If you’re reading this book, you probably already know what PHP is—one of the world’s most popular programming languages for web development.
Flexible, scalable, easy to program in, and supported by an international community of developers and users, PHP is today in use on over fifteen million web sites, an impressive achievement, especially considering that the language was originally developed by volunteers who made its source code freely available to anyone who cared to ask for it!
One of the most important factors driving PHP’s popularity over the last couple of years has been its support for a variety of databases, including MySQL, mSQL,
Oracle, and Microsoft Access. By simplifying and streamlining database access, PHP enables developers to build complex data-driven web applications, while enjoying short development cycles because of the simplicity and flexibility of the language.
One of the most powerful combinations in the open source arena today is the PHP/ MySQL combination. Like PHP, MySQL has open-source roots: it is a fast and reliable database management system that is rapidly acquiring a worldwide user base.
By using PHP and MySQL together, users can benefit from the cost savings that accompany community-driven software, and also leverage off the immense number of freely available PHP/MySQL applications to reduce development and deployment time.
That’s where How to Do Everything with PHP & MySQL comes in. If you’re a business professional looking to reduce your software costs by using open-source tools, a developer interested in creating database-backed applications for the Web, or simply a hobbyist curious about what the Linux, Apache, PHP, and MySQL (LAMP) combination can do, the book you’re holding in your hands is all you’ll need to get started on your journey into the world of PHP and MySQL.
