My first PHP book was “Beginning PHP4” which I read in 2002. I still remember that dark red cover with smiling faces on top of it 
. It was a good book. I should rather say it was a very good one for kick-starting PHP that time.
So far I’ve read a lot of books written on PHP. But when someone asks me which one is my favorite, I get three or may be four which were very good. First one was Professional PHP Programming. Then comes PHP5 Power Programming. Next comes Advanced PHP Programming and Finally I must say about Zend Enterprise PHP Patterns. Of course there are other books which are very good in fact. But these are my favorite (Well, you see that Beginning PHP4 and Professional PHP4 are obsolete by now, but they helped me a lot that time)
If I have to choose my most favorite one – I would vote for Advanced PHP programming
What is your most favorite Book on PHP? It doesn’t matter if they are obsolete or 10 years old – Just share you most favorite one with us
27 responses so far ↓
Ronald D. Willis // November 16, 2009 at 6:58 am |
PHP Cookbook
O’Reilly
Can’t wait for the 3rd Edition!
hasin // November 16, 2009 at 5:59 pm
Yes, PHP Cookbook is a very good one. Looking forward to see the 3rd edition
Wee Keat // November 16, 2009 at 7:22 am |
I have all the books you mentioned except ‘PHP5 Power Programming’.
I vote for Advanced PHP Programming – by far offers the most useful information on some really good programming practices, various solutions and approaches.
ordinarywebguy // November 16, 2009 at 9:30 am |
I can still clearly remember in my head for the first time I’ve talked to you and suggested me the book PHP5 Power Programming then learned from it. All I can say is great book for both beginner and advanced php devs.
hasin // November 16, 2009 at 6:03 pm
You can download the book from Bruce Perens open source series page, for free (Its made free by the publisher themselves, so dont worry) Bruce Perens Open Source Books Page
e.s.t // November 16, 2009 at 2:49 pm |
PHP Objects, Patterns,
and Practice – Matt Zandstra
Aaron James // November 16, 2009 at 4:33 pm |
Beginning PHP4 was the book I started with too!
To be honest, the best book on PHP i’ve read, is not actually a book on PHP.
The Pragmatic Programmer, I think, was a book that taught me how to approach problems rather than the specifics of how to solve them.
Would thoroughly recommend it to anyone.
Dyson // November 16, 2009 at 5:10 pm |
zend enterprise php patterns among your favourites? seriously? the book came out after half the products in there were invalidated by new versions and it’s mostly a product plug.
hasin // November 16, 2009 at 6:06 pm
Dyson, I think you are probably mixing it up with some other book? – I am not sure. Because the book focus largely on common enterprise patterns. I really liked chapters on scalability and myql tuning and clustering. I found it’s a good book and went into the depth of some core techniques of scaling.
Rudolf Vavruch // November 16, 2009 at 5:13 pm |
I am currently enjoying “PHP in Action” (http://www.amazon.com/PHP-Action-Objects-Design-Agility/dp/1932394753/).
Michelangelo van Dam // November 16, 2009 at 5:24 pm |
I enjoyed two books very much:
PHPArchitect’s Guide to Enterprise PHP development (http://phparch.com/books/isbn/9780973862188) by Ivo Jansch (http://jansch.nl)
PHPArchitect’s Guide to Date and Time Programming (http://phparch.com/books/isbn/9780981034508) by Derick Rethans (http://derickrethans.nl)
Fábio Tadeu da Costa // November 16, 2009 at 6:00 pm |
PHP Objects, Patterns,
and Practice – Matt Zandstra
Kelvin Jones // November 16, 2009 at 6:11 pm |
The only PHP book I ever read (or needed) was Core PHP Programming by Leon Atkinson: http://www.amazon.com/Core-PHP-Programming-Leon-Atkinson/dp/013020787X.
Amol Nirmala Waman // November 16, 2009 at 6:39 pm |
I started learning PHP by reading ‘Programming PHP’ by Rasmus Lerdorf of O’Reilly. I also refer PHP Manual often. And yes now I am focusing on ‘Advanced PHP Programming’!
Mario // November 16, 2009 at 8:18 pm |
I’m biased, because when I dove back into PHP I wasn’t satisfied with any of the reference books out there; the portable, function rich book that helps you remember all the nuances of each function. So, I wrote one, and I’m its biggest fan:
PHP Reference: Beginner to Intermediate PHP5
Andrew Shell // November 16, 2009 at 8:24 pm |
I think Beginning PHP4 was one of the first PHP books I had as well. The two that I consider my favorite though are Advanced PHP Programming and PHP in Action. The thing I really liked about PiA was that it doesn’t go through the basic PHP stuff, it just dives into OOP, Unit Testing and whatnot.
Jake Smith // November 16, 2009 at 9:03 pm |
I have to agree that Advanced PHP Programming is a really good book, as I look at it on my bookshelf. I must say the best book for PHP5/OOP was “PHP 5 Objects, Patterns, and Practice” by Matt Zandstra. The 2nd edition came out last year.
hasin // November 16, 2009 at 9:14 pm
Yup, PHP 5 Objects, Patterns, and Practice is a good book. I have it’s first edition in my collection.
mahmud ahsan // November 16, 2009 at 9:20 pm |
I first read Beginning PHP4 in 2006, its really a nice book because first time I learn html/php and mysql from the same book. My most favorite book PHP 5 Power Programming.
Richard Harrison // November 16, 2009 at 10:10 pm |
PHP Objects, Patterns and Practice – Matt Zandstra
Shaun Farrell // November 17, 2009 at 6:19 pm |
The PHP book that I have read is PHP and MySQL Web Development By Welling & Thomson (http://www.amazon.com/PHP-MySQL-Web-Development-4th/dp/0672329166).
I think this may be one of the best books out there for beginners.
I also love the book PHP Objects, Patterns and Practice (http://www.amazon.com/PHP-Objects-Patterns-Practice-Second/dp/1590599098)
Daniel Ice // November 17, 2009 at 11:54 pm |
I have always liked to wrox series of books. I vote for Professional PHP5. (http://www.amazon.com/dp/product/servicebrook-20/0764572822/).
Hasin Hayder’s Blog: What is your most favorite Book on PHP? | Webs Developer // November 18, 2009 at 12:01 am |
[...] Hayder has asked the PHP community what some of their favorite books have been for learning PHP and related technologies: So far [...]
Marc // November 18, 2009 at 8:21 pm |
PHP and mySQL Web Development – http://www.amazon.com/PHP-MySQL-Web-Development-4th/dp/0672329166/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1258554034&sr=1-1
Great book to get started with. I actually meet and spoke with one of the authors Laura Thompson at CafeFest and didn’t even realize it.
Satya Prakash // November 21, 2009 at 6:26 pm |
For me no one. I purchased 1-2 books are 2 yrs but could not read that.
php.net manual is my book.
Satya Prakash // November 21, 2009 at 6:30 pm |
Hey! One thing though. You said smarty will be dead but it is still running. I also thought that it should be dead as it server no great purpose so I was looking for others who has similar thought and have found you.
I have posted this thought on my blog. but smarty is not dead and I am thinking what to do for my wrong prediction that smarty will not survive!
I am surprised why you think smarty will be dead where you have written a book for it!
tahsin // November 23, 2009 at 3:17 pm |
mine is wrox’s beginning php. But my fav is php manual, though it’s not a book. it’s actually more than a book.