PHP & MySQL: The Missing Manual

The Missing Credits

About the Author

Brett McLaughlin is a senior level technologist and strategist, active especially in web programming and data-driven customer-facing systems. Rarely focused on only one component of a system, he architects, designs, manages, and implements large-scale applications from start to finish with mission-critical implementations and deadlines.

Of course, that’s all fancy-talk for saying that Brett’s a geek, spending most of his day in front of a computer with his hands flying across a keyboard. Currently, he spends most of his current time working on NASA projects, which sounds much cooler than it actually is. But hey, maybe that satellite overhead really is controlled by PHP and MySQL…

About the Creative Team

Nan Barber (editor) has been working on the Missing Manual series since its inception. She lives in Boston with her husband and various electronic devices. Email: [e-mail].

Jasmine Perez (production editor) spends her free time cooking vegetarian meals, listening to her favorite freeform radio station, WFMU, and going on adventures whenever possible. Email: [e-mail]

Nan Reinhardt (proofreader) is a freelancer copy editor and proofreader, who is also a writer of romantic fiction. She has two novels with her agent at Curtis Brown Literary Agency. In between editing gigs, she is busy working on her third book. She blogs thrice weekly at www.nanreinhardt.com. Email: [e-mail].

Ron Strauss (indexer) lives with his wife in northern California at 2,300 feet. When not indexing Missing Manual books, he moonlights as a musician (viola and Native American flute).

Shelley Powers (technical reviewer) is a former HTML5 working group member and author of several O’Reilly books. She is also an animal welfare advocate, working to close down puppy mills in Missouri. Website: www.burningbird.net.

Steve Suehring (technical reviewer) is a technical architect with an extensive background finding simple solutions to complex problems. Steve plays several musical instruments (not at the same time) and can be reached through his website www.braingia.org.

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgements are always nearly impossible to do well. Before you can think anyone of substance, the music swells and they’re shuffling you off stage. Seriously, before the writing, there’s my wife Leigh and my kids, Dean, Robbie, and Addie. Any energy or joy or relaxation that happens during the long writing process filters through those four, and there’s never enough royalties to cover the time lost with them. I suppose it’s a reflection of their love and support for me that they’re OK with me writing anyway.

And then, there’s certainly the writing. Brian Sawyer was the first guy to call me when I became available to write, and he called when I was really in need of just what he gave me: excitement about me writing and encouragement that I could write into the Missing Manual series. I won’t forget that call anytime soon. And then Nan Barber IM-ed and emailed me through this whole thing. She showed a really unhealthy level of trust that wasn’t earned, and I’m quite thankful, especially in the dark days of early August when I had hundreds of pages left to write in a few short weeks.

Shelley Powers and Steve Suehring were technical reviewers, and they were both picky and gentle. That’s about all you can ask. Shelley helped me remember to keep the learner front and center, and if you like the longer code listings when things get hairy, she’s the one to thank. And Steve…Steve filled out my PHP holes. He caught one particularly nasty issue that I think vastly improved the book. You don’t realize this, but you owe him a real debt of thanks if this book helps you.

And then there’s the vast machinery at O’Reilly. It all works, and I don’t know how, really, and I’m OK with that. I imagine somewhere Sanders is pulling important levers and Courtney is badgering authors and Laura is angry and in heels and Laurie thinks this all costs too much and Tim is…well, Tim is thinking about something important. I’m glad for all of them.

—Brett McLaughlin

The Missing Manual Series

Missing Manuals are witty, superbly written guides to computer products that don’t come with printed manuals (which is just about all of them). Each book features a handcrafted index and cross-references to specific pages (not just chapters).

Recent and upcoming titles include:

Access 2010: The Missing Manual by Matthew MacDonald

Buying a Home: The Missing Manual by Nancy Conner

CSS: The Missing Manual, Second Edition, by David Sawyer McFarland

Creating a Website: The Missing Manual, Third Edition, by Matthew MacDonald

David Pogue’s Digital Photography: The Missing Manual by David Pogue

Dreamweaver CS5.5: The Missing Manual by David Sawyer McFarland

Droid 2: The Missing Manual by Preston Gralla

Droid X2: The Missing Manual by Preston Gralla

Excel 2010: The Missing Manual by Matthew MacDonald

Facebook: The Missing Manual, Third Edition by E.A. Vander Veer

FileMaker Pro 11: The Missing Manual by Susan Prosser and Stuart Gripman

Flash CS5.5: The Missing Manual by Chris Grover

Galaxy Tab: The Missing Manual by Preston Gralla

Google Apps: The Missing Manual by Nancy Conner

Google SketchUp: The Missing Manual by Chris Grover

iMovie ’11 & iDVD: The Missing Manual by David Pogue and Aaron Miller

iPad 2: The Missing Manual by J.D. Biersdorfer

iPhone: The Missing Manual, Fourth Edition by David Pogue

iPhone App Development: The Missing Manual by Craig Hockenberry

iPhoto ’11: The Missing Manual by David Pogue and Lesa Snider

iPod: The Missing Manual, Ninth Edition by J.D. Biersdorfer and David Pogue

JavaScript: The Missing Manual by David Sawyer McFarland

Living Green: The Missing Manual by Nancy Conner

Mac OS X Snow Leopard: The Missing Manual by David Pogue

Mac OS X Lion: The Missing Manual by David Pogue

Microsoft Project 2010: The Missing Manual by Bonnie Biafore

Motorola Xoom: The Missing Manual by Preston Gralla

Netbooks: The Missing Manual by J.D. Biersdorfer

Office 2010: The Missing Manual by Nancy Connor, Chris Grover, and Matthew MacDonald

Office 2011 for Macintosh: The Missing Manual by Chris Grover

Palm Pre: The Missing Manual by Ed Baig

Personal Investing: The Missing Manual by Bonnie Biafore

Photoshop CS5: The Missing Manual by Lesa Snider

Photoshop Elements 9: The Missing Manual by Barbara Brundage

PowerPoint 2007: The Missing Manual by E.A. Vander Veer

Premiere Elements 8: The Missing Manual by Chris Grover

QuickBase: The Missing Manual by Nancy Conner

QuickBooks 2011: The Missing Manual by Bonnie Biafore

Quicken 2009: The Missing Manual by Bonnie Biafore

Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Snow Leopard Edition by David Pogue

Wikipedia: The Missing Manual by John Broughton

Windows Vista: The Missing Manual by David Pogue

Windows 7: The Missing Manual by David Pogue

Word 2007: The Missing Manual by Chris Grover

Your Body: The Missing Manual by Matthew MacDonald

Your Brain: The Missing Manual by Matthew MacDonald

Your Money: The Missing Manual by J.D. Roth