Customer Rating: 
Summary: Best book i've ever read in php
Comment: PHP 6 and MySQL 5 by larry ullman is one of the best book I've read in my life , the book contain 17 chapters , covering topics for beginners to advanced topics and it is explain the most common web application examples like (develop user registration , build message board , e-commerce website) .
the book covers the fundamental details in very quick way and specific which is makes the reader build the web application in very short time .
the great thing about this book , it discuss the new improvement mySQL and unicode which is help non-English developers.
Customer Rating:
Summary: This Book Worked for me!
Comment: Although I have some background with programming (Basic, Pascal, COBAL) and desktop db business applications, I had been somewhat intimidated by the idea of server-side programming.
I can only tell you that I did in fact take this book one chapter at a time, sometimes re-reading some sections several times, and marking-up certain parts with a hi-liter and a red pen. I followed the tutorials, downloaded the scripts from the book's associated website, and even got help directly from the author at his website's forum.
Don't misunderstand me, that I marked-up the book, did homework, and asked questions was a reflection of how the book did engage me - AND TAUGHT ME. The book is well written, methodical, detailed, and its intended audience seemed to be someone with my background (pretty fluent in HTML, handy with CSS, has a basic understanding of databases and programming concepts, and who enjoys the learning process under a good professor).
This book will get you started and on your way - correctly. It was the perfect launch site for me (once you get through this book you will be in a good position to evaluate what you need to learn next). As for me, this book (alone) taught me to write programs/scripts to login users, develop MySQL databases, write database reports, do user input forms and process them at the back-end updating the database tables, sessions, cookies, etc. etc.
Select this book. Your php output will be, primarily, html markup. So if you don't know HTML - spend some time with that first -- along with CSS (I recommend CSS The Missing Manual by David S. McFarland).
Customer Rating:
Summary: Best for getting up to speed fast using PHP 6 and MySQL 5
Comment: I'll keep it brief since "Customer" nailed it with their review already, but wanted to say with this book and the free manuals on PHP and MySQL I was up to speed and developed my first dynamic web site in a matter of weeks, reading and learning part-time at night.
I wanted to go a bit further than just basic PHP and MySQL as part of a current personal project; researching and learning about open source CMS, web applications and web application frameworks, and how it all fits together.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: What a waste
Comment: This book is a complete waste of money. You can find all the material covered here for free online. The book is difficult to read because of all the author's tips, the small size of the letters in the text, and because the text in each page is divided in two columns wich is absurd. buy something else instead.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Extraordinary style, extraordinary book
Comment: Larry Ullman's extensive experience as a developer and writer shows. This book is very well structured and builds upon itself intuitively to the reader. The exercises are pragmatic. The only thing that he might have touched upon in this book is OOP--fortunately his book PHP 5 Advanced: Visual QuickPro Guide covers the subject extensively.
This book also provides several key reference tables that I go back to often, e.g., MySQL data types (pg 110...got that memorized). So, the ongoing value is there. There have been a few times where the index didn't point me to the page I was looking for even though I know it's in the book somewhere.
I noticed that Larry's next book is on AIR (has his enthusiasm shifted, or perhaps it's just that he's covered PHP from every conceivable angle at this point??). While I'm sure he'll shed valuable light on AIR, I look forward to his return to PHP prose.
On a side note, Larry makes himself tirelessly available to his readers on his forum and via email. That's pretty extraordinary, too, I think, yet I'm bewildered how he finds the time.
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