This book really is everything a beginner needs to start building dynamic Web site powered by PHP4, but old hands at programming also will find in it valuable information. PHP, of course, introduced in this book, but there are also approachable and effective introduction to programming in general. Thorough tutorial on basic concepts such as variables, keywords, and flow control will give even beginners an understanding of the basics of writing programs. Several chapters explore important and advanced topics like database programming (with MySQL) and PHP support for XML. You will learn also how to generate e-mail with PHP - certainly a valuable skill to have. The appendix lists several hundred PHP functions in more than 50 pages - a feature that is useful and beneficial Dragan. - Richard Topics covered: Introduction to PHP 4 Downloading and installing PHP basics of HTTP web pages and PHP as the scripting language PHP Constants and HTML data type conversion primary form decision variables in PHP Loops and PHP array functions in PHP error handling Writing Tips Debugging the code more maintainable instructions Preserving state with hidden form variables Query String Cookies and PHP4 native sessions Using PHP object file and directory functions PHP and uses MySQL database Installation Tutorial for SQL syntax query and update a record XML "quickstart" for PHP users Create e-mail and electronic newsletters PHP graphics processing (including image maps ) case study for the directory URL reference manager PHP4 ODBC functions tutorial