Tag: Internet

PHP and MySQL for Dynamic Web Sites: Visual QuickPro Guide

PHP and MySQL for Dynamic Web Sites: Visual QuickPro Guide (2nd Edition)[rating:5/5]

This book is, to say the very least, the finest computer book I have read in a very, very long time. I have spent the last three months trying to learn how to use PHP and MySQL to build a website with a simple content management system, however, due to the grossly unethical practice that publishing companies have of releasing books that are filled with editing and other errors, along with authors who are completely unable to write even a simple complete sentence that may be understood by their readers, I had nearly given up. Specifically, I have already WASTED money on the following books:
Creating Interactive Websites with PHP and Web Services by Eric Rosebrock – this book crashes around page 100 – it COULD have been a good book but is filled with errors that make it unusable. The publisher, Sybex, refuses to publish a real errata sheet and the book is NOT supported on the author’s web site. Isn’t that nice?

PHP MySQL Website Programming: Problem – Design – Solution by Chris Lea, Mike Buzzard, Jessey White-Cinis, and Dilip Thomas. Good luck if you can get past just page 30! Considering this book has been out for some time, there is NO REAL support or errata sheet for it. The “sample site” that one is allegedly able to build by working through this book is filled with questions such as “Has anyone made it all the way to the end of this book?” Need I say more? What a joke.

MySQL/PHP Database Applications, SECOND EDITION. Gosh, considering this is the SECOND edition of this book, one might think an errata sheet and other help might be available. Forget that though – Wiley gets your money, you get plastered with errors so you can’t get through the book.

PHP and MySQL Web Development by Luke Welling and Laura – Another USELESS second edition. Not only does the code in this book NOT WORK but the examples that you can download doesn’t match what’s in the book! Not only that but, as to be expected, there is no errata sheet and the authors web site that is allegedly there to “support” this book has nothing but an advertisement for it with the promise that the “site is under development.” Wonder if it will ever be “developed.”

As noted, ALL of the books above are USELESS. On a fluke, I decide to try one more – Larry Ullman’s PHP and MySQL for Dynamic Web Sites by Peachpit Press. While a second edition is allegedly going to be released soon, I have the first edition. To be honest, I was ABSOLUTELY AMAZED that:

1. The code in this book WORKS!
2. The book is SUPPORTED by both the publisher and the author. The author’s support site for the book actually contains an extensive list of errata for the very minor errors in it (unlike ALL of the books listed above which DON’T have an errata list). Furthermore, I haven’t needed to check the errata because the errors in this book are so minor.
3. The author actually ANSWERS questions to problems on his site.
4. The author is capable of explaining everything, very clearly, and yet conveys a LOT of great information.
5. This book is CHEAPER than all of the one’s listed above (and yet it is the ONLY one worth spending your money on).

I have been so, completely, feed up with the incompetent and unethical practices of so many book publishers that I was beginning to wonder if there were ANY books that really taught you how to create a dynamic website. Well, there’s one – Peachpit Press. No, I don’t work for them and don’t know the author – I’m merely a DISGUSTED customer who is tired of spending money on useless books.

RUN, don’t walk to buy this book. You will be very, very glad you did.

Creating Interactive Web Sites with PHP and Web Services

Creating Interactive Web Sites with PHP and Web Services[rating:.5/5]

Complete waste of time and money. This book had so much potential but, due to all of the horrendous errors that neither the author nor the publisher (Sybex) would address on their web sites, this book was rendered completely useless. Why is it that those that publish tech books are unable to write/print materials that are not only understandable and usable but also contain valid code that isn’t filled with endless mistakes? What a waste.

PHP and MySQL Web Development, Second Edition

PHP and MySQL Web Development, Second Edition[rating:3/5]

Oh, this book seems to have so much going for it. At first, I was going to say that this was one of the most comprehensible computer books I’ve read in a long time (why, oh why can’t computer people write in a manner that is clearly understood to their readers?) – the authors seem to have the rare knack of explaining things clearly. Then, however, I discovered that there are errors in the book and the examples in the book DO NOT match those on the CD. The book also isn’t clear on what needs to be entered, precisely, in order for the examples to match those on the CD. I finally ended up comparing the two in order to make sense of things – this wasted a LOT of my time. Fortunately, my background is such that, so far, I’ve been able to figure things out.

When the problems started, I looked for an errata sheet – both on the publisher’s site (Sam’s Publishing) and on the site provided in the book (http://www.lukelaura.com). Nothing on Sam’s, at all, and the other site is nothing more than an advertisement for the book. Ugh!

This book had so much promise – had a better job been done with editing, it could have easily earned FIVE STARS.

At this point, I’m still able to figure things out and, compared to all of the other books I’ve tried, so far, on PHP and MySQL, this one still makes some sense. Oh well…

Internet & World Wide Web How to Program

Internet & World Wide Web How to Program (2nd Edition) (Paperback)[rating:.5/5]

Another useless Deitel book. This pile of rambling drivel is filled with some of the most horrendous writing I’ve ever seen. As with all Deitel books, it’s filled with page after page of confusing and horrendously presented graphics – some of the worst ever created. Heck, a comic book has better illustrations! f there was an award for the most incompetently written and designed tech books – the Deitels would be the winners. I’ll never understand why tech books are some of the most awful materials ever created. Avoid this nonsense at all costs. While one should not judge a book by its cover, that adage doesn’t apply to Deitel books – just look at the cover of this one – it’s a PERFECT example of what’s found inside.