Foundation PHP 5 for Flash friends of ED, 2005
Are you a reasonably experienced Flash user who has certain mastered the basics, but wished you could take your SWFs further into the realm of dynamic data rich applications? Well, look no further. Foundation PHP 5 for Flash brings together three of the web's hottest technologies - Flash, the server-side language PHP, and the MySQL database system. It's bang up to date, using ActionScript 2.0, PHP 5.0, and MySQL 4.1, but has been designed to be version-neutral. In other words, you can be confident that you're working with the latest standards, but that your applications won't break if deployed on an older server. The book also provides a brief introduction to an alternative database system, SQLite, which is now automatically bundled with PHP 5 and requires no installation. At each stage in the learning you are given an overview of a new area of PHP/MySQL, introducing you to the syntax while showing how it compares to ActionScript, and how it integrates with Flash to produce increasingly complex applications. For example, earlier chapters cover things such as getting data from PHP to Flash and back again, variables, arrays, string manipulation, validating user input, and feedback forms. Later on, you move on to more advanced subjects such as creating databases with MySQL Monitor and phpMyAdmin, manipulating database data through a Flash interface, displaying data from an RSS feed in Flash, persisting data with sessions, and creating a full blown content management system. In addition, to get you up and running, the book features a detailed guide to setting up your environment - PHP, MySQL, and the Apache web server - along with extensive troubleshooting information. PHP is the language of choice on nearly 18 million domains, and MySQL has more than five million active users, including industry leaders like Google, the Associated Press, Sony, and NASA. They're open source and free; and with the help of this book, you'll see that they're easy and fun to learn. |
PHP Web Development with Dreamweaver MX 2004 Apress, 2004
Allan Kent kicks off the book with three chapters offering a broad overview of the three main technologies being used: PHP, MySQL and Dreamweaver MX 2004. Then Rachel Andrew of the Web Standards Project takes an in-depth look at designing with web standards, something made considerably easier by many of the improvements in the latest version of Dreamweaver. Using CSS and valid XHTML is not just a fad as far as dynamic websites are concerned; it's a necessity. Server-side languages like PHP are very fussy about correct coding. One comma or quote out of place, and your website can come crashing down like a pack of cards. Yes, you can build a PHP website without CSS or a valid doctype, but it makes your life a lot harder, and any time "saved" by using outdated methods is usually lost many times over in increased site maintenance. Then it's down to business, building database-driven pages. Allan looks at the various server behaviors built into Dreamweaver MX 2004 that make this process much simpler. I follow up with a detailed look at code reuse, utilizing Dreamweaver templates and library items, but most importantly building your own code library and creating your own custom-built functions in PHP. I take a hard look at the pros and cons of templates, and compare them with PHP includes, a subject that can be difficult for beginners to grasp, but which offers considerable benefits - and which Dreamweaver, incidentally, makes a lot easier to implement. Allan then offers advice on other Dreamweaver time-saving devices - extensions, telling you not only how to install those created by others, but also showing you how to build your own. It's not as difficult as it sounds! My second chapter deals with the less glamorous, but nevertheless essential subject of what to do when things go wrong - not only error detection and troubleshooting, but plenty of tips on how to avoid errors in the first place. Finally, the crowning glory of the book (well, I think so, because I wrote it!) - a really detailed case study, looking at how a real-life content management system is put together. It's a mini-book in itself (120 pages long), showing how to plan the database tables, and building the administrative back-end with solid procedures to ensure that only valid content is entered into the database. In the process, you build several new server behaviors that can be used again and again in different sites. When putting the front-end together, I look at some advanced SQL queries drawing information from four separate tables. The finished site could be used as the basis for a club, an online product catalogue, or a personal blog. |
The Dreamweaver Developer's Instant Troubleshooter Apress, 2003
What this book sets out to do - and to a large extent succeeds - is try to answer as many as possible of the questions that frequently frustrate users of Dreamweaver, particularly when making the transition to building dynamic websites. You could argue that you can get similar help by going to the Dreamweaver forum or by doing a Google search. You could, but would you get the answers from real experts - people like Rachel Andrew and Drew McLellan, both members of the Web Standards Project, or Gareth Downes-Powell, one of the most lucid writers on PHP and MySQL? Together with Nancy Gill and Kevin Marshall, they look at getting ASP, ASP.NET, ColdFusion and PHP up and running on both Windows and Linux machines. They walk you through the installation procedures for IIS, Apache and MySQL, catering for whatever your preferences or setup may be. And this is where the book really scores - they tell you what to do when things don't work the way you expected. They anticipate most of the common problems - and some not so common ones, too. With two of the authors active in promoting web standards, there's a strong emphasis on making the best use of Dreamweaver's improved CSS capabilities, and creating sites that are valid and flexible, including advice on how to switch to creating XHTML documents. Once you start creating dynamic websites, you'll find yourself turning to the later chapters, which offer a series of instant "recipes" for some of the most frequently asked questions about ASP, ASP.NET and PHP (but not ColdFusion, for some reason) - for example, how to create a random password in PHP, tables with striped rows in ASP, working with Server Control and Code-Behind in ASP.NET. If I have a serious criticism about this book, it's a pity that the final section was left to the individual authors' choice of questions. Although some issues (such as the notorious "Headers already sent" gotcha in PHP) are exclusive to a particular technology, it would have been nice to see answers to all the layout questions provided for each one. The user level is described on the back of the book as "Intermediate - Advanced". I would describe it as more "frustrated intermediate, aspiring to advanced". Everything is based on Dreamweaver MX, but is 99.9% applicable to MX 2004. |
Running Linux (4th Edition) O'Reilly, 2002
Note: this review is based on the 3rd edition. |
Linux for Windows Administrators Sybex, 2002
It's refreshingly straightforward, takes the fear out of Linux, and by the end of the book you should be able to network a Linux machine with a Windows one and swap files without difficulty. Includes sections on the Apache server, Sendmail, and Samba. Note: this review is based on the previous version. |
© 2002-5, Japan Interface. All rights reserved.
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This is a book I wrote myself, so the review is by no means impartial. I think it's the best thing since sliced bread. I hope you do, too.
This is my second foray into writing about creating database-driven websites using PHP/MySQL and Dreamweaver. Like my earlier book (Foundation Dreamweaver MX 2004, published by friends of ED), this book assumes no previous knowledge of either PHP or MySQL. Where it differs is that we assume readers already know the basics of building a static website, so we can concentrate on the main subject - putting PHP to work.
This is a book I never thought would see the light of day. It was just about to go to the printers when the original publisher, Glasshaus, collapsed. Apress came to the rescue, and now this book can come to the rescue of anyone struggling with Dreamweaver. First of all, a disclaimer, I'm partially biased about this book because you'll find my name among the credits as a technical reviewer.
Good overall introduction to Linux written in straightforward language. Takes a neutral approach to the various distributions (distros) of Linux. As well as covering the philosophy of Linux and the Open Source movement, it explains basic commands and concepts, such as setting file ownership and permissions, essential system manageemnt, and other administrative tasks. Down-to-earth, sensible approach.
This is an update of "Linux for Windows NT/2000 Administrators", a superb guide to setting up and running Linux, but without all the "geekspeak". Don't be put off by the title if you're not a fully-fledged Windows administrator. What this book does is explain Linux in a manner that is far less intimidating to Windows users than many others. Mark Minasi is a well-known authority on Windows, and with the help of a couple of Linux experts, he describes in plain language how to set up and run all the most common aspects of a Linux system.