PHP Programming

Introduction

The book «Programming PHP» (4th edition, 2020) from O'Reilly is one of the most authoritative and comprehensive guides to the PHP language available today. The authors — Kevin Tatroe and Peter MacIntyre — have many years of development and teaching experience, which is evident in every chapter. The book is focused on PHP 7.4, but many concepts are applicable to newer versions as well. This is not just a reference book, but a textbook that guides the reader from the basics to advanced topics, including security, working with databases, network programming, and modern development practices.

What is this book about?

The book covers virtually all aspects of the PHP language, from syntax to application deployment. It consists of 18 chapters and several appendices. Main topics:

• PHP Basics: data types, variables, operators, control structures, functions, arrays.
• Object-Oriented Programming (OOP): classes, inheritance, interfaces, traits, late static binding.
• Web Programming: working with HTTP, forms, sessions, cookies, file handling.
• Databases: PDO, MySQL, SQLite, transactions, prepared statements.
• Security: XSS, CSRF, SQL injection, encryption, data validation.
• Modern Features: anonymous functions, closures, generators, working with dates and times.
• Network and Protocols: working with sockets, cURL, REST API, JSON, XML.
• Developer Tools: Composer, debugging, testing, profiling.

Who is this book for?

The book is aimed at a wide range of readers:

• Beginner developers — those who are just getting acquainted with PHP and want to gain structured knowledge «from scratch».
• Experienced programmers — will find much useful information about modern approaches, security, and performance.
• Web developers transitioning from other languages — the book will help quickly master the specifics of PHP.
• Students and teachers — excellent educational material with examples and explanations.

What will the reader learn?

After reading the book, you will be able to:

• Write clean, secure, and efficient PHP code.
• Use OOP to create scalable applications.
• Work with databases via PDO and build complex queries.
• Protect applications from major vulnerabilities.
• Integrate external APIs and process data in different formats.
• Set up a development environment and use modern tools (Composer, Xdebug).
• Understand the internal structure of PHP and its extensions.

Strengths of the book

• Relevance: the book is written for PHP 7.4, making it one of the most up-to-date on the market.
• Depth: the authors do not just list functions, but explain how and why they work.
• Practical examples: the code in the book is truly applicable in projects, with many ready-made solutions.
• Structure: logical chapter progression, from simple to complex, with cross-references.
• Publication quality: O'Reilly is known for technical editing; the book is virtually error-free.
• Appendices: at the end of the book — useful reference materials (functions, configuration, extensions).

Who is recommended?

I highly recommend this book to everyone who takes PHP development seriously. It will be useful both for self-study and as a desktop reference. If you want not just to «write in PHP», but to understand its philosophy and best practices — this is your choice. The only thing is, absolute beginners in programming may need prior familiarity with the basics of algorithms, but the book is written quite ac