PHP5: Beyond the Objects

So you think that PHP 5 is all about Object-orientedProgramming, eh? While OOP is certainly one of the major sellingpoints of PHP 5, there is plenty to be excited about even if youare the procedural type—read on to find out why. Join authorJohn Coggeshall for a tour of the new features offered by thelatest version of the world’s most popular web developmentlanguage!—by John Coggeshall

The Ultimate PHP 5 Shopping Cart

Imagine a user-friendly shopping cart that allows thecustomer to make instantaneous order adjustments without waitingfor the page to refresh, queries UPS (or your courier of choice)for all the available shipping rates and charges the customerscredit card upon checkout. That same cart also handles the SSLsecurity automatically, maintains its functionality regardless ofthe user’s browser and is XHTML 1.1, Section 508 and W3C WAIcompliant. Sounds too good to be true? Then let Eric David Wienershow how it can be done!—by Eric Wiener

PHP Sockets + Flash = Chatroom with Style

Chatrooms in php used to be limited to refresh hacks thattended to be slow and bogged down the server. Where once there wasHTML and PHP combined, there is now Flash and PHP—apowerhouse combination that with care can allow you to createelegant and graceful interfaces. Richard Thomas shows you how asimple chatroom is only the beginning of things to come.—by Richard Thomas

PHP and Databases

To many object-oriented developers, there is a sense that therelational model for data management is at odds with the conceptsof object-oriented development. Are these views justified? Are theypractical? In the first of this two-part series, Rick Morrisexamines some of the issues at stake when object-orientedapplications need to interact with relational databases.—by Rick Morris

Error Handling with PHP 5 and PEAR

We all want our applications to be error free, but, like itor loathe it, this will almost never be the case. The biggestvariable in our applications will always be data input—thatis, any data supplied by the user. What do we do when somethinggoes wrong? In this article, Davey Shafik explores the best ways tohave the application continue to function properly while informingthe user of any errors that occur.—by Davey Shafik

Migrating your data to InnoDB

The InnoDB storage engine (www.innodb.com) offers manyimprovements for MySQL developers. This article by Marc Delisle(author of “Mastering phpMyAdmin for Effective MySQL Management,”published by PACKT and now available worldwide) gives an overviewof InnoDB, then focuses on using phpMyAdmin (www.phpmyadmin.net)for InnoDB tables management.—by Marc Delisle