Programming PHP, 3rd Edition

Foreword

When the authors first asked me if I’d be interested in writing a foreword for the third edition of this book, I eagerly said yes—what an honor. I went back and read the foreword from the previous edition, and I got overwhelmed. I started to question why they would ask me to write this in the first place. I am not an author; I have no amazing story. I’m just a regular guy who knows and loves PHP! You probably already know how widespread PHP is in applications like Facebook, Wikipedia, Drupal, and Wordpress. What could I add?

All I can say is that I was just like you not too long ago. I was reading this book to try and understand PHP programming for the first time. I got into it so much that I joined Boston PHP (the largest PHP user group in North America) and have been serving as lead organizer for the past four years. I have met all kinds of amazing PHP developers, and the majority of them are self-taught. Chances are that you, like most PHP people I know (including myself), came into the language quite by accident. You want to use it to build something new.

Our user group once held an event where we invited everyone in the community to come and demonstrate a cool new way to use PHP. A realtor showed us how to create a successful business with an online virtual reality application that lets you explore real estate in your area with beautiful views of properties. An educational toy designer showed us his clever website to market his unique educational games. A musician used ...