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Book (mini) Review: PHP 5 Power Programming

Posted: Tue Sep 28, 2004 10:16 am
by jason
I have just discovered my new best friend. Addison-Wesley's Bruce Peren's Open Source Series is releasing a new book in late October, and I was sent a draft manuscript copy (basically, it's a large version of the book, though not in a finished format).

I feel that I am a fairly experienced PHP programmer, and that I am capable at most tasks. However, I am still keenly aware that there is much more that I can learn about PHP. The only downside is that the information out there I find useful is not as abundant as you might think. Of course, as I learn more, their are going to be less and less people who know more than I do. This means that there will be less for me to learn from.

And for the longest time, I was aprehensive about picking up any book simply because I didn't feel like it was going to be worth it.

And just today, in the mail, comes PHP 5 Power Programming by Andi Gutmans, Stig Bakken, and Derick Rethans. Three individuals who know a LOT more about PHP than I do. Frankly, after looking through this book (rather quickly, mind you), I feel that calling this a book is not accurate. Rather, I see this as me having stolen their brains (If Andi, Stig, or Derick suddenly become less smart, we know why). This book is amazing! It covers everything I would want in a PHP 5. It covers all the new features, PEAR, optimization techniques, and most importantly (for me at least), how to move an existing code base from PHP 4 to PHP 5.

I just wanted to give you guys a quick overview, and let you guys know about this book. Basically, if you are going to program PHP 5, get this book. Hands down. I am confident that over the next few days, as I read this book that my opinion will not change, and if it does, it will only be for the better.

For those curious, here is the Amazon book link:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de ... 13147149X/.