Rating: 
Summary: Great work for intermediate level users
Review: One deniable fact of the book is the presentation. The presentation is simple and easy to understood. Language used is simple , attractive and not complicated as others. Explanations are clear and direct to the point , embedded with examples which makes the book worth. Its a rare ability in programmers/ developers to put into simple words, but the author has possed such skills. Another added advantage is the organization of the book itself. Organized in such way , thats to introduce PHP and Web based developments efficiently to newbie or intermediate users whom is seeking to improve the coding style. Explains are so beneficial with so many functions explained by using example and thats great for beginners. But if you are a experienced and advance level user, this book might not satisfy your need, but rather a quick reference with example for advance users. Chapter on Software Engineering is another strentgh, presented in simpler way on how someone could achieve/acquire the designing skills as the desinging skills is equally important with coding. An intelligent coding could be handicapped with a poor design. Basically , new users and intermediate users will benefit alot from this book.
Rating: 
Summary: big, friendly and not useful
Review: [Reviewing 2nd edition.] This is definitely not a CORE quality book (especially compared to the outstanding CORE Java series).
Section 1, 100 pages of introductory material, tell you what RAM is (sort of), but doesn't tell you what happens when a cookie and a POST variable have the same name.
Section 2, 450 pages of this book, is a function reference, but the online php manual is free, easier to read and has more examples.
Section 3 has some exploratory examples -- I think there are better examples in the online manual and elsewhere on the net.
The book is confused about its audience. Beginning programmers should NOT start with php (or any scripting language) unless they are forced to put up a php web site overnight -- in which case they need a "cookbook", which this is definitely not. Experienced programmers will be terminally frustrated with the book's disorganization, poor layout and lack of crucial information.
Summary: It's not a cookbook, not a usable reference book and has no best practices advice.
Rating: 
Summary: a great way to start
Review: this book is a great way to start programming php. it is the book I used to learn php. It goes into the basics well, and doesn't dig too deep into the code. it's definately not your choice when looking for a detailed reference. it *is* your choice when looking for a book to learn php from, or to use as a reference when just starting out.
Rating:
Summary: Great Resource - A little organization would make it perfect
Review: I have been using PHP in various forms for over a year, and would not consider developing a site without it. I have the complete PHP manual printed out on paper and the HTML version stored in a sacred place on my hard drive. I refer to both often. Like most burgeoning open-source technologies, PHP has the technology developed first, docs second -- sometimes a very distant second. Although the manuals at the PHP site are very good, they do leave a bit to be desired when it comes to real-world examples. They're primarily academic in nature and aimed at folks who already understand programming. This book starts with some programming basics applied specifically to the PHP enviroment, fleshes out the manuals with real-world exmaples, and much more. It's a must-have for anyone developing in PHP or even considering it. The examples are clear and concise. I learned quite a bit from a quick scan, and I considered myself a bit of an expert. My only criticism would stem from the layout of the book istelf. There are many many source code listings, and references to these listings in the text often occur several pages before or after the listings themselves. This necessitates quite a bit of really unncessary page turning. Many of the source cod listings are very short and could have easily been contained on the same apge as the references. If not for this, I would rate the book 5 stars -- the content is worth it. Given the price and complexities of competing technologies (ASP, Cold Fusion, etc.), PHP is a steal -- it's free. We need books like this to help keep that community alive. Good job Leon!
Rating:
Summary: Bad Code -- No Doughnut!
Review: I have the second edition. I have used it off and on over the last year or so. I wish I had never bought it. Much of the code examples are either incomplete or flat out wrong. Obviously none of the code was actually tested to see if it worked. The two primary examples of this are the sections on PostgreSQL and file upload. Neither of that code is correct. File upload especially. I do not recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Nice but.......
Review: This was the first book I bought on PHP. I had bought Core Java 1 & 2 before as recommendation from a friend and was thrilled to find Core PHP. I liked it from the start. I was just beginning PHP programming for a database course and used this as reference. I had some programming experience in Java, and therefore didn't need a real beginners book to start me up on PHP.
However, as time went along and I got a little more advanced in PHP I found the book fell short on me. I couldn't always find what I was looking for and since I was programming online anyway I found myself more and more ignoring the book and just using the php online manual at php dot net where you can find any function and everything is up to date. That is the beauty of PHP as it is. So I think most people would be better of finding a book that helps them along with programming (I honestly couldn't say which, I have only used this and php.net) instead of a reference, like this book is, or trying to be. You don't really need a reference since php.net is a good enough and free reference on it's own.
Rating:
Summary: Updated PHP3 missing the finer points of PHP 4.x
Review: Spent 2 hours trying to get the debug_on function to work before I discovered that PHP 4.x does not support it. The code from 7.2 is not the correct code, in fact if you look at the example and read the chapter they were talking about the wrong code.
Even the broken PHP on line Windows Help file from PHP.org is by far more usefull then this poorly edited update. I paid list price for this and I don't mind paying for something that is usefull but this is a joke, I purchased another Wrox book to get the job done.
Rating: 
Summary: A thick disappointment
Review: I have grown to love the Core series. I learned Java from Core Java 2 and Servlets/JSP from Core Servlets and JavaServerPages. Occasionally the Core series has disappointed me a bit (Core JSP) but never this badly. This book is awful. I have experience doing serverside Java/JSP, using MySQL, Tomcat and other Open Source products/libraries. But when I needed info on doing stuff with PHP, I got nowhere with this book. It is a non-comprehensive reference, when other Core books have been good and to-the-point guides. I bought the book by Luke Welling and Laura Thomson, "PHP and MySQL Web Development" and found it to be a LOT better. Actually, it is one of the best programming guides I've ever read.
Rating:
Summary: What a waste of paper
Review: This book was awful - poor binding, useless examples, unclear prose. This may be a new edition, but mine even had errors in the index, items were frequently list as being a page or two from where they actually appeared. I do not recommend this book to anyone - go read the PHP manual online at http://php.net/manual/en.
Rating:
Summary: Big Book Little Content
Review: This book seems to have a very low content to page ratio. It uses a large font, wide margins. I counted several pages, and found it averaged around 100 words per page, making the book feel like more than it really is. I did not look at the CD. But the description of the CD seems to indicate that it pretty much has the standard fair of freeware suites like Apache, PHP, ... I downloaded the same stuff from NuSphere. NewShpere had a nice installation program that set up my PC, without my having to think. I take it that this book was meant primarily as a reference. The small amount of programming information in the front of the book was decidedly uninformative. I personally found the big red (somewhat terse) Professional PHP book to be a better reference manual. The book really does not succeed as an introduction to programming, nor does it succeed as a PHP tutorial. The are not many cut and paste examples for people looking to snag code. If you are looking for a large type PHP reference, then the book is okay. Personally, I wouldn't buy it.
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