Practical PHP Programming is a concise, starting
resource for individuals that want
to learn PHP programming. It assumes no PHP programming at all.
The book contains lots of information for newcomers as well as
information on advanced functionality in PHP for veterans. It includes
information on advanced features such as IMAP, XML and Sockets, as well
as tips and tricks on how to program effectively in PHP.
Topics covered include:
Simple variables and operators
Types of data that is availabe
References, typecasting, and variable variables
Script variables, pre-set-variables, script
contstants, and pre-set constants
Operators such as plus, minus, multiply, and divide
Functions:
Working with date and time
Mathematical functions
String manipulation
Creating data hashes
Regular expressions
Extension handling
Writing your own functions
Recursive, variable, and callback functions
Arrays:
Reading arrays
Manipulating arrays
Multidimensional arrays (arrays of arrays)
Saving arrays
Objects:
Objects and classes defined
Class inheritance
Access control
Runtime type information
Abstract and final properties and functions
Constructors and destructors
Magic functions
HTML Forms
Form design using HTML
Sending and receiving form data with PHP
Splitting forms across pages
Validating input
Files:
Reading and writing files
Temporary files
How to make a counter
Handling file uploads
File permissions
Databases:
What makes a database
What databases are available
SQL commands using MySQL
Connecting to MySQL through PHP
Using PEAR::DB for database abstraction
SQLite for systems without a database system
Normalisation and table joins
Table design considerations
Persistent connections and transactions
Cookies and Sessions:
How cookies and sessions compare
Which to use and when
How to use sessions
Using a database to store your sessions
Storing complex objects
Multimedia:
The multimedia formats that are available and their
advantages
Creating basic image formats
Working with the rich-text format (RTF)
Creating portable document format (PDF) files
Working with the Shockwave Flash (SWF) format
XML & XSLT:
Standard XML manipulation
"SimpleXML" - the fast and easy way to use XML
XSL and transforming XML
Output Buffering:
When to use output buffering
Manipulating multiple buffers
Incremental data flushing
Output compression
Java and COM:
How to use COM
Finding out what components you have installed
Advanced COM - controlling Internet Explorer, and
even writing VBScript
Distributed COM: COM over a network
Running Java in your scripts
Creating interfaces with Swing
Networks:
What sockets are, and basic socket use
How to use sockets outside of HTTP
How to create a basic server using PHP
Creating a web server
Helpful network-related functions
HTTP-specific and FTP-specific functions
The Curl library
Miscellaneous topics
Security concerns:
Why register_globals matters
How to program secure PHP
Considerations for people who host others' web
sites
Safe mode PHP
Encryption, simple and advanced
Performance:
Increasing performance by optimising your scripts
Increasing performance by optimising your SQL
Increasing performance by optimising your server
Caching PHP scripts
PHP the CGI vs. PHP the Apache module
Writing PHP:
How to analyse your system requirements
Using a development tool to help you code
File layout schemes and group development
Documentation and testing
Distribution your code and licensing your work
How to debug your scripts
Troubleshooting hints and tips
Where to get help if you still have a problem
Writing extensions:
When to write a custom extension
How to design, create, and test your extension
Alternative PHP uses:
How to use PHP to write shell scripts
How the CLI SAPI differs from "normal" PHP
Interacting with the dialog program to create
command-line user interfaces
Zend Framework: Surviving The Deep End is written in the
form of a detailed tutorial following a step by step approach to
building a real life application.
The book walks you through the process of building a
complete Web application with the Zend Framework, starting with the
basics and then adding in more complex elements, such as data
pagination and sorting, user authentication, exception handling,
localization, and Web services. Debugging and performance optimization
are also covered in this fast-paced tutorial.
The book was written to guide readers through the metaphorical "Deep
End". It is the place you find yourself in when you complete a few
tutorials and scan through the Reference Guide, where you are buried in
knowledge up to your neck but without a clue about how to bind it all
together effectively into an application. This take on the Zend
Framework offers a survival guide, boosting your understanding of the
framework and how it all fits together by following the development of
a single application from start to finish.
Topics include:
The Architecture of Zend Framework Applications
The Model
Installing the Zend Framework
A Not So Simple Hello World Tutorial
Standardise the Bootstrap Class with Zend_Application
Handling Application Errors
Developing a Blogging Application
Inplementing the Domain Model: Entries and Authors
Setting the Design with Zend_View, Zend_Layout, HTML
5 and Yahoo! User Interface Library
The text of this book is licensed under a Creative
Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivative Works 3.0.
Practical PHP Testing is targeted at PHP developers. It
features articles published on the author's blog site, together with
new content. The book includes code samples and TDD exercises.
Topics covered include:
PHPUnit usage - a unit testing software framework for
the programming language PHP
Write clever tests
Assertions - declarations that must hold true for a
test to be declared successful
Fixtures - write the code to set the world
up in a known state and then return it to its original state when the
test is complete
Annotations - a standard way to add metadata to code
entities, such as classes or methods
Refactoring and Patterns - changing of complex and
complicated programming codes into simple and
confusion-less ones
Stubs - a piece of code used to stand in for some
other programming functionality
Mocks -used in behavior verification
Command line options
The TDD theory - describes the fundamentals of
Test-Driven Development and its benefits
Testing sqrt() - the PHP sqrt() function calculates
the square root mathematical function on its argument
The ebook is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution
Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.
