PHP: hypertext preprocessor (PHP) and MySQL are two technologies with a close relationship. The open-source PHP scripting engine can be combined with the MySQL relational database management system to create dynamic Web content and complex Web applications. Stobart and Vassileiou have written a book designed to teach both technologies, although it is riddled with mistakes, flaws, and omissions.

The book contains 40 chapters, grouped into 12 sections, and has a clear emphasis on PHP. Just four chapters are devoted to MySQL, including coverage of general database concepts, installing MySQL, and using PHPMyAdmin. In fact, only one brief chapter discusses how to use PHP to access MySQL data.

The sections on PHP discuss basics such as variables, data types, strings, control structures, array manipulation, and form processing. There are several chapters on esoteric subjects such as graphics and the portable document format (PDF) library extension, as well as three chapters devoted to file handling. It seems as if the authors could have dropped some of this in favor of more content related to database interaction.

The authors state that an understanding of Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) and some scripting or other programming experience are prerequisites. In spite of this, most of the material is written at an elementary level, using a conversational tone throughout.

Chapters are short, averaging about 14 pages. Because so many topics are packed into its 589 pages, the book simplifies issues and skims many details. For example, the chapter on cookies omits relevant security issues and neglects to mention the fact that many users have cookies disabled in their Web browsers. The next chapter, “Session Management,” does not discuss how to track sessions without cookies, and also fails to inform the reader that the session_start() function must appear before any headers or HTML code are output to the user’s browser.

Examples are included for nearly every topic discussed. However, a large number of them are impractical, such as one for MD5 authentication (page 181) that simply encrypts the same string twice, then compares two variables holding the results.

The text reads like an undergraduate term paper that has been turned in with no careful reading or revision. The book is full of run-on sentences, subject-verb disagreement, sentence fragments, confused homophones, misspelled words, and possessives with no apostrophes. While occasional grammatical lapses do not necessarily detract from technical accuracy, this book is so poor as to make readers question its quality. I have never seen a book with so many mistakes. In fact, rarely more than a page or two passes without a glaring error. If a respected scholarly publisher like Springer did not even copy edit this book, were they likely to have provided a technical reviewer?

Even a cursory examination reveals flaws beyond the grammar. Table 18.1, for example, contains filenames that differ from those used in the accompanying code example. At times, descriptions of function syntax do not designate optional or mandatory arguments, while the table describing increment and decrement operators contains errors.

This book provides a broad overview of PHP and a cursory introduction to MySQL, but there are far better titles on both topics. The work does not provide beginners with enough information to become productive, and is too simple to be of interest to those with more experience. The many errors, omissions, and flaws throughout make it an unreliable and frustrating text for classroom use or independent learning.