Over 12 million Internet domains worldwide use the PHP language to power their websites. If you are a programmer included in this group, or would like to be one, you should pick up a copy of PHP Unleashed. The definitive guide in PHP programming, PHP Unleashed thoroughly and authoritatively covers the release of PHP 5, as well as advanced topics not found in other books. It begins with a detailed summary of the basics and then quickly moves on to more advanced topics such as working with data, outputting graphical data and building complete applications. Whether you're an experienced programmer and new to PHP, or an experienced PHP programmer but new to PHP 5, this is the one PHP book you need in your library.

Table of Contents:
Introduction.     Organization of the Book I. WORKING WITH PHP FOR GENERAL WEB DEVELOPMENT. 1. Basic PHP Development.     How PHP Scripts Work     Basic PHP Syntax     Basic PHP Data Types     Variable Manipulation     Control Structures       Logical Control Structures       Repetition Control Structures       Embedding Control Structures     User-Defined Functions     Dynamic Variables and Functions       Dynamic Variables       Dynamic Functions     Multiple File PHP Scripts     References       Variable References       References Used in Functions     Strings in PHP       Speed and Efficiency of String Expressions     Comparing Strings     Advanced String Comparison       Comparing Phrases     Search and Replacement       Replacing Strings     Formatting Strings       Alternatives to printf()     Strings and Locales       Formatting Currency Values     Formatting Date and Time Values     Summary 2. Arrays.     Basic Arrays       Array Syntax       Working with Arrays     Implementing Arrays       Using an Array as a List       Using Arrays as a Sortable Table       Using Arrays as a Lookup Table       Converting from Strings to Arrays and Back     More Array Materials 3. Regular Expressions.     The Basics of Regular Expressions     Limitations of the Basic Syntax     POSIX Regular Expressions     Perl-Compatible Regular Expressions (PCRE)       Named Patterns     PCRE Modifiers     A Few Final Words 4. Working with Forms in PHP.     HTML Forms 101       How Forms Are Created       HTML Widgets     Working with Form Submissions in PHP       Retrieving Form Values       Using Arrays as Widget Names       Handling File Uploads     Summary 5. Advanced Form Techniques.     Data Manipulation and Conversion       Dealing with Magic Quotes       Data Conversion and Encoding       Serialization     Form Data Integrity       Securing Hidden Elements       The protect() Function       The validate() Function       Putting protect() and validate() into Action     Form Processing       Basic Form Processing and Validation       General-Purpose Form Validation       Separation of Presentation from Validation     Summary 6. Persistent Data Using Sessions and Cookies.     HTTP Cookies       Cookie Features and Restrictions       How Cookies Are Implemented       Implementing Cookies in Your Scripts     PHP Sessions       Basic Session Use       Session Propagation     Advanced Sessions       Custom Session Handling       Customizing Session Support     Summary 7. Using Templates.     The What and Why of Templates       Separating Common Elements from Code       A (Quick) Template System Example     The Smarty Template Engine       Installing Smarty       Basic Smarty: Variables and Modifiers       Configuration Files and Functions     Summary II. ADVANCED WEB DEVELOPMENT. 8. PEAR.     What Is PEAR?       A Code Library       A Coding Standard       A System for Distribution and Maintenance       The PHP Foundation Classes       The PEAR Package Manager       A Diverse Community     Getting and Installing PEAR       On *NIX Systems       On Windows Systems       Through a Web Browser     Using the PEAR Package Manager       Listing Packages       Finding Packages       Installing and Upgrading Packages       Uninstalling Packages       Alternative Installation Methods     Using the PEAR Website       Browsing the Package List       Searching for a Package       Downloading and Installing a Package     Using PEAR Packages in Applications       Setting Up php.ini       Including the Package       Using Packages Not Installed Through pear     Summary     Reference       Mailing Lists/Newsgroups       WWW       Other 9. XSLT and Other XML Concerns.     Relating XML to HTML     Using XSLT to Describe HTML Output Using XML Input       XSL Stylesheets       XSLT File Format Basics       Commonly Used XSLT Instructions       Using XSLT Instruction Elements with XSLT Patterns       Sample XML to HTML Transformation Using XSLT     PHP4 and XSLT Using the DOM XML Module       Sample Transformation Using PHP4 and DOM XML       DOM XML Functions and Properties of Note for XSLT Users       Including XSLT Support in PHP4 via DOM XML     PHP4 and XSLT Using the XSLT Module       Sample Transformation Using PHP4 and XSLT       XSLT Functions and Properties of Note       Including XSLT Support in PHP4 via XSLT     PHP5 and XSLT       Sample Transformation Using PHP5       PHP5 Functions and Properties of Note for XSLT Users       Including XSL Support in PHP5     Accessing XML Data Using SimpleXML       Using SimpleXML in PHP Scripts       Additional Notes About SimpleXML in PHP Scripts     Generating XML Documents Using PHP       Functions and Properties for Storing XML Objects as Files     Summary     References 10. Debugging and Optimizations.     Debugging Your PHP Scripts       Syntax-Related Bugs       Logical Bugs     Optimizing Your PHP Scripts       The Secret to Finding Optimizations-Profiling       Common PHP Bottlenecks and Solutions     Summary 11. User Authentication.     Authenticating Users in PHP       Why?       Using HTTP Authentication with Apache       Using HTTP Authentication       Using PHP Sessions     Securing PHP Code       Register_Globals       Maximum Error       Trust No One-Especially Not User Data       Printing User Data       Working with Files       Working with Databases     Summary 12. Data Encryption.     Shared Secret Versus Public Key     Shared Secret Algorithms       Phrase Substitution       Character Substitution       Taking It Further       Stronger Encryption Algorithms     Public Key Cryptography       The RSA Algorithm       Signing Versus Safeguarding       Man in the Middle     Using Public Keys in PHP       SSL Streams       Generating a Public Key Certificate and Private Key       Encrypting/Decrypting Data       Encrypting and Sending Secure Emails Using S/MIME     Summary 13. Object-Oriented Programming in PHP.     Why Objects?     Creating Basic Classes       Private, Protected, and Public       Constructors and Destructors       Class Constants       Static Methods       Class Inheritance     Advanced Classes       Abstract Classes and Methods       Interfaces       Final Classes and Methods     Special Methods       Getters and Setters       The __call() Method       The __toString() Method     Class Autoloading     Object Serialization     Exceptions       Understanding the Call Stack       The Exception Class       Throwing and Catching Exceptions     Iterators     Summary 14. Error Handling.     The PHP Error-Handling Model       Error Types     What to Do About Errors     The Default Error Handler     Error Suppression     Custom Error Handlers     Causing Errors     Putting It All Together     Summary 15. Working with HTML/XHTML Using Tidy.     Introduction     Basic Tidy Usage       Parsing Input and Retrieving Output       Cleaning and Repairing Documents       Identifying Problems Within Documents     Tidy Configuration Options       Tidy Options at Runtime       Tidy Configuration Files     Using the Tidy Parser       How Documents Are Stored in Tidy       The Tidy Node     Applications of Tidy       Tidy as an Output Buffer       Converting Documents to CSS       Reducing Bandwidth Usage       Beautifying Documents       Extracting URLs from a Document     Summary 16. Writing Email in PHP.     The MIME Protocol     Implementing MIME Email in PHP       The MIMEContainer and MIMESubcontainer Classes       The MIMEAttachment, MIMEContent, and MIMEMessage Classes     Summary III. BUILDING APPLICATIONS IN PHP. 17. Using PHP for Console Scripting.     Core CLI Differences     Working with PHP CLI       Command-Line Arguments and Return Codes     CLI Tools and Extensions       The Readline Extension       Creating User Interfaces     Summary 18. SOAP and PHP.     What Are Web Services?       Transport with SOAP       Description with WSDL       Directory Lookup with UDDI     Installation     Creating Web Services     Consuming Web Services     Looking for Web Services     Summary 19. Building WAP-Enabled Websites.     What Is WAP?     System Requirements       Nokia Mobile Internet Toolkit       Ericsson WapIDE       Openwave SDK       Motorola Wireless IDE/SDK     Introduction to WML       WML Structure       Text       Links       Graphics       WML Forms     Serving WAP Content       MIME Types       Web Server Configuration       Setting MIME Type from PHP       Client Detection       Displaying Graphics     Sample Applications       Server-Side Form Data Processing       WAP Cinema Reservation System     Summary IV. I/O, SYSTEM CALLS, AND PHP. 20. Working with the File System.     Working with Files in PHP       Reading and Writing Text Files       Reading and Writing Binary Files       Working with Directories in PHP     File Permissions       How Unix Permissions Work       Working with Permissions from PHP     File Access Support Functions       Logic Functions       File Manipulation       Specialized File Access     Summary 21. Network I/O.     DNS/Reverse DNS Lookups       Retrieving the DNS Record by IP       Retrieving IP Addresses Based on Hostname       Determining DNS Record Information     Socket Programming       Socket Basics       Creating a New Socket       Dealing with Socket Errors       Creating Client Sockets       Creating Server Sockets       Working with Multiple Sockets at Once     Network Helper Functions     Summary 22. Accessing the Underlying OS from PHP.     Introduction     Unix-Specific OS Functionality       Direct Input and Output (I/O)       PHP POSIX Functions       Unix Process Control     Platform-Independent System Functions       Executing Applications from PHP       Basic External Application Execution       Single-Direction External Command Pipes       Dealing with the System Environment     A Brief Note About Security     Summary V. WORKING WITH DATA IN PHP. 23. Introduction to Databases.     Using the MySQL Client     Basic MySQL Usage       RDBMS Fundamentals       Performing Queries Using SQL     Summary 24. Using MySQL with PHP.     Performing Queries from PHP       MySQLi Basics       Executing Multiple Queries       Creating a Visitor-Tracking System       Prepared Statements       Transactions     A MySQLi Session Handler     What Is a Custom Session Handler?       Defining Your Own Session Handler       The MySQLi Session Handler     Summary 25. Using SQLite with PHP.     What Makes SQLite Unique?       General Differences Between SQLite and MySQL       How SQLite Deals with Textual and Numeric Types       How SQLite Treats NULL Values       Accessing a Database from Multiple Processes     Basic SQLite Functionality       Opening and Closing Databases       Performing Queries       Retrieving Results       Handling Errors       Navigating Resultsets     Working with PHP UDFs in SQLite       Calling PHP Functions in SQL Queries     Odds and Ends     Summary 26. PHP's dba Functions.     Preparations and Settings     Creating a File-Based Database     Writing Data     Reading Data     Sample Application     Conclusion VI. GRAPHICAL OUTPUT WITH PHP. 27. Working with Images.     Basic Image Creation Using GD       Retrieving Image information     Using the PHP/GD Drawing Functions       Drawing Line-Based Geometric Shapes       Drawing Curved Surfaces       Filled Shapes and Image Functions     Working with Colors and Brushes       Working with the Image Palette       Drawing Using Brushes     Using Fonts and Printing Strings       Using GD's Internal Fonts       Using TrueType Fonts       Using Postscript Type 1     General Image Manipulation       Copying One Image to Another     Other Graphics Functions       EXIF Functions     Summary 28. Printable Document Generation.       A Note Regarding the Examples in This Part     Generating Dynamic RTF Documents     Generating Dynamic PDF Documents       The PDFLib Coordinate System       Using PDFLib Configuration Parameters       Generating PDF Documents from Scratch     Related Resources VII. APPENDIXES. Appendix A. Installing PHP5 and MySQL.     Installing PHP5       Linux       Windows       Mac OS X     Installing MySQL and PHP Modules       Linux       Windows     Installing PEAR Appendix B. HTTP Reference.     What Is HTTP?     PHP Programming Libraries for HTTP Work     Understanding an HTTP Transaction     HTTP Client Methods     What Comes Back: Server Response Codes     HTTP Headers     Encoding     Identifying Clients and Servers     The "Referer"     Fetching Content from an HTTP Source     Media Types     Cookies: Preserving State and a Tasty Treat     Security and Authorization     Client-Side Caching of HTTP Content Appendix C. Migrating Applications from PHP4 to PHP5.     Configuration     Object-Oriented Programming (OOP)     New Behavior of Functions     Further Reading Appendix D. Good Programming Techniques and Performance Issues.     Common Style Mistakes       Configuration Directives       PHP Is Forgiving, to a Fault       Reinventing the Wheel       Variables-Use Them, Don't Abuse Them     Common Security Concerns       Unintended Consequences       System Calls       Preventing System Call Attacks       Securing File Uploads     Style and Security-Logging       Logging Custom Error Messages     Summary Appendix E. Resources and Mailing Lists.     Relevant Websites     Mailing Lists and Newsgroups Index.