PHP reference book

Question

I'm looking for a reference book on PHP. By reference book, I mean a book with a superb index, which allows one to quickly find succinct, clear info on a large number of functions / features.

I know that all this info is available on the net, but I find I often can browse through a book faster than find the right resource on the net. Plus, I often find the PHP Manual site not super clear.

I want a bound and printed resource (aka, a book) please, not a website. Preferably no more than 500 p., but this is a nice-to-have, as I'm most likely to keep it by my desk and not carry it with me very often.

I am specifically not looking for a book on best programming practice.

Here are the (otherwise perfectly good) books I have which do not answer this need:
- "Learning PHP, MySQL & Javascript" (O'reilly - Robin Nixon)
- "PHP in action" (Manning - Reiersol, Baker, Shiflett)

Many thanks,

JDelage

Answer 1

Closest thing I know of is the PHP Pocket Reference from O'Reilly, but it was last updated in 2002. Honestly, because PHP (and most modern languages, really) iterate so often, a printed reference really isn't ideal.

If you really wanted to, you could grab a version of the online manual to print for yourself on the PHP Web site.

Answer 2

Try PHP: The Complete Reference by Steven Holzner. It says it covers PHP 5.2, so it's slightly behind, but not as bad as a book last updated in 2002. It's just over 500 pages but it should cover everything you need along with commentary and examples.

Answer 3

There are some really good book out there for example: Programming PHP, PHP Pocket Reference and PHP Functions Essential Reference. Unfortunately they are all dated (2001, 2002).

The only two books that are PHP 5 books that are not older than 3 years are the massive PHP: The complete Reference form 2007 and the self-published Lulu PHP Reference: Beginner to Intermediate:

• PHP: The Complete Reference (2007)
• PHP Reference: Beginner to Intermediate PHP5 (2008)

To be honest: nothing beats the online documentation as a reference guide. You can download it here.

Answer 4

I'm learning and have gotten to a point where I don't need my hand held each step of the way. I can strongly recommend PHP and MySQL Bible. It came out last year.