Accidentally ordered a PHP6 book for learning PHP

Question

I want to learn PHP so I ordered a book about it called "PHP 6 and MySQL 5 for Dynamic Web Sites: Visual QuickPro Guide"

I stumbled upon the php.net website and found out the latest thing released was PHP 5.3.2

The describtion of the book says that "[...] 20% or so of the material requires version 6 of PHP."

DID I SCREW UP AND SHOULD I CANCEL MY ORDER?!

Ps.: I don't know if this question is too argumentative...

Answer 1

PHP 6 isn't ready yet, et won't be soon as they encounter some development problems.

You should start by learning PHP 5.

Answer 2

PHP 6 was rebranded as PHP 5.4 back in March, after the problems with full unicode support proved to be taking longer than anticipated. However, much of the functionality that was scheduled for PHP 6 has already been incorporated in the 5.3 and 5.4 releases

Answer 3

Do you have programming experience? If so, I doubt the book itself will make a difference.

You'll likely go though a percentage of the book but eventually set it aside and use it as a reference while attempting to put together your own examples. Defining my own examples, I find, tend to be ultimately more helpful then following a book verbatim.

Ultimately, I'd favor a book for a newer version of a technologies over an older one. Tech books already expire too quickly.

Additionally, you might do well with Safari. I utilize it to learn new languages and technologies and feel like less of a commitment (tech books are expensive.)

Answer 4

Yes. Cancel your order. It is unprofessional to publish a book about PHP6 when it is anywhere from finalized. You will likely find lots of errors in there, simply because they are writing about code that is subject to change. Please see:

• The Art Of Deception Or Publishing PHP6 Books