Upgrading to PHP 5: (O'Reilly Ser.)

If you're using PHP 4, then chances are good that an upgrade to PHP 5 is in your future. The more you've heard about the exciting new features in PHP 5, the sooner that upgrade is probably going to be. Although an in-depth, soup-to-nuts reference guide to the language is good to have on hand, it's not the book an experienced PHP programmer needs to get started with the latest release. What you need is a lean and focused guide that answers your most pressing questions: what's new with the technology, what's different, and how do I make the best use of it? In other words, you need a copy of Upgrading to PHP 5. This new book is targeted toward PHP developers who are already familiar with PHP 4. Rather than serve as a definitive guide to the entire language, the book zeroes in on PHP 5's new features, and covers these features definitively. You'll find a concise appraisal of the differences between PHP 4 and PHP 5, a detailed look at what's new in this latest version, and you'll see how PHP 5 improves on PHP 4 code. See PHP 4 and PHP 5 code side-by-side, to learn how the new features make it easier to solve common PHP problems. Each new feature is shown in code, helping you understand why it's there, when to use it, and how it's better than PHP 4. Short, sample programs are included throughout the book. Topics covered in Upgrading to PHP 5 include: The new set of robust object-oriented programming features; An improved MySQL extension, supporting MySQL 4.1, prepared statements, and bound parameters; Completely rewritten support for XML: DOM, XSLT, SAX, and SimpleXML; Easy web services with SOAP; SQLite, an embedded database library bundled with PHP 5; Cleaner error handling with exceptions; Other new language features, such as iterators, streams, and more. Upgrading to PHP 5 won't make you wade through information you've covered before. Written by Adam Trachtenberg, coauthor of the popular PHP Cookbook, this book will take you straight into the heart of all that's new in PHP 5. By the time you've finished, you'll know PHP 5 in practice as well as in theory.

Table of Contents:
Preface 1. Introduction Why PHP 5? What's New in PHP 5?; Installing and Configuring PHP 5 2. Object-Oriented Programming; What Is Object-Oriented Programming? Memory Management; Basic Classes Class Intermediates Inheritance Magical Methods 3. MySQL Installing and Configuring Procedural Interface Before and After: Connecting to the Database Server; Object-Oriented Interface Before and After: Querying and Retrieving Data with Prepared Statements Before and After: Subselects Transactions Before and After: Making Multiple Queries Securing Connections with SSL Porting Code and Migrating Databases 4. SQLite SQLite Basics Alternate SQLite Result Types Object-Oriented Interface Indexes, Error Handling, and In-Memory Tables Transactions User-Defined Functions 5. XML XML Extensions in PHP 5 Installing XML and XSLT Support DOM SimpleXML Converting Between SimpleXML and DOM Objects Before and After: Reading XML into a Tree Before and After: Searching XML with XPath Reading XML as Events with SAX; Before and After: Creating New XML Documents Before and After: Transforming XML with XSLT Validating Against a Schema; 6. Iterators and SPL Before and After: Using Iterators Implementing the Iterator Interface MySQL Query Iterator; Chaining Iterators SimpleXML Iterator Before and After: Recursive Directory Iteration Implementing the RecursiveIterator Interface Array and Object Property Iteration Redefining Class Iteration Iterator and SPL Classes and Interfaces 7. Error Handling and Debugging Before and After: Handling Errors; The Benefits of Exceptions System Exceptions The Exception Class User Exceptions Setting a Custom Exception Handler; Processing Errors with a Custom Handler Debugging Functions; 8. Streams, Wrappers, and Filters Using the Streams API; Wrapper Overview Wrapper Details Creating Wrappers; Filtering Streams Creating Filters 9. Other Extensions; SOAP Tidy Reflection 10. PHP 5 in Action Defining Your Database Schema The Person Class The addressBook Class; The Template Class Assembling the Application Wrap-Up and Future Directions A. Introduction to XML B. Additional New Features and Minor Changes C. Installing PHP 5 Alongside PHP 4; Index

About the Author :
Adam Trachtenberg has an MBA from Columbia Business School. At business school, he focused on general management and operations, with an emphasis on the field of technology. Adam also has a BA from Columbia University. As an undergraduate, he majored in mathematics and his other studies included computer science and Chinese. Before returning to school, he co-founded and served as Vice President for Development at two companies, Student.Com and TVGrid.Com. At both firms, he led the front- and middle-end web site design and development, worked on corporate planning and strategy, and served as liaison between the product and marketing teams. During study breaks, Adam enjoys playing squash, reading fiction, and eating in New York City's many wonderful restaurants. He wishes he was a better at playing pool, knew the constellations, and was handy around the house.