Bon Jour

barnesdr

Hello

I am a commissioning editor for Wrox Press, and I'm going to be lurking and occaisonally posting on this forum for the next few weeks/months -- trying to get a feel for how to do the best PHP books humanly possible.

I've been at Wrox for a little over a year, and have now been unleashed from doing .NET all the time. PHP forums are much funnier than ASP forums, so I'm happy. 🆒

I'll help keep the forum an advertising free zone, but I hope you don't mind me steaking the place out.

Cheers

Barnesdr

BuzzLY

Mmmm.... steak.... <homer drool> Or did you mean staking? hehe

Microsoft is not funny. ASP is not funny. Although if you pronounce "ASP" it does sound funnier than "PHP." "PHP" just sounds like a weak burp, don't you think?

Just curious... how does lurking in the PHP forums give you a feel for how to write a PHP book? I'm not being facetious -- what is it that you are looking for?

And what does a commissioning editor do? Do you steal quotes and send the authors commission checks? Let me know, I'll send you my address. Feel free to quote me any time 😃

... oh, and welcome. I'm somewhat of a newbie here myself, but so far am enjoying my stay. Just a word of advice, though. Don't mention "bitwise shift" or you just might find yourself in a HEATED debate! You have been warned! Have fun!

leatherback

Did you say BITWISE SHIFT !?

🙂 🙁 :o 😃 😉 :p :rolleyes: :mad: 😕

Yeah, but eh.. Welcome. And please, if you need my address for a cheque.. Don't worrie: posta request!

😉

Shadeless

BITWISE SHIFT😕 😕 😕 😕 😕 😕 😕 😕

and welcome

barnesdr

Originally posted by BuzzLY

Just curious... how does lurking in the PHP forums give you a feel for how to write a PHP book? I'm not being facetious -- what is it that you are looking for?

I already know not to mention the BS word in any PHP books I do. I'm also getting the impression that PHP developers are responsible for the whole site... design, graphics, layout, as well as code. The ASP world -- particularly .NET -- seems dominated by far narrower job descriptions.

My job is to make Wrox's Beginning PHP5 -- whenever PHP5 comes out, it keeps getting later -- the best way to learn PHP. To do this I need to understand what it is that PHP developers actually want to do with the language, what they'll enjoy reading, etc. A Beginning book doesn't need to teach everything, but it does need to teach the things the reader really wants to do.

Wrox's Beginning ASP 3 was and is an incredibly popular book, and it's tempting to just create a PHP version of it... but I'm quickly learning that this just wouldn't be the right book for you.

Of course, people who write good forum posts also often write good chapters... so my eyes are peeled for this too. 🆒

If you have any book-related questions/comments, feel free to ask on or off the list.

If any of you learned PHP from Beginning PHP4, I'd appreciate hearing what you thought. 😉

Cheers

Barnesdr

BuzzLY

Of course, the Bitwise Shift comment was a joke, but you knew that 😉 Bitwise shifts certainly have their place, and it is a credit to the PHP language that they are available to the programmer. For a scripting language written by a community and given away for free, and considering the fact that it blows a commercial product like ASP out of the water (IMO), PHP is a very impressive language.

I have not been using PHP for very long, myself, but I learn more and more every day. I am involved in a project at work that centers around PHP and MySQL. I have been very impressed so far.

I have not picked up a copy of Beginning PHP4 yet, but if a copy were to find its way onto my desk, I would feel obliged to check it out 😃 😃 😃 Feel free to add me to your "list" as well 🙂

Elizabeth

I personally used Beginning PHP4 for my education regarding PHP and I it is my favorite reference material.

For me, it was at just the right level- not too simplistic but not too advanced (I know, hence the Beginning portion of the title... but "beginner" is all relative.)

We utilize PHP/MySQL for our e-commerce website, so I personally don't have to deal with some of the issues that the others do- we have our site hosted by someone else. But it's so nice to have the "insider's info" if you know what I mean so I can sound reasonably intelligent when contacting our webhost.

I have not read your "beginning ASP 3" book but imho I think you have a great handle on your audience and the PHP 4 book was very well written... I don't know that I could recommend any changes to the style for your next release.

Just my .02...

Oh, and ROFL on the bitwise reference Buzz 😃

-Elizabeth

BuzzLY

Jeez... you gonna give him an apple, too? (Teacher's Pet!!!) :p

From the sounds of it, it looks like I'm definitely going to have to check out Beginning PHP4. I've been pretty impressed with Wrox books in the past, so I'm sure it'll be a good one.

See, I can kiss up too!! 😃

Elizabeth

LOL Buzz!

psst... I just wanted my picture on the front, that's all...

-Elizabeth

BuzzLY

Yeah, that'd be cool! Can I write the chapter on Bitwise Shifts???

dalecosp

Originally posted by BuzzLY
Yeah, that'd be cool! Can I write the chapter on Bitwise Shifts???

Sure, and the title?

The Best Programmers are always full of BS!!

or how about:

BS makes your games ROCK!!

or maybe even:

Build a faster program???? BS!!

BuzzLY

Excellent! I like "Build a faster program???? BS!!" the best 🙂

dalecosp

Originally posted by BuzzLY
Excellent! I like "Build a faster program???? BS!!" the best 🙂

Wow! "Excellent!" You've made my day...and I don't even care if I can't collect enough to pay me my own salary this month!! 😃

dalecosp