PHP 5 MySQL Programming for the Absolute Beginner
August 27, 2009 by Tech Trends · Leave a Comment
PHP 5 MySQL Programming for the Absolute Beginner
Are you ready to begin programming with PHP and MySQL? Then get ready to jump right in. You’ll get an introduction to programming with a specific focus on programming web servers with the PHP programming language. Much of the original content from the first edition (1931841322) is retained, but you’ll also cover updates relating to the upcoming PHP 5.0 release. Following the same format as the popular first edition, this book provides easy-to-follow instruction. You will use the concepts presented in the book to create games using PHP and MySQL. As each concept is put to the test, you’ll acquire programming skills that will easily transition to real-world projects. A true beginner’s guide, this book enables you to acquire programming skills that you can use in the next language that you tackle.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars For the absolute beginner A+
This is an excellent book for the beginner. It steps you through the functions and has good sample code. I really recommend this book.
5 Stars It is the best for me
This book is the best. As I read it I clearly understood all I had in my head for my new web site. It is simple and there is a lot of useful examples. Thank you!
3 Stars If you read it 2 or 3 times you’ll get the idea
The authors writing style leaves a lot to be desired. He’s hard to understand sometimes. He uses a game to illustrate the concepts of PHP & understanding the game was more difficult than the code. It’s not bad - it’s just OK. I’d recommend Charles Wyke-Smith “Codin for the Web” for a clear explanation of rudimentary PHP MySQL concepts with real world examples - not stupid games.
4 Stars Good for PHP basics
My son was looking for an introduction to web development, and I couldn’t think of a better place than PHP with which to start.
I found the author’s writing style very enjoyable - and was particularly impressed by his choice of example programs. For instance, the chapter on databases introduces concepts using an adventure game!
The only problem I had was the lightweight treatment of Content Management Systems (in particular the discussion of PHP-Nuke), which ended up being much too generic to be of use.
However, that doesn’t really detract from the quality of the rest of the book, which is highly recommended.
1 Star Outdated and useless.
Unfortunately this book, despite its best efforts, falls flat on its face when it comes to teaching php. I am a beginner to the language and I ordered the book recently to begin teaching myself. The code in the book did not work at all, even when I uploaded the pages stored on the CD rom directly to my site they didn’t work properly, which let me know that even though I’m new to the language the errors weren’t my fault. The script is incomplete and poorly written, as told to me by professional web site authors I know. It lacks the most important parts of the script to make them work and if you’re on your own you won’t be able to figure out why it isn’t working, unless you find the answer in a forum or something. I recommend this book instead, PHP 6 and MySQL 5 for Dynamic Web Sites: Visual QuickPro Guide. The code in this book actually works and any errors are insignificant plus have corrections online at the author’s site. Don’t make the same mistake I did in buying this book. It will just disappoint you and waste your money.
Seamless Teamwork Using Microsoft SharePoint Technologies to Collaborate Innovate and Drive Business in New Ways BP Other
July 1, 2009 by Tech Trends · Leave a Comment
Take the lead and deliver better results by revolutionizing the way you and your colleagues communicate, collaborate, and coordinate everyday work. Dive in as the author, a collaboration expert, demonstrates how to inspire great teamwork using Microsoft SharePoint technologies. Discover the best practices that enable even far-flung teams to produce powerfully productive results and apply them to your own projects! Learn how to: Follow a five-phase approach to managing teams and projects Synchronize your team s vision, as well as their work Structure SharePoint sites to give people a place to work and a place to see what s going on Inspire more creative problem-solving through team wikis and blogs Capture and coordinate team and stakeholder feedback more efficiently Drive the smart, timely decisions that keep projects on track Wrap up projects the right way for results you can repeat Includes bonus chapters online.
User Ratings and Reviews
2 Stars SharePoint for Absolute Beginners
I was quite disappointed with this book. Although the writing style was good, the technical level was clearly written for an absolute beginner. There was no customization other than browser-based out-of-the-box configuration, and most of those were contrived. Although the scenarios used were tied to project management, no formal project management methods were used or discussed. I can’t imagine that this would be useful to anyone working in a corporate environment.
5 Stars Required reading for anyone collaborating with SharePoint
This book is everything that I hoped SharePoint for Project Management: How to Create a Project Management Information System (PMIS) with SharePoint would be. While “SharePoint for Project Management” is rather simplistic and aimed at someone who has never used SharePoint before, Seamless Teamwork really has some great ideas on how to use SharePoint to collaborate on projects. Even while going deep into the capabilities of SharePoint, the book and recommendations are very readable and easy to follow. Beyond even the amazing capabilities of SharePoint, the author discusses considerations for virtual teams, working offline, and how to convince teams to work on SharePoint instead of falling back on e-mail. I have been using SharePoint heavily for the last year and still got some great ideas on ways I could use SharePoint to better manage ongoing projects. This book is HIGHLY recommended for anyone that uses SharePoint to collaborate on projects.
5 Stars Should be required reading for organizations implementing SharePoint…
It was interesting how this book has shifted on my radar… Seamless Teamwork: Using Microsoft SharePoint Technologies to Collaborate, Innovate, and Drive Business in New Ways by Michael Sampson. Michael is a virtual colleague of mine in the collaboration space, and asked me if I would be interested in reviewing his book on SharePoint. I told him yes, although at the time I was not doing much of anything with Microsoft’s collaboration offering. But by the time the book was published, my technical world had shifted towards a heavy emphasis on SharePoint. Therefore, the “courtesy review” became a “necessary read.” And in terms of framing the use of a software package within the context of a real world scenario, few have done it this well.
Contents:
The New Project; Managing the Project and Finding a Team; Setting Up SharePoint; Team, Meet SharePoint; Creating a Shared Vision; Understanding the Options; Analyzing the Options; Making a Decision; Concluding the Project; Winning in the Market; Index
Rather than write the normal “here’s feature x, and here’s how you use it” book, Michael presents the material within the context of a story about a project. Roger Lengel has been asked to take on “Project Delta” for the Fourth Coffee company. It’s a project to expand the business internationally, and Roger will have a team of geographically dispersed individuals. Furthermore, he’s been asked to use SharePoint to manage the project, a software package he’s not familiar with. He knows this project is important and will have an impact on his future with the company, so he needs to take advantage of all the tools at his disposal to make the project a success. As he sets up each part of the team, he learns about a new feature of SharePoint that can help him manage the work. This starts at welcome pages for the project, to wikis for storing project information, to announcement lists, shared calendars, blogs, and numerous other things. By the time the story finishes, he (and you) has explored most all of the significant SharePoint functionality that is offered by default, and done so within the context of a real world application of that knowledge.
The first thing to know and understand about the book is that it’s not targeted primarily at IT professionals. If you’re looking for information on how to set up and administer a SharePoint environment, you won’t find it here. The target is for business professionals who will be using SharePoint to get something done. All too often, that real-life application of technology is lacking, and business users will not plow through a 500 page book of detailed setup information. They need to be able to see a business scenario that they can identify with, and then see how the tool would help them. Michael does an excellent job of that. In addition, he also includes a lot of valuable information on how best to run projects with teams that can’t meet face-to-face. He is well-known in the collaboration community for his expertise in virtual teams, and Seamless Teamwork covers that topic very well. In fact, you could almost recommend the book on that angle aside from SharePoint.
If you’re ramping up a SharePoint environment in your organization and need material to help the business get a handle on why they need yet another piece of technology, Seamless Teamwork should be required reading. The business users will thank you because they’ll “get it” when it comes to using SharePoint, and the IT area will thank you because they won’t have to spend as much time “selling” the business benefits.
5 Stars Excellent how-to guide to unlock SharePoint’s collaboration capabilities
I find “Seamless Teamwork” to be very well written, easy to follow and overall a very usable introduction to anyone who is using SharePoint out of the box and wants to set up SharePoint sites for projects, team collaboration and meetings. It helps you navigate the complex environment of SharePoint, to find the essential features and how to set up SharePoint sites for team collaboration.
In fact, the book would have been very helpful for me when I first started using SharePoint for the purpose of team collaboration. Now I can simply recommend colleagues and others who seek my help for setting up SharePoint for project and team collaboration to buy and read “Seamless Teamwork” instead of consulting me. 
The book also does a good job at explaining how to use new tools and technologies such as wikis, blogs and RSS. In this way, it also serves as a good introduction to these tools and technologies for those who are not familiar with them or don’t yet understand the business value of a technology such as RSS.
Furthermore, the book touches on some of the things that are really essential for making collaboration work, such as creating a shared vision. These kind of “collaboration essentials” are well integrated with the more practical hands-on instructions throughout the book.
From a personal point of view, it would have been great if the book also had touched upon situations where team members might not be using computers with Office 2007 installed, when accessing SharePoint from outside the corporate firewalls or when you need to collaborate with partners and customers.
To sum up - I find “Seamless Teamwork” to be a very valuable resource that I would (and do) recommend to anyone who is interested in how SharePoint can be used for team collaboration.
5 Stars A timely and useful resource
“Seamless Teamwork” is a timely and useful resource for information workers who want to understand how to use Microsoft SharePoint in order to foster effective collaboration. The book explains key SharePoint concepts and tools, along with complementary offerings from Microsoft (e.g., Outlook, OneNote, and Groove) and other software vendors (e.g., Colligo).
Michael Sampson has written an engaging narrative, structured around real-world collaboration needs and solutions; he explains not just what SharePoint does, but also the business context and policies required to successfully deploy and use it as a collaboration platform.
