question about Larry Ullmans book "PHP for the WWW"

FatStratCat

I am almost thru this beginners book, the second edition, published in 2004 that covers php4 and 5. I noticed that the advanced book was published on 2001, well before php5 was released.

for those who have read it, Is it worth getting his advanced php book, or would you recommend another one? I'm thinking it might be missing a lot of info due to the fact it is almost 5 years old and was published 2 and a half years before PHP 5 was released.

I like the style of this book. Very easy to understand.

thorpe

Sorry, I havent read either, but just a suggestion. You may want to let the first book sink in a little first before getting another. Build some projects, enjoy your new found friend. When you feel you want to extend your capablities, then might be a better time to get another book.

Just my opinion. I guess it depends on how you learn.

dalecosp

I'll agree with thorpe ... and I cut my PHP teeth (and basically my modern programming teeth) on Larry's book (earlier edition ...).

Larry's got a good style and presentation. But, after the first book, you might well be ready. At this point I have to admit not reading anything else he's written (except for a few e-mails --- he lives on the coast, but works (worked?) for a company not so far from me). The only PHP book I've done much work in / reading of since was the Welling/Thomson "Teach Yourself PHP in 24 hours" (SAM's)... and that was mainly for the CD full of read-made projects that I hacked into some early work I've done.

Books do seem to be handy when you're ready for "new growth", as thorpe says.

Jason_Batten

FatStratCat wrote:
I am almost thru this beginners book, the second edition, published in 2004 that covers php4 and 5. I noticed that the advanced book was published on 2001, well before php5 was released.

for those who have read it, Is it worth getting his advanced php book, or would you recommend another one? I'm thinking it might be missing a lot of info due to the fact it is almost 5 years old and was published 2 and a half years before PHP 5 was released.

I like the style of this book. Very easy to understand.

Hey mate, I have Larry's PHP for the WWW book as well. His old advanced book is not worth getting as a much newer one is on the way but I wouldn't wait for that (it will be a long while). PHP 5 Power Programming (pdf free) or Core Web Application Development with PHP and MySQL are definitely worth looking at 🙂

FatStratCat

I agree with you guys, that I need to start a project and I plan on doing so as soon as I finish this book. The cool thing is I went to Larrys website and emailed him directly, asking him about the 2nd edition of the advanced book. He replied two days later. He said he hoped to start working on it this summer, and have it published in the fall.

He also said he felt that the php/mySQL book he wrote might be a better continuation of the php V.Q.G. than the advanced one woudl be. Since I have plans to have my own server with a mysql database in it, I will check that out. I like his style, it is easy for me to understand.