PHP For Absolute Beginners Reviewed + Giveaway!
Tuesday, December 8th, 2009 Tags: Book Review
Recently, fellow web developer and friend, Jason Lengstorf wrote and published (by Apress Publishing) PHP for Absolute Beginners.
Jason was kind enough to send me a copy for my own reading and enjoyment. Now that I've finished, I'll be quickly reviewing the book and then giving away a free copy to one of our readers, courtesy of Jason Lengstorf and Apress Publishing! Read on to find out more about the book and how to win the giveaway!
You can grab the book on Amazon right now as an early Christmas or Holiday gift to yourself, and start learning php today!
Overall Thoughts
The book was awesome, seriously, it was awesome. I say this as someone who has already had a lot of experience working with php, in fact, I make most of my living writing PHP code.
Don't believe me eh? It's so good, I gave it one thumb up! It would have gotten two, but I needed one hand to hold it:
Drew Approves of This Book
Target Audience
Mostly beginners, but can be used as a great refresher or reference book for intermediate to advanced users.
Do not let the title fool you, this book is no small book! PHP For Absolute Beginners is quite a chunky book, filled with useful information and sample tutorials. Towards the last half of the book, you are walked step by step through building a nice web application.
If you're looking to get started with php, hands down this is the book you want to pick up first. It is not too overwhelming while at the same time stays extremely informative and in depth.
Topics I Found Useful
While there are a ton of valuable resources and topics in the book, a few of them stuck out to me as great references and guides:
- MySQLi Refresher and References
- PDO (PHP Data Objects) and DB Abstraction is taught step by step and encouraged.
- PHP security and best practices are dealt with immediately.
- Great XML and RSS Feed section.
Want a Free Copy?
We're giving away a copy of PHP For Absolute Beginners absolutely free! Read the details below to find out how to win!
- Make a quick tweet about this giveaway/review on Twitter, please include the hashtag
#DevTipsGiveawayin your tweet. Here is a short URL to the post you can use -http://bit.ly/6AJ46T - Leave a comment with one reason why you would like to win this book. Be sure you enter a valid email address so we can reach you if you win.
- That's it, we'll announce the winner a week or two afterward!
Get the Book Now!
Want to get started learning PHP the right way? Go ahead and grab the book now, it's definitely a great book to have on hand!
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I’m a web developer and I always try to learn more and more about PHP and I think this book could help me to develop my programming skills.
Thanks for this book !
I’m just diving into PHP and would love to have this book! Thanks for the opportunity.
one reason why I would like to win this book – “I have been Good all year”
I have been good all year as well but Santa told me he cant afford to buy me a present this year, because of the recession. So, please?
(Here is my tweet by the way: http://twitter.com/sebkom/status/6464457619)
I want to learn and compare it against ASP/ASP.NET
I am just starting out as a developer and am trying to soak up as much knowledge as possible! This book has been on my wishlist for some time.
Thanks for the chance to win!
Though I am intermediate in PHP, I would really like this book so I can refresh my skills and get some techniques that will help me in my future projects. Thanks for the opportunity Drew!
I don’t as much need this but I would really like it to give to a friend of mine. He’s really wanting to get into web development and I think this would be a great way to get him started.
I am making the transition from doing only font end dev to include more back end dev and this would be a great help.
Hey Drew! Thanks for great the opportunity to win this book and to learn more tips’n'tricks about PHP. I really love this language.
Hope i win it
I am just starting my to move from the front end to the back end of development and I feel that this book would be very beneficial!
props to Mr. Lengstorf, hes been a long time colleague of mine and it is good to see a publication of his getting some recognition!
cheers mate!
I’m always trying to increase my knowledge in web development. I’m an ASP.NET developer by profession, but do some PHP as side jobs and for personal stuff. I like to use both depending on the project and pick the one the suits that particular project best. I hope I can win this.
Although I’ve been using PHP for a while, I like the author and he has given great advice in the past that means even though the title is aimed at beginners I know I’m going to learn some new and interesting information that will make me a better and more efficient developer.
I want this because I just started learning PHP in school and I want to make sure I grasp the concept completely. Also, I am an absolute beginner when it comes to php so this would be nice
.
Looks like a must go for anyone who is thinking to get his hands dirty (or clean?!) with PHP (which includes me)
I have been thinking to start with PHP for sometime now, but couldn’t find a good guide that can help me get started. If I win it, It’ll definitely be of good use for me, the book looks promising.
Regards
This book would be great, as I’ve just started delving into the world of Wordpress, and a book on PHP would help me incredibly!
Cool… may buy this book if I somehow get some extra money… I’m trying to learn PHP because I’m learning freelancing skills. Most PHP books seem to be a bit complected, but I guess if its recommended, it’s probably better than most.
I would like to read this book, i had one that named “php for dummies”, but i think this one is much better or i hope that this is better.
thanks
I am working on building a website for our church based on Drupal CMS. I am doing this as an unpaid, volunteer job. I really need this book to get up to speed with PHP. ALL for the GLORY of GOD!
I want one book.
I’m great with xhtml and CSS but php still alludes me. I’d love to be able to write my own components for Joomla!
Well, I think this book would be incredibly useful. I am 14 years old, and learning web development is not that easy. I know HTML, CSS, and an itsy bisty amount of Javascript (jQuery). I think that PHP is a necessary tool in any dev’s arsenal, and I don’t know how to use it at all. I think it’d be great to learn PHP. Congrats in advance to the winner! ;D
I would really like this book!
This book would help me out a lot, i would love to learn about php.
Want to learn ASP.NET. This book sound great
I’ve been trying to learn PHP for a good while now, but the few books I’ve read just confuse me more. I’ve picked up random bits of php knowledge, but nothing concrete enough to actually code anything. Maybe this book will finally click everything together. (My tweet about this contest)
I have used wordpress for my site but i want to help the wp community out with a plugin that would help others not just me. I woud be so happy and this would help to ease the work off my high school life.
All i want for Christmas is to get this book..to get this book..to get this book..
I’m a newbie..i think this book will help
I tweeted about this book already..@kennethjaysone
Thanks for the opportunity.
These days, I am working on customising Jason Lengstorf’s and Chris Coyier’s Colored Lists application for a university project of mine.
It would be nice to have a reference for the techniques he is using in his project.
Editors Note- Fixed formatting link as that is a great article/series
Why would I want to win the book?
Easy, Drew; here, take a look:
PHP is what I’ve got to learn
To make my POSH web pages turn
From static text with client scripts
To DB-driven; I need those tips!
So if I can, I’d like to say:
Please send that web dev book my way!
lol, brilliant! The winner will be chosen randomly but this made my day
Nice. Nothing warms my heart like a geek poem. You can only beat it with a geek haiku.
Bonus point for any limericks included
wonderfull, l think l will need one.
Drew, I never won such giveaways but I will never stop trying to win this great book
may be I get lucky this time
Thanks for the opportunity for me to have overview aspect for PHP developer. I want to win this.
Laid off and have time to learn new tricks!
I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Jason at a couple tech events and have been impressed with his skills, talents and knowledge. If I don’t win the book I’ll buy it.
I’m wanting to learn more about PHP and recently realized I should probably start over from the beginning. This books sounds perfect for that!
All your books belongs to us!
Not sure I really deserve this book, as I have taken a class in basics of PHP. But I would like to add a new book about php to my knowledge.
I would like to receive a copy, to refresh my knowledge of PHP, and then be able to raffle the book at our local programmer meet up.
This book looks great. It would be nice to understand the process of using php other then just looking at it and kind of understanding what its doing. I want to possibly write some Wordpress plugins and a custom app here at work so this looks like it could help kick start those.
Jst because kay i will learn through it more and more php, i really love web dev
Would love to get this book and dive into PHP
I would want to win this because.
1. I never win these types of things.
2. I think I know everything about PHP but truly I am worse then a noob.
3. I have a website with a .ME Domain!
I am not a professional web designer but I do have a passion about learning how to create more effective websites. Right now, I am developing a music education website for my students. I have learned CSS and html and xhtml and have started to dabble in PHP. This book would be so useful and appreciated!
Oh I sooooooo need help with learning php !
Please let it be meeeeeeeeeee . . . . !
I used to be pretty good at web development, then got a cushy IT job not programming and have lost touch. Would love to get back into it.
id like it cuz i want to develop with a nice language to make the web better
I’d like to get back into PHP. I haven’t really been keeping in touch with it since I’ve been using WordPress
…
I’m trying to get my freelancing career up in the web design/web development area. Currently, I create sites using only HTML and CSS. Would be really nice to enhance my skills in developing. Thanks!
One reason why:
1. I need this to properly code a PHP website, using best practices, and reading/learning from PHP experts.
I am learning CSS and XHTML at the moment. I would like to further expand my toolbox of website development skills so that I can create more modern, rich websites.
I need one please.
I am a budding freelancer and would love to improve my skills by adding PHP to my skillset. This book would help me in achieving that.
Tweeted: http://twitter.com/nspeaks/statuses/6540999252
I’ll be really happy to get this great book because at the moment I’m learning PHP and your book will help me a lot!!!
Thank you very much in advance!
Attention dev-tips.com! Unless you supply me with one copy of the book “PHP For Absolute Beginners” I shall execute the word “pie.”
I have sent you the dot of the “i” as proof of life. It is in your best interest to comply, if you ever want to enjoy pie again.
I want the book because I need to learn how to write better PHP!
I want to learn PHP, give that book to me
I’m a webdesigner and I use WP for my sites. I’m always stuck with php syntax when editing my themes… so I need this book to clear al my doubts
Here’s my tweet about the giveaway:
http://twitter.com/webbografico/status/6856097031
I need this book because I have been planning to get into php but couldn’t find a book well, until now
. I twitted at: http://twitter.com/slayershanks/status/7026773587
I want to do everything with PHP
http://twitter.com/meopro/status/7117248866
I am just starting with web development. I am now really into XHTML and CSS, and after that i am going for a server-side programming language and i think that this book would be perfect to help me. Thanks.
Nice giveaway, good luck to all!
Wow! I’d really like to have this, everything i know from PHP it’s thanks to pages like this one and i would be really usefull to be able to learn from this book
if($content != “won”) { $winner = “me”; } else { $cry++; try($again); }
I want this book. Probably will buy it if I don’t win it.
I am studying web design and development at university, PHP has always interested me from when I got into coding.
I have done minimal things with PHP before but my main reason is that I would love to learn to write proper, clean and secure code!
All the tutorials I have done have been little snippets and it’s given me the drive to want to do more!
As a university student you know moneys tight! I would hopefully like to incorporate jQuery/ PHP into my next web design/ assignment for university to bump up my grades!
Thanks, Adam.
Best of luck to everyone!
Am I abit late
.
May be this book will be the starting point for me to get in PHP. I always wanted to learn it but never knew where to get started from.