1. Lucas Jarmin - January 19, 2010

   I’ve only gotten through the first two and a half chapters, but so far it’s a great introduction to the web technologies necessary to make a Web 2.0 site. The author has a great writing style for this kind of book–he is engaging and knowledgeable, while not speaking down at you too much.

   No programming knowledge is required, and the book does discuss basic concepts like variables, arrays, etc. But it does look like that is all covered in the first few chapters and that by the end you can create working, powerful websites.

   And when you’re done with this book, the author himself gives you a list of what books to go onto when you want to learn more about any of the technologies covered.

   Overall, a great book so far and a fine addition to the stellar O’Reilly series!
   Rating: 5 / 5

2. Ryan Miller - January 19, 2010

   It is rare that I am so inspired to write a review for something. This book made learning easy. I must say that without the experience of taking a Java programming class at my college (the only programming experience I have), I would have likely had to make use of additional sources to fully grasp the PHP – object oriented section of this book. But even so, I still highly recommend this book to anybody wanting to create a highly functional website.

   After spending about 2 weeks with it, I am already building dynamic websites that are impressing even myself. It is written very well and has great examples for practice coding. FIVE STARS without question!
   Rating: 5 / 5

3. Running Bill - January 19, 2010

   I agree with what’s already been said about the code working and the author communicating well. Too often I’ve been disappointed with an over-abundance of typos or just bad instruction, both really frustrating when already faced with the challenge of learning something new. But this book definitely delivers there.

   The reason I was really excited about this title and why I’m loving it so much as I go through it is that it focuses on combining all three and talks about real-world situations. You might read a PHP or javascript book that does the job teaching you those on their own but when it’s time to close the book and use them on a real website, you’d be lost or Googling a LOT of things. Most “cool” sites do a good job of making their scripting languages work well together, and this book will show you how to do that, and it serves as a great jump-off for more advanced scripting later. It’s like the author said “I know what you’re trying to accomplish, here’s how to do it.”

   Awesome job and I hope to see more like this!
   Rating: 5 / 5

4. Derek DeHart - January 19, 2010

   I had the pleasure of being a technical reviewer for the book, and this follow-up to O’Reilly’s Learning PHP & MySQL is an enormous improvement over its predecessors. Robin Nixon maintains a comfortable, conversational tone throughout the text, so newcomers to the topic should not find the material daunting. The contents are very well targeted to novices of the craft, cutting out needless technical details and jargon to focus on what a new developer ought to know to create a functioning website. This is not a reference manual or intended for advanced users, but most people will find something useful within its pages, even if all you’re looking for is a refresher on the topics.
   Rating: 4 / 5

5. farout - January 19, 2010

   Here is my background:
   
   Java, Cold Fusion, ASP.net, C#, Rails; sys admin for Windows and Unix boxes.

   Picked up several books to learn PHP – yuck!

   Picked up this book. Wow. In 2 days I was on my way!

   1. all the code examples actually work. Yes, it’s true. I know it’s shocking.
   
   2. the explanations are excellent. Wow can this person communicate. Again shocking.
   
   3. Tons of examples. Talking is great but I learn through code examples. There are plenty here. That is why in 2 days you will be like: Wow I can code in PHP.
   
   4. Here is the best part – Nixon helps you setup everything so it works. I mean in less than 30min I was running PHP via Apache on my Windows using Mysql. I have days with other books trying to make things work because the author did not care enough to actually help me do setup.

   Then pick up the PHP Web Dev Wellin/Thompson book and bang with Nixon’s – you are a PHP intermediate level programmer.

   Really – that easy.

   I wasted so many hours with other books – crap. Live and learn.

   Thank you Robin Nixon. This book is a godsend. With the hours I saved, I am partying – yee ha!
   Rating: 5 / 5

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