more valuable: a single volume that presents the open-source technologies known collectively as LAMP� Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP�as tightly dovetailed components of today�s most affordable and effective platform for building dynamic web-based applications. Each technology has uses outside of this context, of course, but within it they form something greater than the sum of their parts. This book shows you how to take full advantage of this power, walking you through all the steps required to lay your Linux foundation, install and configure your Apache web server, and then begin using PHP to access content stored in MySQL. Here are a few of the specific topics you�ll find covered inside:

* Installing and configuring qmail with support for IMAP, POP3, SMTP, virtual domains, spam filtering, and antivirus * Managing system users and groups * Configuring your network * Creating a custom firewall script using IP tables * Recognizing when a system is in distress * Handling MySQL database replication * Configuring virtual domains * Writing a basic PHP script that integrates with MySQL If you�re new to all of this, you�ll quickly get to where you need to be to start developing and deploying the higher-level pieces of your web application. Even if you have experience with one or all of these technologies, this book�including its quick-start installation appendix�is a resource you�ll want close by whenever you�re setting up or fine-tuning your LAMP system.

(more…)

Enter your PHP-Nuke Garage… where you master the most powerful, cheap (and/or free) Web content system ever created, then use it to build great Web sites, portals, or communities… hands-on, step-by-step.

PHP-Nuke is remarkably capable and reliable, but until now, it’s been poorly documented. This book fills the gap. Best of all, you can use it even if you have no experience with PHP, databases, coding, or hosting. Drawing on practical examples from a live example site, top IT author/trainer Don Jones illuminates every facet of working with PHP-Nuke: installation, configuration, customization, security, day-to-day administration, and much more.

Topics include: content delivery, design and themes, forums, journals, downloads, member lists, news/reviews, personalization, RSS, archiving, FAQs, feedback, statistics, surveys, pay sites, AvantGo mobile content, Amazon e-commerce links, and more. Jones even shows how to find a PHP-Nuke hosting service to handle the infrastructure for you — so you can focus on content, not technology.

Organized into 66 easy modules, designed for rapid learning, and based on real examples, PHP-Nuke Garage will help you create the interactive site you’ve always wanted — faster than you ever thought possible.
(more…)

PHP Developer’s Dictionary is a well-organized, comprehensive reference for PHP programmers. In addition to providing a complete syntax reference for all core PHP functions and all module functions, the PHP Developer’s Dictionary also provides a complete collection of compilation, installation, and configuration options. The resulting book provides an indispensable reference for any PHP programmer or administrator overseeing a PHP installation.

(more…)

Beginning PHP and PostgreSQL 8 delves into some of the most
popular open source web development technologies, the PostgreSQL 8
database server and PHP 5 scripting language. You’ll learn to reap the
benefits of these core technologies by using them in unison to create
dynamic, data-driven web applications. This is an ideal read if you are
a web designer, programmer, hobbyist, or novice who wants to create
applications with PHP 5 and PostgreSQL 8.

(more…)

Preface Goal of This Book The goal of this book is to help you get a better grasp of PHP, to learn some of the less commonly used features, and to help you build some applications that are useful in your work or hobbies. I hope it gives you some ideas on how to make your own applications easier to code and easier to use. Who This Book Is For This book is for those who have done some basic PHP programming and wish to learn about some of the more advanced techniques to make applications easier to use and easier to program. I received many emails from across the globe from readers of my first book, Essential PHP for Web Professionals (also published by Prentice Hall), who liked the concise style and ample examples I had provided. I received literally dozens of emails from people who said they had read other PHP programming books, but they didn’t really grasp how PHP worked until they read my book. I can’t tell you how happy that makes me feel. I hope to do the same with this book. This book is for those of you who are ready to take the next step and learn a little more about PHP. This book isn’t a reference book, nor does it cover every advanced aspect of PHP. It does, however, stretch beyond the basics and introduce some more concepts that can help you with your PHP programming. Getting the
Code All of the code for this book is available on the Advance Web Series Web page (www.phptr.com/advancedweb/php). You can download all of the examples for each chapter on the page. The Web page will also have any updates or errata, as well as answers to frequently asked questions.
(more…)

Use PHP to accomplish real-world, professional tasks. Incorporating five
hands-on projects, PHP Professional Projects is your key to unlocking the
power of PHP. Each project focuses on a specific PHP concept and is based on a
real-world situation. You will be able to use the skills that you develop
throughout the book to modify the projects as needed to fit your professional
needs.

Create a User Registration Form: Using various form elements, create a user
registration form for an online shopping site. You will use PHP script to track
form value and check for errors. Your PHP script will give you experience using
variables, operator, and control structures.

Store and Retrieve Data From Files: Using the registration form that you have
just created, you will learn how to store data in a file and to retrieve the
data using various file functions. You will learn the basics of file handling
such as reading and writing to a file as well as pack and unpack function.

Work with MYSQL Using PHP: Begin by creating a database table and inserting
data with a form and PHP script. Query your database table based on specific
criteria and allow results to be displayed. Further your understanding of
handling data storage and using PHP with a SQL database.

Create a Catalog and Shopping Cart: Cover all of the steps necessary to
create a product catalog and shopping cart with PHP beginning with user
registration. Learn how to add and remove products and customers and to send a
feedback message using the mail function.

Master User Authentication and Tracking: Learn how to configure HTTP
authentication on Apache and to create users. Begin with the basics of
password-based authentication and password storage. Then create a PHP script
that will validate users, and learn how to use cookies and sessions to track
users.

(more…)

What you hold in your hands is the answer to all your PHP 5 needs. We have written PHP 5 Recipes with a number of purposes in mind. First, this book is a source of instant solutions, including countless pieces of useful code that you can just copy and paste into your own applications, giving you answers fast and saving you hours of coding time.
Second, this book is a useful reference to the most important aspects of the PHP 5 language, including the vital functions you know and love from previous versions of PHP, as well as the functions introduced in PHP 5.

Finally, this book explains the new PHP 5 functionality in detail, including the vastly improved object-oriented capabilities and the new MySQLi database extension.
We are confident PHP 5 Recipes will be a useful and welcome companion throughout your PHP journey, keeping you on the cutting edge of PHP development, ahead of the
competition, and giving you all the answers you need, when you need them.

(more…)

The first book to unlock the true power behind Gmail, Hacking Gmail will immediately appeal to Google and Gmail fans This is serious, down-and-dirty, under-the-hood, code-level hacking that will have readers eliminating the default settings, customizing appearance, disabling advertising, and taking control over their Gmail accounts Covers turning Gmail into an online hard drive for backing up files, using it as a blogging tool, and even creating customized Gmail tools and hacks Shows readers how to check their Gmail without visiting the site; use Gmail APIs in Perl, Python, PHP, and other languages, or create their own; and maximize Gmail as a host for message boards, photo galleries, even a blog.

(more…)

If you were traveling in Spain, but couldn’t speak Spanish very well, you’d probably carry a Spanish dictionary with you. If you are a PHP developer who needs a portable reference guide for frequent use in your job, the PHP Phrasebook is perfect for you. The PHP Phrasebook is actually a pocket guide that is
jam-packed with useful and essential PHP code “phrases” for the PHP developer’s everyday use. The code is flexible, so it can be easily adapted to your needs and mulitple situations, and your time isn’t wasted wading through chapters of tutorial lessons and extraneous information. The phrasebook covers PHP 5 and is relevant for PHP 4.
(more…)