Build Your Own Database Driven Website Using PHP and MySQL

As complete novice to mySQL and PHP, I was looking for some help and there it was - a book, that takes you step-by-step of setting your system, database, PHP and tells you how to build a db-driven site from scratch in no time (O.K. you'd need to read the book first), gives an advice and shares some developer's secrets. If you wonder how things are working behind the scenes of back-end programming this book is for you.

I am not sure if PHP-mySQL Wiz would need the book but I found it absolutely essential.


Highly recommended to beginners   January 25, 2005
Trevor May (Brighton, UK)
16 out of 16 found this review helpful

Before I read this book I knew very little about PHP and MySQL. I had dabbled a little in ASP many years ago but foremost I'm a designer so coding isn't always second nature to me. I started reading this book on the train to work and again on the way back; after 2 hours reading I had the confidence to try to build my own basic content management system!

At just over 250 pages the book is rather on the small side compared to a lot of the other books on the topic, but it really does contain all the essentials. It also encourages you to think for yourself and it really helped me understand how simple PHP and MySQL really is.

This book is very much aimed at the beginner who hasn't dabbled before so I doubt it's of much use to established PHPers, but to newcomers to the field I can't recommend this book enough.


A Top 10 Tech Book - You WILL Learn PHP and MySQL!   June 28, 2002
Peter Serreino (Jackson, NJ USA)
20 out of 21 found this review helpful

I was first introduced to this book on SitePoint.com (one of the BEST websites for web developers) when I downloaded the first four chapters. They were EXCELLENT and got me up and running with PHP and MySQL (on a Win2K box) in no time. This is simply one of the best tech books I own.

Kevin has done a fantastic job of clearly explaining AND teaching PHP and MySQL. He somehow found a way to cram as much useful information as possible into this small book but managed to organize it in a tech-friendly way. You WILL learn these technologies AND build a PHP/MySQL website by the time you finish (if not earlier). Even his chapter on installing the technologies is as good as it gets. How many times have you followed a set of installation steps and when you were finished had something work EXACTLY the way you thought it would? Well, Kevin does just that in this book. Sure, this may not be the largest book you'll ever buy but it WILL be one of the best!

Buy it and enjoy!!


Well written & practical guide   June 28, 2002
15 out of 15 found this review helpful

Kevin Yank has done an excellent job in putting together a step by step guide to building a database driven web site. He starts by providing advice on how to get started in both MySQL and PHP; he goes on to outline the design of relational databases and then provides clear instructions on how to build a content management system.

The book is well presented, well written and full of useful examples. His explanations are straightforward and he includes lots of ready to use code samples. In fact the only thing that Kevin doesn't seem to provide is the finished database driven web site!

I would strongly recommend it to anyone looking for an introductory tutorial for PHP and MySQL.


This is a great beginners book   November 12, 2004
Dadio (Riverside, CA USA)
14 out of 15 found this review helpful

I bought this book and am very happy with it. I've bought a lot of books on PHP that really suck, not because the author didn't know the subject, but because the author stunk as a teacher. This isn't a reference book, it's a how-to tutorial and it succeeds at what it set out to do. It teaches PHP and MySQL to newbies. I've used it and have loaned it out to others in my company and they love it. Read this one first and then, if you want to, move on to more in-depth books on PHP.