PHP Pocket Reference, 2nd Edition

• #20 in Best PHP Books

35 Reviews

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The most serious problem with this book is that there's no index. If you want to remind yourself of what arguments a particular function needs, you have to work out which category the function falls in and hunt through the appropriate chapter.

It's useful as a reference if you can't get at the online PHP manual, but I've found that I rarely use it now. Maybe it's simply that the annotated online manual is so good, the book is redundant.

Having said that, some of the example code provided is extremely useful, though the code layout suffers from the small size of the pages.

Just like many of the other ORA Reference books this one doesnt fail to deliver. No PHP developer should be without it, it's an excellent quick reference, very well set out. You'll soon be using the best PHP commands and functions for the job. Be sure to learn a little PHP before buying this book however, otherwise it will go to waste until you're at least a little comfortable with the language !

It's cheap too ! Go get it !

Honestly if you are looking into buying this book take a look at O'Reilly's "Webmaster in a nutshell" before you buy this. The information in here is pretty much a repeat of everything in there, only the Webmaster book contains a lot more valuable and exstensive knowlege base in regards to not just PHP. If you just want a simple, small reference with information that is readily available for free on the web then you may find this useful, otherwise don't bother. I have to give it some credit because the book dosen't claim to be any more than it is and it is pretty inexpensive.

A really complete pocket tutorial. A good way to quickly lookup syntax, functions and the operation of PHP itself. The book starts with an introduction/reminder to PHP and actually very useable examples that you can put to use right away. An excellent book by Rasmus Lerdorf, one of the key developers of PHP.

The book needs an index...

also, the function list.. (very lengthy) is very poorly organized and layed out..
each line starts with the output type of the function.. (int,string,bool) etc.

consequently scanning the index for the function you're looking for is extreemely difficult.

You cant even easily find where you are in the alphabetized list without sifting through a buncha lines starting with 'string','int','bool'

it's a worthless pocket reference.

You'll spend hours trying to find references because of how poorly it has been organized. No index; no rhyme or reason to the subject order; essentially a useless book.

In adition there are but brief descriptions of each function -- what one could usually surmize from the general naming convention.

Because of it's size, however, I would re-purchase a second edition, if the publisher would only add an index.

Well, for starters: there's no index. How did that slip through the cracks? Since the functions are grouped by type, you need to know what the function is before you can look up what it is, or just flip through 114 pages scanning for it, which leads to problem number 2: the typography is such that the function names blend right into the text.

The function reference identifies what is returned by the functions by data type (e.g., integer), but not whether it's a pointer to an array or just a number, or what. The Leon Atkinson book, otherwise even lamer than this book, at least got that part right.

Advice to O'Reilly: give up on the pretense of always having the "preeminent expert" write your books. Get professional technical writers, partner them with the big name "creators" of the technology, and the quality and timeliness of the books will improve. Thank god Larry Wall didn't write the Perl book. O'Reilly doesn't have the field all to itself anymore, so they shouldn't be resting on their laurels.

O'Reilly must sell a ton of these. Why not get a new author willing to do a good job of updating and improving. We all owe Lerdorf a lot for starting PHP in the first place. Having said that, O'Reilly needs to get an author who can update this and make it a useful reference. PHP is now on version 5.2 and this book is on version 4. It is nearly useless. I try to use this book from time to time, but never seem to find the information I need. Ie: Each function in the reference section needs at least two sentences of explanation, not a half sentence.

PHP needs a couple of good current reference books. Where are they?

No index, and the functions are in a type face that makes it impossible to quickly scan the book. What it explains is not detailed enough to do you much good.

Just say no to this book.

I have been a fan of O-Reilly Pocket References for some time. My colleagues would say that I am highly vested in them. Sadly, this is the worst one I've seen.

The first section is actually laid out very well. The syntax highlighting and language basics are described with succinctness and efficiency.

As for the second section, the function reference, it is basically worthless. Taking up a bulk of the text, this 97 page listing is nearly pointless, as so many have said before me. The listing is completely alphabetical, which means you have to know what you are looking for before you look for it. Assuming you know what to look for, then you most likely have some idea what the syntax is, making this, sadly, a waste of effort (although, I can't deny that a syntax reference can be useful, if organized properly).

I'd have two suggestions for the next edition. The function reference would be decent if it were categorized. Since this would prevent alphabetical ordering of entries, my second recommendation is an index, which many reviewers have requested before.

With this said, don't bother with this product (2nd edition), unless you *KNOW* PHP.

Like many others are saying about this book it has two major flaws, the first is that it lacks an index, while it does have a table of contents, if you need to look up a specific command you can't. The second, and more important, problem is that this book doesn't describe the functions in a usable fashion. In fact the printing of the function is sometimes longer than the description itself, they rarely go beyond 5 words. While some functions do not need a lengthy explanation, others do. This book isn't all bad, earlier on it does explain (in full sentences/paragraphs, wow!) about form handling, database integration, variables, bolean, and the basics like while/do and if/then. Like every other O'Reilly pocket reference, these mini books are only good as a reference, not as a sole learning tool so if you purchase this book, I sure hope you bought a full sized PHP book.

...if this is the best technical writing he can do, I understand why people complain of a lack of PHP documentation. This book is 90-some percent a list of PHP functions and their input and output types. However, it fails to give indication of what any function does, what the input means to the function, or what the output means to you. The rest of the book is a very basic PHP overview which states about twice a page that if you want any real information you need to visit the Web site. I can still see a use for this book, despite its utter lack of information: if you already use PHP and you know programming in general and you have a good idea of what kind of function you need but have no idea what it's named in PHP and don't want to spend hours on end trudging through the online manual, you can use the book to flip through function names 'til you find one that looks like it may be what you want, then search for that function online and see if it is.

This book is really nothing but the online PHP manual in book form without the code snippet examples for each function. You would get more info by just printing out the online manual, but if you use an inkjet printer that might be more expensive than the book!

Don't buy this book; you won't use it. The function explanations are rarely more than a sentence, and worst of all they are many times self-referential.

"string urlencode(string str) - URL-ecodes a string." The function name makes that clear, but what does that mean, if you don't already know? Doesn't that defeat the purpose of referring to a book for clarification?

"array pathinfo(string path) - Returns information about a certain string." Does that description clarify anything beyond the function name?

They should have trimmed out more functions and included more information about the most important ones. Sadly, this is also the book used in Dreamweaver MX 2004 for online help, which is frustrating.

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My 1st Edition copy of this book is so well-loved that there is a dirt stripe down the edge of the pages from my flipping through it so often. I bought the 2nd Edition thinking it would be just as good as the first, with the new PHP-4 functions added.

The 2nd Edition is just an alphabetical list of functions, while the 1st Edition was categorized by usage-type (string functions, database functions, math functions, etc.). If I needed to find a function that did {foo} to a string, I'd look in the strings section until I found a description for an appropriate function. I can't do this with the 2nd Edition and am seriously considering returning it!

If you just need a reference to remind you of parameter order and return-type, get the 2nd Edition.

But if you're like me and want to find the correct function to do what you are looking to accomplish, save your money and buy a used copy of the 1st Edition PHP Pocket Reference.

I disagree with the reviewer who said this book is lacking an index. This book *is* an index, and not a terribly helpful one.

A Nutshell-type book makes more sense for a robust scripting tool. PHP is not a trivial or admin-oriented language; if you want to sell *any* reader on its virtues, you have to show what the language can do.

As a co-author of the The Java 2 Certification Study Guide, I can tell you exactly what readers think of a list of calls in print -- we used to have 200+ pages of that in the back of our book. Anyone who had anything to say about it called it filler, and they were right.

Make a PHP Nutshell book, and get someone like Flanagan to write it. Believe me, we'll buy it. Admittedly,I wasn't expecting a whole lot more than I got for the price of this book. But when an info-holic has a book he won't crack twice on a long plane ride, something's wrong with the book. :-)

PHP pocket reference is just that, a language reference. It lists all the functions with a short reminder of its purpose. It is an indispensable tool for any serious PHP coder, and an inexpensive one at that. It must not be mistaken for a comprehensive index of all commands and objects as that is not its intended purpose. For details, check php.net for the full annotated manual. When you just need to look up command syntax or port that antique DBase code to SQL Server 7, you'll save loads of time with this handy accessory.

What went wrong? I have many of the O'Reilly pocket references and I bought this one on the assumption it would measure up to the others. It doesn't.

Starts out promising but once it reaches page 34 the remainder is unorganize junk with no examples, no hint of what you would use it for.

Shame on O'Reilly for putting this out under their name; they have done their faithful customers who buy on their name's reputation a disservice.

You need a no stars category for this book!

Everythig in this book can be found at PHP.net

My biggest complaint with this book is that functions are listed in categories instead of alphabetical. The one thing I love about the Programming Perl book is I can flip right to the page I want and see the syntax, examples, etc. of a function. With this book here I am spending 5 minutes trying to find the entry for the function. By that time I could have gone to php.net and found the info there.

The book is simply a listing of commands, organised by the same categories as the on-line manual, but missing an index and also missing the explanations and exmaples of the on-line manual. So unless you know in which category to find a command, you might spend ages to find its reference. Even if you do find the reference, the information is so brief that it is useless. If you've used the command a few times before, you'll know already (even if you have a lousy memory) the things described. If you haven't used it before, what you find is not enough to know how to use it. Rasmus, I thank you for inventing PHP, but I consider this book [not worth the money].

Good quick reference, but could use a little more. It'd be nice if they had a quick example of each function and it'd be nice if they had a quick section on classes, but other than that its a useful and inexpensive book. And it is small enough to fit in your pocket. (Still, I'd probably rather have a reference card and you could fit almost as much info on one.)

The binding of this book really is thin and tight enough to easily swat a fly--for those of you who have already bought this book, give it a try!

But really, the content of this book is hardly what one would call a reference; it's no more than a categorized list of functions with extremely short descriptions of each one. If you've ever seen or read O'Reilly's Java in a nutshell book, then you know what a reference should be like; this is not like it. I probably looked at this book a couple times only, realizing both times it could not help me.

You really can't use this book to learn PHP, and it's reference is not descriptive enough, so it's a lose-lose situation. At first I was disappointed when I ordered it online thinking I wasting away... perfectly good [money], especially since I can find all and more I need of reference at PHP.net, but then I realized this book is perfect for your bookshelf when you need a really thin book to fit in between other books to preven them from wobbling or swaying, giving a perfect snug fit. Don't buy it if you don't need it. But buy it if you don't care about wasting [money].

If you want to learn PHP, there are other books on Amazon that actually teach it. If you want a good reference, php.net is the best place to go because it's up to date and each function reference includes user/developer comments. PHP changes so often that this book was probably outdated as soon as it was published. On top of that, it's really just a list, with no index. Although I'm a big fan of these O'Reilly pocket books, this one was a waste of my money.

This book would be great, if it had an index. The book does have a TOC, but it doesn't help find specific commands or functions. This book is only good for a reference on PHP. They do explain a couple of things, but not enough to use this book specifically as a learning tool. If you are looking to learn PHP buy "PHP Fast and Easy Web Development. I bought it and it is a great book for someone that wants to learn all of PHP.

This pocket reference is written by the creator of PHP, which is special for this O'Reilly series. It covers PHP 3 (not 4). On some 30 pages it introduces one into the PHP3 language and afterwards up to page 114 it lists the PHP3 functions. Thats good so far. But there is no index or bibliography. It's probably the smalest set of statements, so that one may be able to use PHP.

it seems like a handy thing and all but if you have an internet connection open when you code (presumably, since you're doing web development), the php.net documentation is much more helpful... not sure why anybody would use this. not even sure why i really bought this. i guess it looks good with all of the other little o'reilly guides that i own but it really was a waste of 5 dollars...

This is a very good small concise reference to PHP 4. Most of the book consists of a summary of the basics of the PHP language plus a function reference to about 1400 PHP functions. If you are in need of a handy reference to PHP 4, this pocket reference would be an excellent companion for "Programming PHP" (which is a fuller reference to PHP and is also published by O'Reilly).

I would not get this pocket reference unless you are already somewhat familiar with PHP and already own "Programming PHP" (or rough equivalent). This book, though well written, is not designed as an introduction to PHP. Oh, and you need to be OK with it not covering PHP 5.

If you want more detail, you could take a look at my somewhat longer review on the Oakland Perl Mongers site.

George Woolley of Oakland.pm and Camelot.pm

Aside from the fact that this book is now outdated I must disagree with the Editorial Review that says "This small book acts as a perfect tutorial for learning the basics of developing Web applications with PHP."

For someone who has never used PHP before (unless perhaps they are an experienced programmer) this would not be a good starting point. It is strictly a reference for those who already have some knowledge and experience with PHP and for that it is very good.

Anyone who has O'Reilly's "Webmaster in a Nutshell", 2nd Edition does not need this book as it is the same as Nutshell's section on PHP.

It's been said by prior reviewers, but just in case you missed it: This book has no index.

ORA should put out PHP In A Nutshell, rather than just PHP Pocket Reference.

This book will fit in your pocket. That's about the best thing that can be said for it. It lacks an index, and the long lists of functions are listed without any meaningful description, nor are the parameters to these functions described in any detail. To make matters worse, the layout and typography makes it hard to find what little information there is. Save your money and buy a more complete reference and hope somebody comes out with a PHP quick reference that's actually useful.

I can really recommend this book if you know PHP and need a fast and simple way to look up a function or something else.. Easy to find very thing in the book and i would like to see the next version of this book for PHP 4 when that will be released!

Synopsis:

At this point, when considering purchasing this book, I'd say get a real reference if you want to learn PHP, or if you need a big function reference off-line, then install the help that comes with PHP or just use php.net on-line. This book might be marginally okay for bathroom reading, but otherwise, it really needs to be updated. The reference only covers through PHP 4 which is now unsupported. The way things are done in PHP 5 have changed enough that it's time to deprecate this resource.

Details:

I've owned this pocket reference since it was published in '02 and put it away when I switched to Perl as my primary language in '04 till this year. Now that I'm back to PHP again, I'm reminded of how annoying it is to use this book. The tips at the front of the book are good, but the function reference is difficult to use at best. I'm terribly surprised that O'Reilly hasn't worked with Mr. Lerdorf for a new version. I own lots of O'Reilly materials, many of them pocket references. I don't believe this is up to O'Reilly standards for pocket references. If given a chance to review a new version of this reference, I'd push hard for significant changes, especially to formatting. Other reviewers correctly identified issues with function descriptions. There are times when a pocket reference like this deserves to skip descriptions when the description doesn't add any value to what's already obvious.

Hit(s):

o Contains basic PHP syntax information

Miss(es):

o The latest PHP version covered in this book is no longer supported
o Function listing is grouped in a manner that doesn't make sense to most readers
o Function descriptions are often worthless

If you can code you already know PHP, you just need to be "reminded" of all the built in functions and a few little details. This book does just that, cheaply.

Some CGI background is helpfull if you have never done any web programming, but any intelligent programmer should be coding PHP in half an hour with this book.

If you can code you already know PHP, you just need to be "reminded" of all the built in functions and a few little details. This book does just that, cheaply.

Some CGI background is helpfull if you have never done any web programming, but any intelligent programmer should be coding PHP in half an hour with this book.