Re: Does this beginner's book exist?

Chris Lott" <Chris.Lott@gmail.com> wrote in message: > I am looking for a new text for my beginning PHP and MySQL programming > class. This class is for COMPLETE beginners who have never programmed > before. I have used, in the past, PHP4: A Beginner's Guide and PHP for > the World Wide Web (Visual Quicktart). (I will be using PHP4, at > least until the Redhat Enterprise Server upgrades :) > > However, both of these books, while being well pitched towards > beginners, also assume that register_globals is enabled, and while the > former is more like a textbook (it has exercises and mini-quizzes) it > doesn't do as good a job with the examples as the latter (which has > no exercises). My students are distance education students, so little > things like variable scopes can be very time consuming to help them > with-- it would be nice if the text got it right :) > > Does a book for complete beginners exist that also demonstrates basic > good programming practices, has decent examples, and perhaps > exercises/quizzes (not as important as the first two)? > > c > -- > Chris Lott ............... Besides Larry's book - which is excellent - try David Sklar's book called "Learning PHP 5" (O'Reilly). Not too much on mySQL with PHP except for chapter 7 _however_ the whole book is grounded in the understanding of PHP syntax and constructs - if/else, loops, arrays, functions - then moves on to databases, cookies/sessions, forms and files. Plus, there are questions at the end of each chapter. Clear, concise and with humor and - if you like Chinese food - mouth watering entrees for the array examples. Both books are very good. TR