PHP Hacks: Tips & Tools For Creating Dynamic Websites

by Jack Herrington

Overview

Programmers love its flexibility and speed; designers love its accessibility and convenience. When it comes to creating web sites, the PHP scripting language is truly a red-hot property. In fact, PHP is currently used on more than 19 million web sites, surpassing Microsoft's ASP .NET technology in popularity. Not surprisingly, this surge in usage has resulted in a number of PHP books hitting the market. Only one, though, takes the language beyond traditional Web programming and into mapping, graphing, multimedia, and beyond: PHP Hacks.

In PHP Hacks, author Jack Herrington wrings out his 20 years of code generation experience to deliver hands-on tools ranging from basic PHP and PEAR installation and scripting to advanced multimedia and database optimizing tricks.

On the practical side of things, PHP Hacks helps you develop more robust PHP applications by explaining how to improve your database design, automate application testing, and employ design patterns in your PHP scripts and classes. In the category of "cool," Herrington explains how to upgrade your Web interface through the creation of tabs, stickies, popups, and calendars. He even examines how to leverage maps and graphics in PHP. There's also a bounty of image and application hacks, including those that show you how to:

• Integrate web sites with Google maps and satellite imaging
• Dynamically display iPhoto libraries online
• Add IRC, SMS, and Instant Messaging capabilities to your Web applications
• Drop the latest Wikipedia dictionary onto your Sony PSP
• Render graphics and user interfaces with SVG, DHTML, and Ajax

Whether you're a newcomer or an expert, you'll find great value in PHP Hacks, the only PHP guide that offers something useful and fun for everyone.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780596101398
Publisher:	O'Reilly Media, Incorporated
Publication date:	12/18/2005
Series:	Hacks
Pages:	468
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.17(d)

About the Author

Jack Herrington is an engineer, author and presenter who lives and works in the Bay Area. His mission is to expose his fellow engineers to new technologies. That covers a broad spectrum, from demonstrating programs that write other programs in the book Code Generation in Action. Providing techniques for building customer centered web sites in PHP Hacks. All the way writing a how-to on audio blogging called Podcasting Hacks. All of which make great holiday gifts and are available online here, and at your local bookstore. Jack also writes articles for O'Reilly, DevX and IBM Developerworks.



Jack lives with his wife, daughter and two adopted dogs. When he is not writing software, books or articles you can find him on his bike, running or in the pool training for triathlons. You can keep up with Jack's work and his writing at http://jackherrington.com.

Table of Contents

Dedication; Credits; About the Author; Contributors; Preface; Why PHP Hacks?; How to Use This Book; How This Book Is Organized; Conventions Used in This Book; Using Code Examples; How to Contact Us; Got a Hack?; Safari Enabled; Chapter 1: Installation and Basics; 1.1 Hacks 1–2: Introduction; 1 Install PHP; 2 Install PEAR Modules; Chapter 2: Web Design; 2.1 Hacks 3–10: Introduction; 3 Create a Skinnable Interface; 4 Build a Breadcrumb Trail; 5 Create HTML Boxes; 6 Add Tabs to Your Web Interface; 7 Give Your Customers Formatting Control with XSL; 8 Build Lightweight HTML Graphs; 9 Properly Size Image Tags; 10 Send HTML Email; Chapter 3: DHTML; 3.1 Hacks 11–26: Introduction; 11 Put an Interactive Spreadsheet on Your Page; 12 Create Pop-Up Hints; 13 Create Drag-and-Drop Lists; 14 Build Dynamic HTML Graphs; 15 Section Your Content with Spinners; 16 Create Drop-Down Stickies; 17 Create Dynamic Navigation Menus; 18 Obscure JavaScript Dynamically; 19 Build a DHTML Binary Clock; 20 Tame Ajax with JSON; 21 Make a DHTML Slideshow; 22 Add Vector Graphics with PHP; 23 Build a Color Selector; 24 Create Link Graphs; 25 Create an Interactive Calendar; 26 Create the Google Maps Scrolling Effect; Chapter 4: Graphics; 4.1 Hacks 27–33: Introduction; 27 Create Thumbnail Images; 28 Create Beautiful Graphics with SVG; 29 Simplify Your Graphics with Objects; 30 Split One Image into Multiple Images; 31 Create Graphs with PHP; 32 Create Image Overlays; 33 Access Your iPhoto Pictures with PHP; Chapter 5: Databases and XML; 5.1 Hacks 34–50: Introduction; 34 Design Better SQL Schemas; 35 Create Bulletproof Database Access; 36 Create Dynamic Database Access Objects; 37 Generate CRUD Database Code; 38 Read XML on the Cheap with Regular Expressions; 39 Export Database Schema as XML; 40 Create a Simple XML Query Handler for Database Access; 41 Generate Database SQL; 42 Generate Database Select Code; 43 Convert CSV to PHP; 44 Scrape Web Pages for Data; 45 Suck Data from Excel Uploads; 46 Load Your Database from Excel; 47 Search Microsoft Word Documents; 48 Create RTF Documents Dynamically; 49 Create Excel Spreadsheets Dynamically; 50 Create a Message Queue; Chapter 6: Application Design; 6.1 Hacks 51–66: Introduction; 51 Create Modular Interfaces; 52 Support Wiki Text; 53 Turn Any Object into an Array; 54 Create XML the Right Way; 55 Fix the Double Submit Problem; 56 Create User-Customizable Reports; 57 Create a Login System; 58 Apply Security by Role; 59 Migrate to MD5 Passwords; 60 Make Usable URLs with mod_rewrite; 61 Build an Ad Redirector; 62 Add a Buy Now Button; 63 Find Out Where Your Guests Are Coming From; 64 Import Information from vCards; 65 Create vCard Files from Your Application's Data; 66 Create a Shopping Cart; Chapter 7: Patterns; 7.1 Hacks 67–78: Introduction; 67 Observe Your Objects; 68 Create Objects with Abstract Factories; 69 Flexible Object Creation with Factory Methods; 70 Abstract Construction Code with a Builder; 71 Separate What from How with Strategies; 72 Link Up Two Modules with an Adapter; 73 Write Portable Code with Bridges; 74 Build Extensible Processing with Chains; 75 Break Up Big Classes with Composites; 76 Simplify APIs Using a Façade; 77 Create Constant Objects with Singletons; 78 Ease Data Manipulation with Visitors; Chapter 8: Testing; 8.1 Hacks 79–85: Introduction; 79 Test Your Code with Unit Tests; 80 Generate Your Unit Tests; 81 Check for Broken Links; 82 Test Your Application with Simulated Users; 83 Test Your Application with Robots; 84 Spider Your Site; 85 Generate Documentation Automatically; Chapter 9: Alternative UIs; 9.1 Hacks 86–94: Introduction; 86 Create Custom Maps with MapServer; 87 Build GUI Interfaces with GTk; 88 Send RSS Feeds to Your IM Application Using Jabber; 89 IRC Your Web Application; 90 Read RSS Feeds on Your PSP; 91 Search Google by Link Graph; 92 Create a New Interface for Amazon.com; 93 Send SMS Messages from Your IM Client; 94 Generate Flash Movies on the Fly; Chapter 10: Fun Stuff; 10.1 Hacks 95–100: Introduction; 95 Create Custom Google Maps; 96 Create Dynamic Playlists; 97 Create a Media Upload/Download Center; 98 Check Your Network Game with PHP; 99 Put Wikipedia on Your PSP; 100 Create a Weather Showdown; Colophon;