[RESOLVED] Recommendation on learning literature

[Lee_W]

Hi guys,

I have just started studying PHP & I am currently working through a really good book called 'PHP Solutions - Dynamic Web Design Made Easy'.

This is a good book but what it really lacks is detailed explanation on how the code works as there are many scripts in the book for you to copy & paste into your own websites.

Which is fine if you just want something to work but I really want to understand the PHP language & get to a point where I can easily read & write my own scripts.

So can anyone recommend any good literature which fully explains how to write PHP scripts & explains in much more detail how each function, etc works?

Thanks.

[Kudose]

The manual will be best best place for what functions do behind the scenes. I used the book Core PHP5 and found it to be a good point to learn almost all of the functions in existence.

I've found the best way to learn is to try to do something somewhat complicated (your own blog, an simple estore, web site scraping, etc...). You'll start learning lots of functions, tips, techniques and methodologies from tutorials, the manual and this forum.

Also, once you have a good grasp on syntax, start Object Oriented programming. No sense in starting with procedural (line by line, with some functions) when you will eventually end up at OO.

I've found PHP5 Objects and Practice, Gang of Four Design Patterns and Martin Fowlers Patterns for Enterprise Application Architecture very interesting. I really wish I started with those sorts of things earlier on in my PHP career, which only consists of 6 years.

HTH

[Lee_W]

Hi Kudose,

Thanks for your reply.

When u say manual which manual are you refering to?

[Kudose]

The PHP manual located at php.net

[Lee_W]

I think I am getting to grips with the code but for my re-assurance can you explain what is going on with this piece of code line by line?

<?php
function nukeMagicQuotes() {
  if (get_magic_quotes_gpc()) {
    function stripslashes_deep($value) {
      $value = is_array($value) ? array_map('stripslashes_deep', $value) : stripslashes($value);
      return $value;
      }
    $_POST = array_map('stripslashes_deep', $_POST);
    $_GET = array_map('stripslashes_deep', $_GET);
    $_COOKIE = array_map('stripslashes_deep', $_COOKIE);
    }
  }
?>

Thanks.

[Kudose]

In a nutshell, it removes slashes from common data sources.

The first line is the function declaration.
The second is checking if the server has magic_quotes_gpc enabled (automatically adds slashes to incoming data)
The third declares a custom stripslashes
The forth checks if the value is an array, if it is, it applies array_map (apply function to all elements in array), else use normal stripslashes
The fifth is the return value
The seventh through ninth take the common data sources and applies the custom stripslashes_deep function.

It is worth noting that this is a recursive function (it calls itself again when needed, else returns data)

HTH

[Lee_W]

Hi Kudose,

Thanks for your reply.

What do you mean by 'Use normal stripslashes'?

Also, why would you use the return value attribute?

Sorry for the stupid questions.

[Kudose]

[man]stripslashes[/man] is the "normal" (default, bundled, etc...) function used to strip slashes from data.

I don't know what you mean by "return value attribute". Can you rephrase your question?

[Lee_W]

Sorry.

What I meant was what do you mean by 'The fifth is the return value'?

You also say 'It applies Array_Map' what do you mean by that?

Thanks again for your help.

[Kudose]

The fourth line applies the array_map or stripslashes and set the variable $value
The fifth line returns the value

[FijiSmithy]

Lee W;10891951 wrote:

Hi guys,

I have just started studying PHP & I am currently working through a really good book called 'PHP Solutions - Dynamic Web Design Made Easy'.

This is a good book but what it really lacks is detailed explanation on how the code works as there are many scripts in the book for you to copy & paste into your own websites.

Which is fine if you just want something to work but I really want to understand the PHP language & get to a point where I can easily read & write my own scripts.

So can anyone recommend any good literature which fully explains how to write PHP scripts & explains in much more detail how each function, etc works?

Thanks.

O'Reilly php Cookbook and php Hacks that with the PHP.net website shoudl be all you need to code PHP

[Kudose]

FijiSmithy;10892215 wrote:

O'Reilly php Cookbook and php Hacks that with the PHP.net website shoudl be all you need to code PHP

What about OOP concepts and design?