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Best book to learn PHP and JS from?
I know there are a lot of resources online but I've never been one who could learn from online texts. I get distracted, I move too quickly, nothing sticks, it's just a mess.
So, to that end, I'm looking for a book or two to help me on my way. I know HTML, CSS, and Java fairly well but I have no JavaScript or PHP experience. I've looked at a number of books but obviously I can't link them given how new I am. But I looked at one by The Missing Manual and QuickPro as well as a few others. But then a friend showed me one in the Animal Guide series that contains PHP, MYSQL, and JavaScript all in one guide. But that makes me wonder... would it be better to get two books rather than one, would there be more information that way? And the Animal Guide one was published sometime in 2009 or 2010...a new edition is coming out in September but has enough changed that I should wait or would it be a waste of time? I want something up to date but I also kind of need something sooner than September so I'm trying to balance the two...
I probably seem somewhat OCD but I hate spending money stupidly and these aren't cheap. Any opinion on texts would be much appreciated!
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My opion... you know how that goes...
I'd say that because PHP, MySQL and JS are so intertwined at times, a book that covers all three would be ideal. I'm assuming the projects / examples in the book would build on individual parts first, then teach how to tie them all together. After your familiarized with everything, then I'd go with specialized books on each subject to deepen you understanding of the languages/programs.
That being said, I have zero familiarity with any of the book series, so someone else will have to weigh in on that.
-John
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I think you make a good point. The only other concern I have is that the current version appears to have been released in 2009 but it sounds like all he did for the second version was include reader suggestions and add CSS which I don't need anyways.
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I could be wrong, but I think that not enough has changed which would be covered in an introductory book like that to worry about it being only 3 or fewer years old. I would recommend that you check to see if an errata (which would list the known errors in the currently published edition) is available for it online somewhere though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Axweildr
CSS is part of the web now, I wouldn't discount it out of hand ...
And has been for some time now... I was going to say that, but then I checked and he said in his OP that he already "know[s] CSS [...] fairly well".
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