How to Use This Book

This book is designed as a tutorial-style introduction to web database applications. To begin, read Chapter 1 for an overview of the architecture and tools that are used in this book.

If you haven't installed the Apache web server, the PHP scripting engine, or the MySQL database management system (or you're not sure you've got the latest software), then follow the instructions in Appendix A, Appendix B, or Appendix C, depending on the platform you are using. They also show how the examples used in this book can be downloaded and installed locally. We recommend downloading the code and databases used in this book, as they will help you understand the concepts as they are presented.

Chapter 2 and Chapter 5 are designed as introductions to PHP and SQL, respectively. Read them both for an introduction to the key tools, and before you read Chapter 6 and later chapters. Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 provide more detail on PHP and are structured by topic. You can read them as tutorials or use them as references for functions or concepts.

Chapter 6 through Chapter 13 are tutorial-style chapters that follow through the principles and practice of web database applications, and include annotated function references and short case study examples to illustrate the concepts. Chapter 6 through Chapter 11 describe the basic principles and components and should be read sequentially. When you've read these chapters, you're ready to start building your own applications. If you're using MySQL 4.1, then after you've read Chapter 6, read Appendix H for more information on PHP's new improved MySQL function library.

Chapter 12 introduces writing custom error handlers that will aid your debugging and add robustness to your application when it's deployed. Chapter 13 focuses on developing printable reports using Adobe's PDF format. By the conclusion of Chapter 13, you should be a master of the principles of developing web database applications.

Chapter 14 and Chapter 15 contain advanced topics. These rely on concepts from the earlier chapters and give you complete skills for building sophisticated applications using advanced programming and database techniques. You can reserve these optional chapters for later, when you get interested in advanced web development. You don't need to read these chapters to understand our sample application in Chapter 16 to Chapter 20.

Chapter 16 to Chapter 20 present and briefly discuss complete scripts for the online winestore case study. The scripts show how the techniques from Chapter 2 to Chapter 12 are applied in practice and, as such, are most useful after mastering the content of the earlier chapters. The material in these later chapters is most useful when the example application has been downloaded and installed on a local server, allowing the scripts to be modified and tested as the chapters are read.

Appendix D and Appendix E are also in a tutorial style. We recommend Appendix D if you are interested in or are unfamiliar with the web environment and its underlying protocols. Appendix E is a brief introduction to entity-relationship modeling for databases and shows the steps we took in designing the winestore database. We recommend reading Appendix E after completing Chapter 5.