| This book contains nine chapters: Chapter 1 provides a foundation, getting you started with PHP. Chapter 2 is all about using operators and flow control in PHP to begin handling your data. Chapter 3 handles text strings and organizes data into arrays. Chapter 4 introduces functions, which let you wrap up PHP into manageable sections that can be called by name. Chapter 5 starts using PHP to work with HTML controls such as text fields and buttons in web pages. Chapter 6 shows how to create web applications in more detail by checking what type of browser the user has, how to check the user's data, and more. Chapter 7 introduces object-oriented programming in PHP and shows how to handle files on the web server. Chapter 8 discusses something that PHP does well: working with databases on the server. In this chapter, we'll work with MySQL. Chapter 9 covers a number of important web techniques: using cookies, sessions, FTP, email, and more. We have included a bonus chapter on the Web site that shows how to draw graphics interactively on the web server and send them back to the browser. To download this chapter, go to www.awprofessional.com/title/0131498622.
All you need to read this book is some knowledge of HTML. You don't need to know anything about server-side programming. You get all the material you need right here. As far as software goes, we'll be using PHP 5.0, and I'll show you where to download it for free. All you need to do is to download and install the required software (the installations are easy, unlike some larger software packages). You don't need Internet access to learn PHP from this book. If you want, you can develop and test your PHP pages all on the same computer. However, if you want to put your PHP code on the Internet, you'll need to use an ISP that supports PHP. Check with your ISP to find if they support PHPmore and more ISPs are doing so every day. |
