When it comes to creating websites, the PHP scripting language is red-hot-more popular than Microsoft's ASP.NET technology. This updated edition covers everything you need to know for creating effective web applications with PHP. Written by two PHP experts, Programming PHP takes you through language syntax and programming techniques, using numerous examples to illustrate both correct usage and common idioms. With style tips and practical programming advice, this comprehensive guide will help you become an excellent PHP programmer. Learn PHP language fundamentals, including data types, variables, operators, and flow control statements Understand the basics of functions, strings, arrays, and objects Gain common web application techniques, such as form processing, data validation, session tracking, and cookies Interact with relational databases, including MySQL and Oracle, and non-relational databases such as SQLite and MongoDB Generate dynamic images, create PDF files, and parse XML files with PHP Learn advanced topics, such as secure scripts, error handling, and performance tuning Get a handy quick reference to PHP core functions in PHP and standard extensions