OK, Used For A Class, Finding Errors
In the quest to learn PhP/MySQL, this book was the book used for a class. So far it seems ok but I just spent a few hours trying to figure out why I was getting errors only to realize the code in the book had typos in it.
Page 172 in "Functions and Control Structures", the ScoreQuiz.php if statements have no closing brackets } in the code in the book. The same file is used for more exercises in the book so unless you spot this, subsequent exercises will give you errors too.
Page 455 #7, the if statement is again missing the opening and closing brackets.
Page 486 #6, #7 The closing paragraph tags are printed in the book as < / p ."); and should be < / p > . ); Amazon seems to have filters that make posting any code almost impossible so just take the spaces out of those examples if they show on the page.
To someone who has done a lot of programming, these may seem like no big deal, but when trying to learn this stuff for the first time it is quite frustrating. It is just sloppy editing.
If I come across more errors/typos that result in code that doesn't function, I'll post the issue and solution.
If there is an errata section posted anywhere? If so I haven't found it.
Sorry excuse for a textbook
I have spent $12.95 on better programming books than this one. We used this book in a class that I just finished up. The instructor had to retype many of the code examples so she could correct the code errors. The book is nothing more than a recipe book of php scripts without properly explaining the materials. I would love to see colleges move away from companies like Thomson and look elsewhere for teaching materials.
The worst beginner's book ever!
Very sloppy book with numerous typos (and inconsistencies!!) in code and elsewhere, about the worst offense committed by a beginner's book. Stay away at all cost.
Avoid this book, seriously
I'm almost through my introductory PHP class, and the bottom line is that I would absolutely avoid this book.
A few caveats about online reviews: They are skewed b/c most people don't bother to write unless they are really mad or really happy about a given product. I'm obviously in the later category. Separate out my tone and emotion if you can. But here are the facts:
1. The book is riddled with typos and straight up errors.
2. The author never bothers to correct them. I still haven't found where errata are on his website.
3. Gosselin uses terms that he never bothers to define first. Who's Gosselin? The author of the book. My point exactly.
4. Some of the examples of the code just don't work. Because of the number of errors in the book, I can't be sure if it's just Gosselin's problem or my own. This can not be overstated b/c the last thing a student wants is to work for hours on a problem only to realize that it wasn't his/her problem to begin with.
5. The writing style is extremely dry, dense, and ambiguous. Make no mistake, this is not a user-friendly book.
6. The index is poor and there are no tables of commonly used functions/methods/ and other syntax that most textbooks have. It's hard to find anything.
7. Price: too expensive, but that's par for the course with Thompson Technology books.
Good book for programmers
This was one of the assigned books for a class of mine, but I quite liked it. As a teacher and a programmer of ~25 yrs, I like a book that I can not only read from front to back, but one in which I can easily 'look things up', since I often know how to do something in another language but want to see how it is done with this tool.
This book is clear and concise and fills both needs. I liked the fact that it talks not only about the languages PHP and MySQL, but also how to get started with them (installation, configuration, and use with HTML). This book, along with the XAMPP/PHP/MySQL toolset made learning very easy and immediate.
One suggestion I'd make, however, would be for the book to include the XAMPP/PDT-all-in-one eclipse/Zend Debugger toolchain. Particularly on Windows, this allows the student to do open-source-package command-line debugging that is painless and accurate. Once I figured out how to use these tools, creating and debugging the book examples was 'a breeze'. It could have saved a lot of time for DG to include this industry-standard toolset. Kudos to Gosselin, though, for a great book... jps
(7 reviews)
