Given that you’re reading this book, the chances are good that you’ve built a
web page in HTML. You’ve styled it by using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
and maybe written a little JavaScript to validate your custom-built web
forms. If that wasn’t enough, you’ve learned a lot more JavaScript, threw in some
jQuery, and constructed a whole lot of web pages. Maybe you’ve even moved your
JavaScript into external files, shared your CSS across your entire site, and validated
your HTML with the latest standards.
But now you want more.
Perhaps you’ve become frustrated with your website’s inability to store user information
in anything beyond cookies. Maybe you want a full-blown online store, complete
with PayPal integration and details about what items are in stock. Or maybe you’ve
simply caught the programming bug and want to go beyond what HTML, CSS, and
JavaScript can easily give you.
If any of these are the case—and you may find that all of these are the case—learning
PHP and MySQL is a great way to take a giant programming step forward. Even
if you’ve never heard of PHP, you’ll find it’s the best way to go from building web
pages to creating full-fledged web applications that store all sorts of information in
databases. This book shows you how to do just that.
If you can build websites with CSS and JavaScript, this book takes you to the next level—creating dynamic, database-driven websites with PHP and MySQL. Learn how to build a database, manage your content, and interact with users. With step-by-step tutorials, this completely revised edition gets you started with expanded coverage of the basics and takes you deeper into the world of server-side programming.
The important stuff you need to know:
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Get up to speed quickly. Learn how to install PHP and MySQL, and get them running on both your computer and a remote server.
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Gain new techniques. Take advantage of the all-new chapter on integrating PHP with HTML web pages.
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Manage your content. Use the file system to access user data, including images and other binary files.
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Make it dynamic. Create pages that change with each new viewing.
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Build a good database. Use MySQL to store user information and other data.
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Keep your site working. Master the tools for fixing things that go wrong.
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Control operations. Create an administrative interface to oversee your site.
