Dreamweaver MX: Advanced PHP Web Development

Rating:
Summary: Good but full of errors
Review: I have found this book very helpful in going beyond the basics. I would not recommend it for beginners for several reasons but mostly because there are a ton of errors that would frustrate a newbie. I checked their site for error listings and there is only one. If they would keep the list updated then I would highly recommend this book.

If you are an avid Dreamweaver user with some experience with PHP handcoding, not just the queries Dreamweaver lets you write, this book is great. Otherwise, keep looking.

Rating:
Summary: Good but full of errors
Review: I have found this book very helpful in going beyond the basics. I would not recommend it for beginners for several reasons but mostly because there are a ton of errors that would frustrate a newbie. I checked their site for error listings and there is only one. If they would keep the list updated then I would highly recommend this book.

If you are an avid Dreamweaver user with some experience with PHP handcoding, not just the queries Dreamweaver lets you write, this book is great. Otherwise, keep looking.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I purchased this book shortly after it was published, before there were any other books available on the subject. The author assumes (by mentioning it in an early chapter only) you will be using Windows OS, I wanted the information for Mac OS X. If you are taking advantage of Mac OS X and it's Unix platform, you won't find any information in this book that is relevant to develping PHP and MySQL on an OS X platform.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I purchased this book shortly after it was published, before there were any other books available on the subject. The author assumes (by mentioning it in an early chapter only) you will be using Windows OS, I wanted the information for Mac OS X. If you are taking advantage of Mac OS X and it's Unix platform, you won't find any information in this book that is relevant to develping PHP and MySQL on an OS X platform.

Rating:
Summary: Doesn't know what he's talking about
Review: lbxiong doesn't have a clue and is quick to dismiss a well-thought out book.

It also seems to have escaped his notice that Glasshaus were owned by Wrox who also went into liquidation, so the book he recommended won't receive any support either!

This said the authors of Dreamweaver MX: Advanced PHP Web Development have continued to support their work even though they will never see any proceeds from the sale of this book. Now *THAT'S* dedication...

Rating:
Summary: Next step with Dreamweaver and PHP
Review: This book is a follow-up to "Dreamweaver MX: PHP Web Development", and take to the next step the readers already familiar with Dreamweaver and PHP. The authors definitely did a remarkable job; covering a broad range of topics, from error handling (too often neglected by web developers!), to creating extensions, object oriented programming (a brief but effective coverage), file handling, mail integration, Regular Expressions and much more, including quite advanced topics like generating images and Flash integration.

The chapters are pretty much self contained, so a linear reading isn't mandatory here, assuming you know the basis of PHP you can just jump directly to a chapter depending on your needs or tastes. Notwithstanding the fact that glasshaus assembled a team of six different authors, the quality of the chapters is consistently excellent. I was only somewhat disappointed by the XML chapter but that's just because I think PHP and XML integration is not up to the level I expect from a modern language, definitely not the author's fault!

Be advised that this book is much more about PHP than Dreamweaver because, out of the box, Dreamweaver offers only basic tools for PHP development and if you want to take the next step you need to dive into the code. Beginners may be better served by "Dreamweaver MX: PHP Web Development" from the same publisher.

Rating:
Summary: Don't Bother
Review: This is supposed to be advance, but it looks more like confusion. This book is poorly written, full of assumptions. Unless you're willing to spend the time to ponder what's going on, don't even waste your money.

Furthermore, the bank has pulled the plug on the publisher, so you won't even get any support.

I'd say scrap this book, better to buy WROX's Professional PHP Program instead.