1     Preface

NOTE: This is NOT the latest copy of this book; click here for the latest version.

Welcome, reader, to the world of PHP. You're about to learn to use the most powerful web development language that can be found, and, what's more, you will do so with the minimum of fuss.

I myself started programming in PHP back in 1997 when Perl was at its apogee, and after only two weeks, I had converted most if not all of my Perl scripts into PHP. The reasons I were drawn so strongly towards PHP are many, but mainly it was ease of use - even after having used Perl for so long.

Through this book, I hope for you to be able to switch to PHP in the same kind of time frame, if not less. Back when I made the switch, I was not lucky enough to have a book like this to learn from!

I have written this book with the goal of making the task of learning PHP something fun that you do not have to worry about. As such, you will find lots of information for newcomers, even those who have not programmed much before. On the other end of the scale, I must admit that I have worked hard to put in this book lots of information on advanced functionality in PHP - if you are a veteran user looking to take your PHP skills above and beyond where they are right now, I am hoping you will find there is lots to be had here.

My goal for this book has been to produce a book you can read in whatever order you want. Once you have the basics down, I encourage you to flick through the table of contents, find something that interests you most, and start reading from there.