PHP MySQL Website Programming: Problem - Design - Solution / Edition 1

Overview

PHP MySQL Website Programming is written with the intent of showing the development process for a web site using a specific set of technologies: the Apache web server, the MySQL database system, and the PHP scripting language. It takes the reader through the construction of a complete application driven site from design to deployment (The site we will create will be available on the Internet at http://wrox.mediatemple.net).

Each chapter in the book will identify a task to be accomplished that is necessary for the construction of the site. It will then suggest a way to go about the required programming, and finally it will implement a solution based on the discussion. The ideas that are presented and the code that is written is indicative of the way real-life tasks are being completed.

The primary goal of the site is to provide content for DVD lovers. This will come in the form of news stories that talk about current events in the DVD market, new releases, advances in technology and the like. There will also be a newsletter that registered users can choose to get via email. In order to get our news to the widest possible audience,we will syndicate our news into a standard XML format RSS feed. This will enable others to quickly and easily see what the latest and greatest is.

In order to develop a sense of community, we will create a discussion board where registered users can create and respond to various topics. We will also provide a poll where users can vote on different things and see the results.

Additionally, we will serve advertisements to potentially generate revenue for the site. And finally, we will provide a shopping area. Here, users that are logged in can add various things such as DVDs, DVD players, and accessories to a cart and buy them.

The book's bottomline is to define a good methodology for creating a site (with functionality that is used on many different kinds of sites, and that you as a programmer may well be working on in the future) by identify problems, surmising a solutions to those problems, and then implementing those solutions with code using modern development practices.

Author Biography:Chris Lea is a developer currently living in Los Angeles, CA. He received a BS in Physics with Highest Honors and Distinction from UNC-CH in 1997, and has been sitting in front of a computer for a great deal of his time since then. Typically he uses Linux, which has been his platform of choice since sometime in college when he first bumped into it. He started in with PHP a few years after that and has worked on projects ranging from the entertainment industry to the financial sector. You can find out all you ever wanted to know and more at his personal web site http://www.chrislea.com/.

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