I enjoyed the Apress book "Pro PHP: Patterns, Frameworks, Testing and More" by Kevin Mcarthur

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I'd suggest Learn PHP 5 by O'Reilly. It's the best.

BTW, I've written a post detailing all the best PHP books on Amazon by reader reviews.

Good luck with that Eric.

Remember PHP.net - it's pretty much the only reference you need when you're in the middle of coding and you can't remember which function to use, or what arguments a function takes!

Also, I would recommend Eclipse with PHP Development Tools from Zend. This has a handy popup reference that comes on as you type your code. Useful for remembering function syntax.

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I use php.net alot myself. When I really got into it I was wanting to do a database on my website. You will laugh, but I picked up PHP and MySQL for Dummies. It does give a good general basic understanding. I also discovered that PHP was really an old friend that I was already familiar with and hadn't realized it before. My original use of PHP was templating my websites with headers and footers after creating the general feel of the website leaving only changes to a couple of files to totally change the look of the website. However, when I really got into using PHP I realized it was nothing more than a porting of the C language to the internet and my progamming abilities then really took off. Anyway, PHP.net does give you all the reference you will ever need.

Martin

the PHP documentation file at the official website is the best way for you to make any reference

Further more, I can't stress enough the importance of security. If you are writing anything but the most basic of scripts or anything with a database make sure you get a good book on writing secure web applications.

Even seasoned developers often leave massive security holes in the scripts, so it's important that new PHP developers learn how to write secure code from the start. You should be aware of things like dealing with user input, XSS, and SQL injection.

IMO secure development practices should be studied along side basic PHP from the very start, not as an after-thought.

The O'Reilly books are always good.

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you may wish to go mininova.org to look for php

I liked Sam's Teach Yourself PHP in 24 Hours. After that book, I didn't need much more. Every now and then I had to do searches on the PHP site to jog my memory about how a function worked but not much else.

Sitepoint has the best books imo

I remember the first time I was going to start learning PHP, I was really excited, all I wanted was to go to the library I buy 2 or 3 books, so I call Big Mike for a book recommendation and he give me this:

Google

LOL

Still I bought a book from wrox.com I really like that publisher

So, same question, different verse.....

I am still new to PHP and I found this string very interesting...then when I searched on all of your book recommendations, I discovered that most of them are several years old. Has PHP really not changed that much since 2003 + ??

Also, what is the current version of PHP, I see books for different versions...does this matter?

I am looking for a good reference book that will speak to my beginner level, but I really hate the For Dummies series in general. I was hoping that the Missing Manual series would have one, but that does not appear to be the case. I was able to successfully teach myself Dreamweaver CS3 by using the Missing Manual book. It was clear and not over my head and very tactical in its approach, which was perfect for me. Do the above suggestions still apply? Do I need to worry about getting a book that also combines MySQL? I see many of these, but I am not sure if I need it.

I am aware of php.net, but I just like to have a book on my lap when I do this sort of thing.

I am looking to modify my blog template (actually to get a new template and modify it)to look much more like my website that I created in Dreamweaver/HTML...yes, I actually used the HTML features almost exclusively (despite the Wysiwyg options), thanks to the Missing Manual book....so doing what I am trying to do shouldn't be that big of a deal for me.

Appreciate your help!
Valerie

I am studyin PHP5 and MYSQL Bible.. I think it's good enough

PHP.net - it's reasonably much the only address you need when you're in the middle of writing as well as you can't remember which function to employ.

you can learn a lot of things from php.net
or you can also study "php for dummies" book.