Dreamweaver MX: PHP Web Development by Bruno Mairlot, Gareth Downes-Powell, and Tim Green
Published by glasshaus.
This book is all about making dynamic PHP web sites with Dreamweaver MX . It covers PHP, enough to get the reader up to speed with the technology, and how to use Dreamweaver MX to produce PHP code quickly and efficiently. It also covers site design and databases and SQL. It uses an example project, a hotel reservation system, that is built up through the chapters to demonstrate the concepts explained.
By : Clive Walker
TOC: 1. What is PHP? 2. What is MySQL? 3. Getting started with MX 4. Planning the Site and Determining Functionality 5. Basic site setup 6. Manipulating the database 7. Advanced SQL 8. Creating a Search system 9. Re-using code by creating Server Behaviours with the Server Behaviour Builder 10. Hand Coding within Dreamweaver MX 11. Debugging your code
I have been learning PHP for about 6 months and I bought this book because it offered the chance to develop a simple application and to understand the thinking behind it. Also, although I have hand coded PHP for most of the time, I had just upgraded to Dreamweaver MX and the book looked like a good opportunity to go through some of the application and built-in server behavior features of the software.
After having worked through most of the chapters in the book, I have to say that I am very impressed. It is written in an easy-to-read style and features plenty of screenshots and code highlighting that makes it easy to understand. I was also impressed by the scope of the book and the way it deals with PHP, MySQL, Dreamweaver MX, application planning and database design with the minimum of fuss and maximum clarity. Sure, there are books out there that go into much more details, but this book is written for the beginner-intermediate level and as such it really hits the spot.
The book starts with an introduction to PHP and Dreamweaver MX and it also has short sections on installing PHP on Windows and Linux and configuring Apache and Internet Information Server. I already have this set-up on my local network so I had no need to use this chapter but I read through it very easily. The next chapter introduces MySQL in a similar way and it goes through installation, configuration and use of MyCC and PHPMyAdmin. Once again, although the chapter is concise, it is clear and easy to read.
Next, there is a chapter on site and server set-up with Dreamweaver. I must admit that, in my younger days, when I first used Dreamweaver, I was not sure about site definition, I just wanted to get straight into the webpage itself. This chapter explains why it is even more critical with Dreamweaver MX to set the site up properly and it goes through the process with screenshots and explanations. The database connection worked first time as well !
Now, on to the main part of the book, the application itself. A simple hotel booking system that exemplifies the use of recordsets and built-in server behaviors to insert, update and delete data. In short, all the PHP functionality of Dreamweaver MX that enables interaction with a database. These main chapters of the book go through setting up a MySQL database from the beginning in a stepwise way, from creating tables and data type definitions through to the webpages themselves that the web visitors will see. Also covered are templates and library items within Dreamweaver. Once finished, you will have a series of simple pages that enable people to search and book rooms and alter and delete bookings.
You could leave it here - but there's more, and the last third of the book has chapters on advanced SQL usage and PHP hand coding before diving into a user login system followed by chapters on creating server behaviors and error debugging. I was waiting for the user login method because I had previous experience of different systems. This section explains and implements a session based login system with two levels of user access.
The final chapters deal with creating your own server behaviors and error handling with PHP. I had not thought about creating my own server behaviors before but this has persuaded me that I can do it.
Any criticisms ? More an observation really, a couple of the later chapters may be tough for a PHP beginner to understand at first. That's about it.
Anything else to say ? Well, there is a good support website that has the code examples for download plus a list of errors in the book. Although my version of the book was reprinted recently and was mostly error free, the first version had some mistakes. However, these are all listed on the support website. I contacted the website about a specific code segment that was not included and within an hour I had a zip file with the example I had requested. Need I say more....
This book can be used by a beginner PHP developer because, for the most part, the code is all written by Dreamweaver and the emphasis is on the visual design aspects of the software. However, that is definitely only part of the objective behind the book and you will get more out of it - and finish the final chapters - if you understand PHP a bit more and make every effort to understand the hand coding, PHP syntax and SQL/MySQL sections of the book.
At the end, it left me wanting more - and I mean that as a compliment.
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