You're about to learn how to use the most robust web development language available, and you'll do it with the least amount of hassle.
This book was designed with the intention of making the work of learning PHP enjoyable and worry-free. As a result, you'll discover a wealth of material for newbies, even those who haven't done any programming in the past.
On the other hand, if you're a seasoned user wishing to expand your PHP skills beyond where they are at the moment, you'll discover there is a lot to be got here. This book is jam-packed with material on advanced functionality in PHP.
The intention behind this book was to create something that could be read in any sequence. You won't learn PHP programming from scratch in this book because it makes no assumptions about your prior knowledge. Once you've mastered the fundamentals, you're urged to browse the table of contents, identify the topic that most interests you, and begin reading from there.
The breadth of topics covered makes it understandable why Practical PHP has long been regarded as the gold standard for PHP programmers. Topics covered include variables and functions, working with files, databases and normalization, images, parsing XML, cookies, networking, security, performance, and more.
For PHP 5.2, this edition was upgraded.
