Being a fair programmer may not always be enough to be a fair web programmer. Web programming has some peculiarities on its own. Defining a sound architecture for a web site is all but a straightforward task. This may explain why the software I wrote for this blog has grown a bit out of control O:-) (and, put it in this way, allows my ego to be safe).That’s why I looked for a book to improve my PHP web programming and found “PHP in Action”.
The book is packed with pleasant surprises. First of all it is a darn good book on web programming. Author spends a good time in explaining scenarios and examining programming patterns in easy-to-complex order able to solve the related problems.
But the book is a really good book on design in general. Several patterns are described in a hands-on, no-nonsense approach. More are introduced when dealing with specific aspects of web programming. A brief introduction to object oriented programming is included as well.
I found very valuable the presentation on Unit Test and the arguments for Test Driven Design, so much that I promptly searched a unit test library suitable for C and C++, so that I could use the same approach on my daily job.
If you are interested in PHP programming for Web I highly recommend this book.