Sams Teach Yourself PHP, MySQL and Apache All in One (4th Edition) (Sams Teach Yourself)

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Hi - I am the author of this book, and I want to make sure everyone understands where this book comes from. It's parts of three different books, with several new chapters. It's fairly beginner-ish in nature, but you definitely have to have a handle on how the Web works, from an administrative standpoint, to get your brain around the Apache chapters. The MySQL and PHP chapters assume less pre-existing knowledge, and are pretty fun, hands-on and oriented through working through lessons.

This is not the be all and end all PHP, Apache and MySQL book -- that would take way longer than 24 hours -- nor is it meant to be. But it will teach the fundamentals of all three things, and provide you with a strong foundation for more advanced books. You can find more info like table of contents, code and errata at thickbook.com.

Best, Julie.

I have been a mainframe programmer for 13 years and have done web design for the past year. The following is my experience with this book.

First the good news:

1. I was able to successfully install PHP, Apache & MySQL.
2. I was able to successfully complete all the projects in the book.
3. I published one of my projects on a website.

Now the bad news:

1. There were critical typos in the book--not just captions under the wrong pictures but incorrect code. I spent many hours debugging the PHP code for the projects. The code errors I found were not in the errata on the SAMS website OR on thickbook.com. I sent one code correction to the editors and received an acknowledgement, but I just checked and the code typo is not included in the errata. There are code errors on pp. 245, 406, 417. E-mail me if you are also having problems with the code on those pages as the SAMS people do not seem to be concerned or aware of these errors.

2. The installation of the products did not go as smoothly as I hoped either. The instructions on what to download did not match how the websites now look. There was some missing information. I was able to get it all working only with a lot of trial and error.

This book contained projects that I was interested in learning: address book, storefront, shopping cart. With a little more diligence on the part of the proofreaders and technical editors, this book would have been great and I would have given it 5 stars.

Sams Teach Yourself PHP, MySQL and Apache in 24 Hours is the kind of book I wish I had had when I started developing enterprise-level web applications for zdev Corporation back in the 90s.

Back then, it was all about scouring USENET, Listservs, How-Tos, and FAQs while incessantly scratching your head. Although this book is very introductory, there are some good habits and excellent insights that even the more tried and true code-hacker might consider useful even after years of PHP/MySQL development (such as authentication schemes and some inner working of MySQL).

It is astounding how simple the tools, techniques, and technology is seen through the eyes of Julie Meloni. Much simpler than I had believed since I really had to be baptised by fire, and the simplicity and easy-of-use of the package -- MySQL, PHP, and Apache -- is indisputable.

Postnuke, PHP-Nuke, and the other Open Source CMSs are true killer apps today, and there are a million more open source applications your can easily download, install, and start using within a week if you first still your mind and enthusiasm long enough to work through the easy-to-grok lessons as they are laid out in Sams Teach Yourself PHP, MySQL and Apache in 24 Hours.

No doubt. You won't be sorry you took the time to measure twice before you cut once.

I agree with the previous poster as to how challenging this book makes php, mysql, and apache. at least several of the examples don't work (whether this is a function of poor testing by the author/publisher or a limitation of php, mysql, or apache is left to the newbie reader to figure out -- a great way to learn, but not worth the cost of the book; incidentally so far all of the problems I have encountered fall squarely on the shoulders of SAMS). There are typos, illustrations of output in the book that don't correspond to the text, and from time-to-time, the included sample files (on the CD) don't match up with the files in the text.

I can't recommend this book, though I'm still trying to wade through it. There have got to be better books out there. Perhaps my mistake was trying to find one book to introduce me to all three tools in one swoop. If it seems too good to be true... (and so on).

Good luck to anyone using this book, I'm emailing all of the problems I find to SAMS, hoping that they'll improve it in future editions, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

I should have known not to buy this book after having read "Sam's Teach Yourself Flash MX Actionscript in 24 hours"--also poorly written. The main problem with this book as well as the sam's flash book is that it leaves HUGE gaps in its explanations which force the reader to supplement the lessons with the Internet. For example, the beginning of the book says that no prior knowledge is necessary except for an understanding of HTML; in the intro chapters, it introduces you to databases in general, explaining what they're for. The next chapter on databases (besides the one on how to install mysql) however ("learning basic sql commands") is prefaced by saying:

"...This is a very hands-on hour, and it assumes that you are able to issue queries through the MySQL monitor on Windows or Linux/Unix. Alternatively, if you use a GUI to MySQL, this hour assumes you know the methods for issuing queries through those interfaces."

What is that!? It goes from explaining what a db is to magically expecting you to know about issuing mysql queries without anything in between? I'm sorry, but this makes no sense whatsoever.

I'm sorry I cannot recommend another book, but perhaps you'd have better luck with ANY OTHER MYSQL,PHP, or APACHE book!

First, be sure you purchase the latest edition of every tech book you buy. Unfortunately, Amazon doesn't have the latest edition under Meloni's or Zandsta's name. You have to type the isbn number, 0672326205, in the search box to find the newest edition as of this review. Also keep in mind when reading reviews that Amazon mixes reviews of older editions with new editions which makes it very difficult to make an assessment unless the edition is mentioned in the review. New editions usually correct the complaints given in bad reviews so don't pass judgment so quickly unless you know exactly which edition the reviewer is writing about.

This is an excellent book for beginners who know nothing about programming. However you must know XHTML before beginning this book.

This book and "Teach Yourself PHP in 24 Hours" by Zandstra are built using exactly, word for word, much of the same content. However Meloni's book occasionally has more explicate examples and explanation, however it is missing four essential chapters that can be found in Zandstra's book.

1. Arrays
2. Objects
3. Regular Expressions
4. PEAR - Reusable Components to Extend the Power of PHP

No real concern, because the reader could research these topics on php.net or other sites and my have to do so in order to complete the book since it refers to arrays but doesn't explain them.

Meloni's book, compared to Zandsta's, does have better examples with actual programs that may be usful to you. Meloni's book, as the title emplies, also goes deeper into Apache and MySQL.

After reading this book, you'll wont to get something like, The PHP Anthology By Harry Fuecks Vol. 1&2... or PHP and MySQL Web Development, Second Edition by Luke Welling, Laura Thomson. These books will teach you by example and are excellent.

A note to beginners... Learning to program can be very difficult. Unless you are some kind of genius, you must be dedicated and patient with your quest. Programming is a totally different way of thinking and there is a lot to learn... I think this book is a great way to learn PHP and to learn how to program in general.

Good Luck!

I have never written a book review on Amazon before, but this book was so bad I figured I owed it to other buyers to tell them about it. The simple fact is that is poorly written. I have been a Coldfusion programmer for many years and have been blessed by well written books from Ben Forta. This author consistently took simple concepts and made them difficult. The examples were horrible. Instead of just showing simple the new concept could do, she made each new concept a review of the entire book. There were many things introduced that has no examples at all. I have never swore at a book more!

Before purchasing this book, I tried to install Apache, MySQL and PHP on my Windows machine without any luck. I was frustrated because this is all quite effortless if you use any flavor of Linux (Red Hat 9 in my case).

I purchased the Dummies book on the same subject(s) and I found it confusing, particularly getting PHP to interact with Apache. I returned the book and got this one and I was up and running with Apache, MySQL and PHP in about an hour.

I am about half way through this book and I have to say that while it is a good idea, the book is fraught with incomplete ideas and typos that have caused me significant frustration. For example, in hour 9 there is an exercise that has you saving state using a hidden form element -- which flat out doesn't work. At first I thought it was my typo, but then I tried to run the example file from the included CD, which also didn't work. AND the sample files from the CD are different (sometimes) than in the book. I have yet to get the email function working, though I have set everything up as describedin the book. And in Hour 10 the discussion of the is_executable() function completely fails to mention that it is not supported on Win32 systems.

I like the step-by-step approach, but have to say that these little oversights are incredibly frustrating.

This book was exasperating to use. It described easy topics at length while leaving important details murky or omitted altogether. Many commmands and structures are described out of context, leaving you with little idea of *why* a person might use a particular form. It doesn't try to put the ideas together into a unified application until the end.

Much better is _PHP and MySQL Web Development_ by Welling and Thomson, which introduces concepts in the context of building an e-commerce site. Even though it is longer than the SAMS book, the writing is tighter, more concise, better organized, and generally much easier to understand.

I would have given the book 4 stars, except for the fact that the software on the CD caused me hours of grief.
As far as the book is concerned, I am very satisfied with the book, considering that I am a web developer that is now learning databases and php. I fully understand that this is just a basic 'touch the bases' book. I have already bought another MySql book and another PHP book - and intend to buy one more php book. I only installed these 3 programs on my desktop computer so that I can work with php and mysql before I upload my work to my websites - so that I don't have to do all my testing online.

My main complaint is with the programs on the CD. The version of Apache conflicts with the outdated version of PHP. So, after spending hours troubleshooting and posting questions to online tech forums, I figured out the conflict and downloaded the current version from the PHP web site. (This is after I uninstalled and reinstalled Apache - the problem was with php).
The version of MySQL is a 'future' beta version. It does not work on Win98. After messing around with it for a while, and again posting questions to forums, I figured that I had to burn up over 2 hours of dial-up time downloading the current version (a lower # version than on the CD?!).
A lot of help the CD was! Very disappointed. One reason I purchased this book was that I thought it was indeed a 'starter kit'. Wrong.
Also, I felt the book did not tell me quite enough about how to start Apache while it is not running as a service. Since I only installed Apache to run PHP and MySql, I had no need for the configuration chapters on Apache. Overall, I had to spend a lot of time just figuring stuff out for myself.

Overall, it is a decent book. I do not regret buying it. The main reason for me bothering to write a review is to save someone hours of trouble and forewarn them that there are problems with MySql and php on the CD.

I jumped right in on page 294 of hour 14 of the book, since I'm at the stage to pretty much skip past the introductory basics. I tackled a simple discussion forum which worked well, pretty much 'right out of the box'. I spent the last couple of hours in the usual manner: customizing slight functionality, design and layout. There were a couple of write ups on amazon which cut really bad on her. I must say that I'm before and intermediate stage in the language and she fits "just right". I really like her style -- she's independent and her writing style is really clear and clean. You can't ask for much more than that. She really takes her time with the code. Judging from the 5 pages in this mini web-application I know that she's really careful with her coding. I didn't come across even one type-o, amazing. The lady really has a lot of class. For all those who cut on her, I'll just have to say that they're not that well bred, so you can pretty much disregard what they've got to say. About debugging. LOL . . . If you're going to get involved in ANY language, whether it's scripting on the server-side or client-side or even a full programming language proper, then you'd better be prepared to learn how to debug it yourself, since there are just too many little nuances which can go wrong at any one instance anyway! My God, I've had scripts working fine, but then they broke simply because I'd go back and test them with apostrophes and quotes. So in my opinion, it's up to the person who's doing the scripting to do all the final testing before they submit it to the public site.



And to the person who said she's not complete and comprehensive, they better go back and read her book again. Every bit of information that she writes is comprehensive to the point of holding your hand along the way in a fresh and exhilarating pace. She leads in with background information which 'sets the mood and awareness' to a nodding developer who is awakened to expect what to see as she unfolds each module in an effortless, and lucid manner which allow the reader to 'see' what they'd been missing. Discovery is the author's forte. If I must say so, anyone and everyone who wishes to develop must be able to capture concepts, standards and ideals before the event (whether the event is cutting and pasting or simply knocking out code). In a word, in education, it's always the 'why' before the 'how' (why am I doing this before how to do this) and Julie is a brilliant instructor. If you're at a stage of being tired of standing in a bookstore for hours trying to comprehend what you need next and don't know what to buy, you're probably at the stage where I was before I bought this book: somewhere past beginner, but yet before intermediate (in other words, you know enough to be dangerous ;-)). You're needing to understand both concepts as well as the actual hands-on coding. Go ahead and buy her book. You'll be glad you did. Gotta walk before you can fly, but with her you're soon flying. Believe it or not, when you return to the bookstore in a month or two later, the advanced books which almost made you vomit because they contained simply too much code are now comprehendable and even desirable and you'll know what to buy almost immediately at this next higher level because of Julie's help.

One last word of note. There were only 3 movies in my life which didn't have any padding, the Titanic being one; and only a couple of books, this book is one. It's a rare book which doesn't 'waste you time' with padding (unnecessary and repetitive $hit). Her writing lends itself to always being on track and focused in showing you what she's talking about, especially her explanations when she's breaking down how the code works. She's even taken the time to break everything down for Windows vs Linux/Unix users. Amazing.

The book has several sections where there is a huge gap between steps that cost me a lot of time. Even using the errata sheet from www.thickbook.com, there were errors in the author's source code. I would like to see more detailed explanations of what the code is doing, instead of just summarizing what it does.

The author has posted errata, and there are only like 5 things, only 1 of which is an actual error. And that error doesn't even cause a "parse" error, just something you have to look hard to find. I gave this book to some of our junior level admins to get them up to speed on our development environment and they flew right through it and know a lot more than they did when they started. the author says over and over where to get help if there is a problem with installation, and how to determine where your errors are if something in your script is not working. but to say this is a bad or confusing book just makes no sense. I'm an IT manager and this book does a very good job of pulling from the three books to give you just what you need to get started. you're not supposed to get this book if you've been using these things for any great amount of time -- it's a beginner's book, it says that, and it is that. and it is a good one!

I'm curious as to what happened to the other reviews that the previous reviewer has mentioned.

I picked up the book a couple of days ago and have spent most of today trying to work through it. So far I'm very frustrated.

The book will give examples of commands, but doesn't tell me WHERE I should enter them. For example in the first section, we are told to connect to MySQL as the root user, and then issue the command to set up a new user. The command is included, but I am not told where to enter it. By trial and error I worked out where to go to open the MySQL monitor, but then the command doesn't work because I don't know how to tell MySQL that I have administration rights. At least, I THINK that's why it isn't working.

Maybe I'm just missing something, but there seems to be a lot missing from the book. This stuff doesn't look like it should be all that hard compared to other things that I've learned in the past (from JCL to Javascript), but the book just isn't telling me what I need to know.

If you are relatively new to php and mysql, this book is probably the one that you need to kickstart your engine.

Do not expect this book to teach you more than the basics. I have been able to use most of the stuff in this book for a small school as well as a personal project.

A good book to start with for my case, I have been able to improve the php codes as I progress and the chapter on the building blocks of php and mysql & php interaction are exceptionally useful

Do NOT buy this book. The biggest flaw this book has is the lack of organization and a poor understanding of it's target audience's needs. I purchased this book with the hope of finally understanding how to install and use these free software tools to create and maintain my own internet business. I spent the first day just trying to get the software to load properly. I couldn't find the troubleshooting section in this book and it offered no online support. It did offer three different methods of installation on different OS but the sections just ran together with no clearly defined break between OS's. The book store I bought it from wouldn't take it back because there policy wouldn't allow a refund on books that have the software envelope torn open. How are we supposed to know if the book is any good with out installing the software that comes with it? The two are designed to go with each other. All I can tell you is save yourself some trouble and buy a different book. Sam really dropped the ball on this one.

I love this book. When I initially purchased this book I had a pretty good handle on PHP already, but with the examples and carefully crafted explanations this book became a great asset. This book is great at explaining the fundamentals of PHP, MySQL and Apache system configurations, scripting and much more. The book comes with a CD that is loaded with example scripts that you can use as foundations to build more complex scripts.

Before reading this book I had plenty of experience with HTML and had studied SQL and C in school (but hadn't used it for ages). I found this book gave me everything I needed to get started. I did find some mistakes in the examples but they were minor and obvious. If you have any prior experience with programming you should be fine going through this book. If you already know PHP but want to know more about Apache or MySQL there are probably better books out there. I also had a little bit of difficulty getting the installation right but once i had it right I was away and now I am programming database driven sites with ease. All thanks to SAMS.

I checked out many books on PHP trying to learn it. This one has been the best so far. the explanations are very clear and concise. This will teach you the fundamentals of all you need to know to master PHP. It does not go into object oriented programming, but that does not matter to me because I have no use for it. It starts from a beginning level and teaches you about variables, operators and control statements and goes on to teach you about the whole PHP file system. The section on mySQL is done very well also. It shows you all the basic SQL commands that you will need to perform most tasks. The only thing I did not like about this book is that it talked about the Apache web server, which I was expecting (from the title). Since I am not running my own web server this information was useless to me, but it was explained in great detail. This reason will not make me lower my rating though, since I realize this was one of the books purposes. I am very fond of the Sam's series and I hope they continue to produce better and better books about programming. Great book overall.

I'm fairly new to Linux/Unix but I am no newbie to software. The installation instructions for MySQL on Linux are sketchy and basically say read the man page. If the man page was enough I wouldn't be buying a book. After stumbling thru the install there is no explanation of actually starting the MySQL software. Because I can't seem to get MySQL installed and running, PHP won't configure and install. I'm dead in the water so I don't know if the rest of the book was any good or not, I can't make it that far.

For troubleshooting there are several recommendations for paid support. It looks like the author assumes a broad knowledge of Linux/Unix because the Windows installation instructions are very detailed.

Being a "glass half full" type of person, I'll start with the positive - The CD makes the installation a breeze. Unfortunately, that's about the only positive.

There are way too many typos in this book that leave you frustrated. Plus, this book makes too many assumptions, and as a result, skips steps that have left me clueless. I'd found myself going to bookstores to look at other books to help me fill in the blanks that this one left out. Unfortunately, I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone.

I picked up a number of PHP and MySQL books along with this one and find myself using this one the most. If you already know how to program in another language and want to get up to speed fast on PHP and MySQL this is the book you need. Some issues I ran into I could not find the answer anywhere in other books or on the web, then I grabbed this book as a last resort and wa-la the answer was there. Now this is the first book I look for answers to questions in.

If you just need a little examples of how to do things in PHP and MySQL this book does it.

I am stuck on chapters three and four and can not continue with this book. I could not get Apache to work with PHP. In the "Troubleshooting" section of the book on page 58 the solution to getting Apache to work is this: To solve this problem, you need to stop the running server or change the Apache configuration to listen on a different port. Well, if you know how to do this, buy the book. If you don't, you are forever suck and can't continue with the rest of the book. I tried to change the ports and address as suggested in the book, but it didn't work. Be sure to read "Who Should Read This Book" in the introduction section of the book. I probably don't have the required experience to work the material in this book.

One of the worst "beginner" books I've read for computer programming. The book frequently directs the reader to external web pages for critical tasks... and I'm thinking, "Gee. I bought the book to walk me through this". The code is poorly explained. The examples frequently didn't work. Steps are omitted.

If you want to split your time between a book and online searches for manuals... this book is for you. If you want to get your $35 worth of a book and expect to have it be enough (not the end all, be all, but enough) of a beginning... go elsewhere.

This book provides a good start for a big topic: PHP/MYSQL/Apache.

Luckily for me I have a fairly decent Linux background and this book strictly was used for its section on PHP and Mysql.

Examples were pretty good and I used the ones especially around page 371 as a good starting point. Watchout for your own typos - it took forever to find a missing { or " or '. Ugh.

Look carefully at this book and compare to other books and make sure it matches your needs.

This book was a great one when I was getting started a few years back. I re-read the latest edition and have to say they actually found a way to make a good thing better. The hands-on, leave nothing unexplained approach is by far the best way to learn and this book offers just that. I would have liked a few "big" projects towards the end of the book but overall I took away a lot of valuable information that I still use to this day.

Also if you are looking to quickly deploy a local testing machine without digging the web for a 100 different ways to accomplish that, this book is the answer. They explain how to install on Windows and Linux in a step-by-step approach.

My only note of concern to the reader is to check the website of the product you are installing rather than using the provided content so you are up to date with all security and feature changes.

These comments apply to edition 1.

This turned out to be the most irritating book I have ever had the
misfortune to open in 64 years of opening books. It is probably capable as far as it goes. It wades right in at the start by explaining where to download from, then how to install and create privileges. But NOWHERE AT ALL does it say what the purpose of these languages is. Nowhere.

What do they do? No idea.

There is also a suggestion, but I'm not sure; it's kind of a hint; that these programs should be installed on a server and not on a *standard* desktop machine (whatever that is). But absolutely no explanation or elaboration.

[...]

Brian

I wasn't new to programming, having coded in C for years. However, I wasn't too familiar with database based programming or even web-based programming. This book gives you a very good start into these areas. I could finish it in fact in less than 10 hrs. This book is most useful to novices who have no prior knowledge of programming of any sort and have to start off with php. This is just an introductory book. It isn't adequate for advanced programming, but that's not the objective of the book

All in all, worth investing!

Like some others who left reviews, I'm a complete beginner to coding, php, mysql, and apache. Given that, I found the installation utterly confusing and spent three days unable to get past chapter 4 where the real content is. A tip for others like me, skip the manual installation. The author cautions about using pre-configured instances of the software, but I found WAMP5 to be a life saver. It's pre-configured and comes in an MSI file. However, as much as I hate to admit it, the struggles I faced in trying to follow the instructions did teach me a lot about the basic configuration, even if that wasn't the author's intent. Since then, I've found the content to be good and am gaining a fundamental understanding of the tools. I know this won't be the end-all php, apache, mysql bible, but it's a good place to start.

This is good for those who have incredible amounts of patience and like solving problems. The setup alone took at least three hours and a lot of searching on Google. Many important steps are left out (such as how to add and use a database from the MySQL command line, how to configure PHP to support mysqli, and how to configure Apache properly to support PHP.) The PHP functions used in this book are the mysqli_* family and require special setup in the php.ini file. There are no instructions however to set this up. Without this you can't write any SQL programs.

There are also numerous typos in the code. It's obvious that none of the code in this book is actually tested to see if it works. There are simple things such as variable name inconsistencies and function typos that throw off the whole script. When you're new to a progamming language these aren't easy to spot.

Overall, however, there is still plenty you can take from this book. If you have the patience the problem solving will probably cement the concepts more solidly in your brain because you will be figuring them out for yourself.

In 1978, I built two Heath Kit computers so that I could better understand what a computer was and how it worked because I had been unexpectedly assigned as the project manager for automating a very large manual process. Until then, I had only a vague notion that they existed, and I knew I was in trouble. I also taught myself to program proficiently in 4 languages: FORTRAN, Basic, PASCAL, and NATURAL as well as JPL.

Since then, I have kept up with the technology on the business side and I still build all of my new computers. But I let my programming and system admin skills atrophy over the years.

A couple of weeks ago, and now 62 years old, I decided to pick up where I left off many years ago but developing a dynamic web site using Apache Server, MySQL and Access, Info Path, and PHP. I also plan to explore CGI, and evaluate the pros and cons of APS and APS.NET, but that's a different project for a couple of months from now.

I found the opening chapters of the book to be easy to follow. The open source software for Apache, MySQL, and PHP on the CD that came with the book can certainly be used effectively, but I found that newer version of all three applications were available for downloading from the Web--all free, of course--and the instructions in the book work just fine for the newer versions of the software.

I was able to install the Apache server, MySQL, and PHP on a development computer (i.e., localhost or 127.0.0.1)and had everything working and a basic HTML only web page developed on Dreamweaver CS4 in about an hour.

This is fine for me because I intend to use a web site hosting service and so I only need to develop and test on my local computer and then upload everything to my ISP site.

If you intend to run your own dedicated web server and you are a beginner, you will need to pick up another reference book to learn how to obtain a static IP address and set up a web server. It's not hard, but this book won't be of much help. Try one of the "Building a Web Site for Dummies" books on setting up a web server at home or work. Be careful, though, because there are several still being sold and you want to be sure you purchase the newest version. I accidentally purchased an old version and ended up having to take it back to exchange it for a newer book.

Once you are up and running, the book takes you through descriptions and projects for writing basic PHP scripts, then it shows you how to use PHP to integrate MySQL (the chapters that were of the most benefit for me), and finally it ends with how to administer the Apache server.

If you have never done any programming before, then you might find the PHP a bit daunting at first. It was easy for me because even though I haven't done any serious programming since 1982, the basics for functions, procedures, calls, declaring variables, strings, data types,et al hasn't changed much in 26 years.

The same was true for MySQL. I have had experience on the business side creating relational databases and the NATURAL language that I taught myself in 1978 was either the precursor to SQL or it was an early competitor because the MySQL query language was virtually the same as that used in NATURAL. Therefore, while I'm very rusty in my programming skills, understanding the basics in the book probably came easier for me that it would for someone who had no previous programming or query writing experience.

Not to worry thought. I was an infantry officer in the US Marine Corps in 1978 and had spent the first 10 years of my career leading Marines in combat and in infantry units. My first actual staff officer assignment at a major headquarters was the Project Officer responsible for automating the Marine Corps' officer assignment system. At that time, I had no idea what a computer was and I had no idea why the Marine Corps would assign someone like me to a technical position that obviously required expert knowledge in developing advanced custom computer software and custom outputs to optimize the assignment of all officers in the Marine Corps. Frankly, I would have preferred serving another couple of years in combat armed with only a Swiss Army Knife over working with computers.

What's my point? If you are new to programming and databases, don't let it intimidate you. If an old war horse like me can do it, you can probably do it faster and better. If you don't know a variable from a data type or the difference between functions, arrays, and objects; just stick with it and just when you think you'll never understand it, a light will come on and you'll make a big leap forward and the pieces will begin to fall into place more quickly as you make progress.

The examples in the book are easy (harder for a complete novice), but as one previous reviewer pointed out, there are a few errors in the sample code that will cause you to think that you are doing something wrong.

The key is to work through all of the examples. If you have followed the instructions precisely and you example project still doesn't work, then you have hit one of the unreported errors. I suggest you go on to the next project in the book, or take the previous review up on his offer to email you the corrections.

If you are a complete novice and don't know a web site from a construction site, then I suggest reading the "for Dummies" books for building web sites and developing web pages. There are a number of good free and inexpensive web page editors that you can use. I suggest trying out the free version to get a feel for what's involved and then deciding where you want to go from there. If you are just interested in a web site with a few personal pages on it, then high end web page editors and this book are definitely overkill. If you find that you are interested in developing more complex dynamic web sites, then this book will help you get started on the web server side and I would recommend that you consider purchasing the Adobe Dreamweaver CS4 web page editor. But be forewarned--Dreamweaver is expensive and the learning curve can be steep, so make sure that you really want to put the money and effort into web page development before you go the high end route.

I have one final comment. If you are already using Microsoft's Access database, then you may want to skip the MySQL part of the book. Integrating Access is not hard, but you'll have to download the ODBC connector for PHP (it's free) and you may have to search the Internet for a little help on how to do the integration, but it's basically the same as integrating MySQL. Since I want to use Microsoft's Info Path to cut some of my development time, I intend to use both MySQL and Access.

Enjoy the journey.

I like this book overall but with one major caveat. The versions of PHP and Mysql included on the cd-rom do not work together. Specifically, the version of PHP included on the CD-ROM does not include support for the mysqli family of commands. The book gives short shrift to any problems the user might have in this area. If you can't get mysqli to work, you can't run any of the code in the second half of the book. I figured out how to create an ODBC to a mysql database in php using the ODBC commands instead, but I would like to be able to use mysqli.

Learn how to use PHP, MySQL and Apache together to create fine interactive web sites using a step-by-step lesson plan perfect for supplementing classroom studies, or for individual learning with Julie C. Meloni's SAMS Teach Yourself PHP, MySQL and Apache All in One. From installing the PHP scripting language and the MySQL database system to creating dynamic interactions between these programs, a cd for Mac, Linux or Windows offers up a starter kit perfect for learning, testing, and producing results.

this a good book for people with very little PHP, MySQL and Apache knowledge. some of the things about apache configuration file is not very clear. other than that it is excellent.

This is a solid book if your looking for information on the relationship between Apache, MySQL, and PHP. This is not a beginner's book, nor is it advanced. Rather its purpose is to explain how these three components work together, the combination of which is if not the most popular then close to the most popular basic framework used on the web. For example, all Wordpress blogs are based on the PHP, MySQL, and Apache setup. Plus, all three are free and can be easily setup on your own computer for development purposes.

If you're looking for a singular focus on one or two of the three, then you'll be disappointed. If you do not have any or very little experience with the web, then go buy a "for dummies" or an explicitly labeled "Beginners" book.

If you want to gain a solid knowledge on the Apache, MySQL, PHP framework, this book provides an excellent explanation with sufficient in-depth focus on each and how they relate to one another.

"PHP, MySQL and Apache All in One" is a good way to begin learning those technologies. It is simple enough and has lots of visual examples, code examples, tables, figures, etc to break down bigger concepts into manageable ones. Also, its an easy read. I normally don't rate anything perfectly, but I couldn't think of any reason why I wouldn't give it 5 stars. I must add though that I may be biased since I wasn't a beginner to PHP or MySQL and used this textbook for a grad course.

I bought this book for my husband and here is his review.
Meloni is a teacher before she is an author. All the technical you
need,but the reading is so easy you don't realize it untill you reach the end. Great for beginners.

I needed to develop a dynamic, database-backed website and thanks to this book it was a very enjoyable experience.

Although I had no prior experience with PhP and MySQL (I have just general programming background and working knowledge of MS Access), the book is very clearly written and helped me to develop online database of structural software located at bridgeart.net/software_database within a couple of months.

For complete beginners, it might require some effort to set up Apache, MySQL and PHP, but it should be achiveable through some additional online reading and research.

I picked up this book figuring that it would help me figure out the basics of how to install and get PHP, MySQL and Apache up and talking to one another. I figured wrong. If each chapter is supposed to take an hour to read and complete this book was useless in less than 20 minutes. It didn't tell me how to get MySQL started after installing it. Even with the "Advanced" section later in the book the stuff they put back there could have been in chapter one. It still wouldn't have made a difference since the best advice they gave was "if you have any problems getting it working RTFM."

This book is going back to the store and I am just going to use Easy PHP to install the three. If I was able to understand all the instructions and technical stuff I wouldn't NEED the book in the first place. When I am ready for the true technical stuff I'll just install the three myself and compare settings to an already working server.

Thanks for nothing...

If you are new to webservers and are trying to set yourself a windows Apache server, do not - I mean do not buy this book. It skims through the APACHE examples and gives very little assistance. It does not separate Windows from Linux so you can clearly follow what it is that you are supposed to do. It is out of date on downloading from the Apache website and leaves you with no idea if you have downloaded the correct version or not. I installed/uninstalled Apache and read the chapter many times in the hopes that had missed something. I never got it to work. I will be trying to return it although I opened the CD as a last resort and still did not find the assistance that I seeked. I am very disappointed with SAMS for allowing this book to be published. More resources should go into getting APACHE up and running. The troubleshooting is a joke - it assumes many things for a beginner.

I am about half way through this book and I have to say that while it is a good idea, the book is fraught with incomplete ideas and typos that have caused me significant frustration. For example, in hour 9 there is an exercise that has you saving state using a hidden form element -- which flat out doesn't work. At first I thought it was my typo, but then I tried to run the example file from the included CD, which also didn't work. AND the sample files from the CD are different (sometimes) than in the book. I have yet to get the email function working, though I have set everything up as describedin the book. And in Hour 10 the discussion of the is_executable() function completely fails to mention that it is not supported on Win32 systems.

I like the step-by-step approach, but have to say that these little oversights are incredibly frustrating.