Getting started on the Web can be frustrating if you have no website to develop from. So Julie Meloni's PHP: Fast & Easy Web Development is appreciated right from the start because Julie makes sure that you are able to get a localhost website installed and started in Windows as well as Linux. And so you get detailed start-up instructions not just for PHP but also Apache Server and MySQL. And that sets the style for this very practical introduction to PHP and MySQL, The syntax and theory are discussed but the exercises and practice carry the load..

Nonetheless readers will solve useful exercises in array usage, strings and formatting plus the key to PHP - how to work with databases. The book emphasizes MySQL - and why not ? The interface to MySQL is very easy to use and MySQL is used by PHP developers in more applications than just about all the other databases combined. Again, the exercises come through with graded introduction to database usage, forms input and report writing. But don't look for advanced topics like object design or advanced media output. This book is designed to get you up and running quickly and it delivers. All of the exercises are included on the enclosed CD - a bargain to get all this for $30.

HangontoyourseatbeltsherecomesabookonPHPandMySQLthatwillrockandroll. PHP MySQL Website Programming by Chris Lea, Mike Buzzard, Jessey Cinis, Dilip Thomas
is exactly that - the project is about building a complete website, a weblog for DVD lovers including such amenities as news bulletin, discussion boards, polls, XML/RSS feeds, and even banner ads. You get to see not only the logic but also the design consideration around building a weblog application like phpBB or PostNuke.

And at the same time you get a very good introduction to PHP, PHP's object oriented tools (often given short shrift in intro PHP texts), and a nice grounding in MySQL. In fact, that is the interesting thing about the book - all the new texts about C#, Java, VB.NET etc usually feature some section on UML and class diagrams. Whereas this book emphasizes the database design as well as module/classes. It also shows the big gap between open source tools like Perl, PHP, Python, TCL and other scripting languages and the BEA, Microsoft, Oracles of the development world -use of OO and OO design is just emerging(new versions of PHP 5 and Perl 6 will both enhance there core OO capabilities). So a book like this that takes a consistent OO approach to PHP is well appreciated.