Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Works for Macs, too!
Comment: When it comes to programming, Mac users appear to be at a disadvantage. However, with a little research via the internet, I've been able to take advantage of the programming material that is mostly geared towards Windows. This book is no exception. The most difficult part of the process is getting PHP and MySQL set up and that has nothing to do with this book! A quick search on the internet shows that a lot of people have this problem.
Initially, I thought there were some problems with the code, but I always discovered that is was MY code, not what was written in the book. It's very easy to forget a semi-colon or a bracket or even a period and not see it even after carefully re-checking. (It can help to print it out instead of trying to read it from the screen.) Personally, I think programming can be quite dull, especially for someone who enjoys "design." But, that's part of what makes this book good, it does incorporate design and it uses concepts that are actually fun. I'm still learning, but I'm enjoying the process and I can't wait to start using some of things I've learned on my own website.
Customer Rating:
Summary: One of the best textbooks I've read
Comment: This book is awesome for someone who is just beginning to learn PHP. Probably the best intro book I've ever read. The examples and concepts are explained very clearly. It is also easy to follow.
I am also a student in the department where Mr. Harris teaches, and I've taken a number of distributed education courses where he is the instructor on the videos. He's a great instructor and has been helpful to me when I've emailed him. If anybody is in the area, I'd highly recommend that you take one of his courses. The videos compliment what he talks about in his books.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Amazing Book!.....
Comment: I was a little scared about other people comments, but I decided to buy the book and give a try, thanks God!... I did it,
I have learned so much with this book, if I can give 10 stars I will, hoping the author continue making books like this in a series, excellent work.
Customer Rating:
Summary: VERY GOOD for the Absolute Beginner
Comment: This book is an excellent resource for people who have had NO programming experience or very little. For people (like some of the more recent reviewers) who do have programming experience in PHP or other programming languages, I imagine this book would be remedial as it covers basic programming concepts (which are the same in all programming language) like variables, loops, and arrays, in great detail. For the complete Novice, this is excellent. For the experienced, I'm sure this feels like a waste of time--but really--what can you expect from a book that says in its title "For the Absolute Beginner".
As it is titled "For the Absolute Beginner" and IS indeed for that type of person, I have no complaints whatsoever. And the other reviewer who said "The Code is outdated" is incorrect. PHP 5 is currently the latest version of PHP, and this book covers PHP 5. I've yet to have a piece of code not execute from this book (except when I mess up the coding...)
I'd highly recommend this book for a person with no real programming experience. I myself was 'hobbyist' programmer in BASIC fiften years ago...and this was an EXCELLENT book to remind me of all the things I had long forgotten as I delved into writing PHP and using MySQL.
There are TONS of topics and coding that is not covered here, but hey...for absolute beginner...this is THE PLACE TO START. After digesting this book, I would recommend going over to Jason Gilmore's "Beginning PHP 5 & MySQL". I purchased Jason's book first...was utterly lost...and then purchased this one. Now, after understanding these concepts much better, Jason's book makes MUCH more sense...and is a great resource in my PHP library.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as it seems
Comment: Firstly, there are no clarifications for Mac OS X users (who have the advantage of having Apache already installed).
Secondly, I was told in a PHP forum that the code in this book is outdated, thus the reason why I can't get any of them to work. Mind you, when I copy and paste coding from online sources, they work fine; So I know my PHP is working. the code is bad.
Finally, while I enjoy reading from a book better than from screen, I have found the tutorials at http://devzone.zend.com/node/view/id/627
infinitely more helpful. Their code has comments telling you exactly what each segment of it does. Their pace and progression is better.
My advice would be to make sure that the book you want to buy was written recently, and not an updated version of an older book. Look for books that the code is prominent and well explained. But online tutorials abound.
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