By David lane, Hugh e. williams
There are many reasons for serving up dynamic content from a web site: to offer
an online shopping site, create customized information pages for users, or
just manage a large volume of content through a database. Anyone with a modest
knowledge of HTML and web site management can learn to create dynamic content
through the PHP programming language and the MySQL database. This book gives
you the background and tools to do the job safely and reliably.
Web Database Applications with PHP and MySQL, Second Edition thoroughly reflects
the needs of real-world applications. It goes into detail on such practical
issues as validating input (do you know what a proper credit card number looks
like?), logging in users, and using templates to give your dynamic web pages
a standard look.
But this book goes even further. It shows how JavaScript and PHP can be used
in tandem to make a user's experience faster and more pleasant. It shows the
correct way to handle errors in user input so that a site looks professional.
It introduces the vast collection of powerful tools available in the PEAR repository
and shows how to use some of the most popular tools.
Even while it serves as an introduction to new programmers, the book does not
omit critical tasks that web sites require. For instance, every site that allows
updates must handle the possibility of multiple users accessing data at the
same time. This book explains how to solve the problem in detail with locking.
Through a sophisticated sample application--Hugh and Dave's Wine Store--all
the important techniques of dynamic content are introduced. Good design is
emphasized, such as dividing logic from presentation. The book introduces PHP
5 and MySQL 4.1 features, while providing techniques that can be used on older
versions of the software that are still in widespread use.
This new edition has been redesigned around the rich offerings of PEAR. Several
of these, including the Template package and the database-independent query
API, are fully integrated into examples and thoroughly described in the text.
Topics include:
- Installation and configuration of Apache, MySQL, and PHP on Unix®, Windows®, and Mac OS® X systems
- Introductions to PHP, SQL, and MySQL administration
- Session management, including the use of a custom database for improved efficiency
- User input validation, security, and authentication
- The PEAR repository, plus details on the use of PEAR DB and Template classes
- Production of PDF reports
