Best PHP book?

[joelmoss]

I am looking for a good book on PHP. I am an expeienced perl programmer and have dabbled in PHP, but there is a lot more that I want to learn about php. It would mainly be used as a reference book.

Anyone have any suggestions?

[johnn]

I like the Wrox book. I would buy the latest "Professional PHP 4 Programming" which is probably available in July.

John

[djsource]

i got the Wrox one the other day too. I think the version I got might be a little too basic for you though if you know Perl already. I got beginnig PHP so perhaps you should go for the next one up which is Professional PHP Programming

paul.

[necrominator]

I like core php myself.

[Anarchos]

I've bought two PHP books but I never use em. PHP.net and Kevin Yank's PHP article are really all you need if you've programmed before.

[RKuhle]

PHP and MySQL Web Development did it for me... Just be sure to get something more advanced, you won't need to bother with anything simple. And Anarchos is probably right, you don't really need to buy a book with the available documentation and scripts. But I love having a book sitting on my desk, waiting to be thumbed through.

Call me old fashioned but I'll still take books and magazines over the online versions. It's pretty hard to drag my desktop into the bathroom

[arpith]

The advantage of reading a book is that you get a thorough understanding of the language. I come from a perl background, and bought "professional php programming".

I read most of it in a day, and was able to program pretty easily with the knowledge. However, I would have really liked something more advanced, describing the finer points of php.

Also, the php docs at php.net don't compare well with all the perl docs available :-(

Regards,

[joelmoss]

Originally posted by Anarchos
.... PHP.net and Kevin Yank's PHP article are really all you need if you've programmed before.

Thats what I was thinking. I have been using both those resources a lot recently and I haven't really needed anything else.

I suppose what I am looking for if I really needed a book, is an advanced guide/resource on php and its finer points.

[FatPiper]

In that case, Core PHP Programming (2/e) is probly what you want. Its got descriptions of all the different functions, quality code examples for each one, as well as other things such as PHP program frameworks, good PHP practices, how to best optimize your PHP code, benchmarking your PHP scripts, etc..

I found it extremely useful coming from a Java background...

[HumanClay]

Originally posted by RKuhle
Call me old fashioned but I'll still take books and magazines over the online versions. It's pretty hard to drag my desktop into the bathroom

LOL, I feel the same way!