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Book tips?
Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2009 10:27 am
by papa
Hi,
I'm about to order 2 or more books from Amazon, and I'm wondering if you have any suggestions.
I want a book about OOP in PHP, this one looks good:
PHP Objects, Patterns, and Practice, Second Edition
Also one about MVC, which I got from this forum:
Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture
Which I wanted to read before I start exploring the Zend framework:
Zend Framework: The Official Programmer’s Reference Guide
(Not sure it's neccessary though because Zend has good online references etc?)
Pro PHP: Patterns, Frameworks, Testing and More
Any suggestions regarding OOP PHP and MVC would be apreciated and also if you have any comments on the books above.
thanks
Re: Book tips?
Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 3:11 pm
by Inkyskin
I haven't read any of them, but if you get 'PHP Objects, Patterns, and Practice, Second Edition', can you let us know what you think? I've been looking at getting that one myself.
Re: Book tips?
Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 4:34 pm
by papa
Sure dude, ordered it today so won't have it until a couple of weeks. Ordering from the US.
Re: Book tips?
Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 8:46 pm
by Chris Corbyn
I haven't read any of them, but I know from word of mouth that the first and second on your list are good books.
If you haven't read the Gang of Four (GoF) patterns book, read that too. Many of the other books that reference particular patterns are making reference to concepts/patterns talked about in this book.
http://www.amazon.com/Design-Patterns-O ... 603&sr=1-1
With regards to ZF, just read the tutorials and reference guide. It pieces itself together. I imagine book specific to ZF would be out of date too. ZF has changed a bit as time has gone on.
Re: Book tips?
Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2009 2:25 am
by matthijs
I do have the first one and think it's pretty good. One I liked even better is PHP in action
http://www.manning.com/reiersol/
The difference for me was that this one explains the concepts and
why's of the different patterns somewhat better. Or easier. I'm not that far in OOP and design patterns yet, and what I missed in the book from Zandstra was the "why" of the different patterns. Or they were harder to grasp. Maybe that was a symptom of me not being ready yet to understand these concepts, but the PHP in action book did manage to make me understand some patterns better.
The Pro PHP book is more spread out over different sub-subjects. The book not only deals with OOP, but also Testing and documentation, a big chapter on SPL and last a chapter on "web 2.0" and ajax. So maybe if you buy more books, it would be better that each of them is about one specific subject (but deeper). If you only buy one book, the Pro PHP book might be a good choice as it deals with a broader (but therefore less detailed) look at things.
Re: Book tips?
Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2009 3:48 am
by papa
Thank you guys!
I added the GoF book and PHP in action to my wish list...

Re: Book tips?
Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 9:13 pm
by josh
Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture - very good
Pro PHP: Patterns, Frameworks, Testing and More - was ok, but can basically just tells you about stuff that exists and encourages you to learn about them elsewhere. It failed to persuade me on testing, I followed its logic and it made sense but its Kent Beck's book that really made me try it out and start to enjoy testing
Any suggestions regarding OOP PHP and MVC would be apreciated and also if you have any comments on the books above.
Refactoring, also by Martin Fowler, as well as analysis patterns.. analysis patterns is kinda of overwhelming but its kind of served as a mental bootcamp to get you thinking about concepts as objects. Also the gang of four book really makes you think about code differently
Re: Book tips?
Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 2:14 am
by papa
Ok thank you, I'll look into them as well. It's thanks to you that I bought Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture, it's going to be some interesting and heavy reading...
This is what I bought last week:
Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture (Addison-Wesley Signature Series)
Professional Search Engine Optimization with PHP: A Developer's Guide to SEO
PHP Objects, Patterns, and Practice, Second Edition
Re: Book tips?
Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2009 12:06 pm
by lowcarb
Actually I havent read any of these books, but please when you recieve them tell us what you think

Thanks
Re: Book tips?
Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2009 2:14 am
by papa
The books have finally arrived, I'll get back with a couple of reviews shortly..
