Beginning SQL by Wrox

Beginning SQL

Data is where it’s at as far as computers go, whether processing millions of calculations or keeping a record of your Aunt Maude’s birthday. When it comes to storing data, the database is the king. In almost eight years of professional programming, every single project I’ve worked on has involved databases somewhere along the line-that’s how essential they are to most business applications and projects. Admittedly, some areas, such as computer games, don’t make the same use of databases. My guess is that “Mega Doom 99: The Final Bloody Massacre” isn’t running an Oracle database in the background!

However, I have a confession! Around 10 years ago, when I first started learning about databases, I initially found them very confusing. I’d been programming in my spare time for a few years and was used to using text files to store information. I decided to leap right in and start creating databases and writing SQL, and I got very confused and odd results. Databases, their design, and their underlying concepts are very different from storing data in simple files, and the Structured Query Language (SQL) used to access and manipulate data in databases is very different from any procedural language. One of my first aims with this book is to soften the blow of new concepts and ways of doing things. To that end, I explain all the underlying concepts and theory you’ll need to get started with databases and in programming with SQL. Show to get the answers you want from a database and all the results you get will be fully explained, as SQL can throw up some surprises if you’re not forewarned.

Apress-Beginning PHP and MySQL_3rd Edition Mar_2008

In many ways the PHP language is representative of the stereotypical open source project, created to meet a developer’s otherwise unmet needs and refined over time to meet the needs of its growing community. As a budding PHP developer, it’s important you possess some insight into how the language has progressed, as it will help you to understand the language’s strengths, and to some extent the reasoning behind its occasional idiosyncrasies. Additionally, because the language is so popular, having some understanding of the differences between the versions—most notably versions 4, 5, and 6—will help when evaluating Web hosting providers and PHP-driven applications for your own needs.

Build Your Own_Database Driven Website_Using PHP & MySQL

“Content is king.” Cliché, yes; but it has never been more true. Once you've mastered HTML and learned a
few neat tricks in JavaScript and Dynamic HTML, you can probably design a pretty impressive-looking
Website. But your next task must be to fill that fancy page layout with some real information. Any site that
successfully attracts repeat visitors has to have fresh and constantly updated content. In the world of
traditional site building, that means HTML files—and lots of 'em.
The problem is that, more often than not, the people who provide the content for a site are not the same
people who handle its design. Frequently, the content provider doesn't even know HTML. How, then, is the
content to get from the provider onto the Website? Not every company can afford to staff a full-time
Webmaster, and most Webmasters have better things to do than copying Word files into HTML templates
anyway.
Maintenance of a content-driven site can be a real pain, too. Many sites (perhaps yours?) feel locked into a
dry, outdated design because rewriting those hundreds of HTML files to reflect a new look would take
forever. Server-side includes (SSIs) can help alleviate the burden a little, but you still end up with hundreds
of files that need to be maintained should you wish to make a fundamental change to your site.
The solution to these headaches is database-driven site design. By achieving complete separation
between your site's design and the content you want to present, you can work with each without disturbing
the other. Instead of writing an HTML file for every page of your site, you only need to write a page for
each kind of information you want to be able to present. Instead of endlessly pasting new content into your
tired page layouts, create a simple content management system that allows the writers to post new
content themselves without a lick of HTML!
In this book, I'll provide you with a hands-on look at what's involved in building a database-driven Website.
We'll use two tools for this, both of which may be new to you: the PHP scripting language and the MySQL
relational database management system. If your Web host provides PHP and MySQL support, you're in
great shape. If not, we'll be looking at the setup procedures under Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X, so
don't sweat it.