Top Free Training Resources for PHP and MySQL

PHP (PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor) is a reflective programming language originally designed for producing dynamic Web pages. PHP is used mainly in server-side software and its server side scripting language that is typically embedded in HTML. It is used to manage dynamic content, databases, session tracking, even build entire e-commerce sites. It is integrated with a number of popular databases, including MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, and Microsoft SQL Server.

Here are some common uses of PHP:

• It performs system functions, such as creating, writing, and reading files on a server
• It has the ability to manage forms, gathering data from files, saving data to files, allowing users to send and receive data, to and from the server.
• Users can add, delete, modify elements within a web site's database via PHP.
• As the webmaster, you can restrict users' access to specific pages are sections of your website.
• You can use PHP to encrypt data.

I have researched the web for what I consider to be the Top Free Training documents for PHP and its related open source database, MySQL. The following are what I have found after trimming the list to only the best Free PHP / MySQL training and tutorial web resources.
PHP 5 Power Programming
Download this Free ebook teaching you how to code with PHP version 5. (9.4mb, 720 pages, pdf format)

Table of Contents:

• Chapter 1: What is New in PHP 5
• Chapter 2: PHP 5 Basic Language
• Chapter 3: PHP 5 OO Language
• Chapter 4: PHP 5 Advanced OOP and Design Patterns
• Chapter 5: How to Write a Web Application with PHP
• Chapter 6: Databases with PHP 5
• Chapter 7: Error Handling
• Chapter 8: XML with PHP 5
• Chapter 9: Mainstream Extensions
• Chapter 10: Using PEAR
• Chapter 11: Important PEAR Packags
• Chapter 12: Building PEAR Components
• Chapter 13: Making the Move
• Chapter 14: Performance
• Chapter 15: An Introduction to Writing PHP Extensions
• Chapter 16: PHP Shell Scripting

Learn Basic PHP in 6 Weeks
Learn how to make dynamic web pages in order to capture forms, make content updates easier, store information in a database, test and track sales, personalize the content to each reader, and a whole lot more that is just not possible to do with static html. (pdf, 67 pages, 312kb)

Table of Contents:

1. Getting started
2. Commenting your code
3. Language Reference
1. Types
2. Variables
3. Constants
4. Operators
4. for and while Loop
5. Handling Forms
6. Emails
7. Date and Time functions
8. PHP include function - creating the Header and Footer
9. How to set up a mysql database
10. How to set up tables in the interface
11. Cookies and Sessions
12. How to create table through PHP
13. Case study: a CMS (content management system) or Blog

PHP Security Briefing
(pdf, 49 slides, 225kb)
Slides Outline:

• Two Best Programming Practices
• Two Most Common Vulnerabilities
• Lightning Attacks
• More Information
• Questions and Answers

PHP/MySQL Tutorial
This is a three lesson PHP tutorial. In the first one you will learn how to setup a MySQL database for both Windows and Linux, and then use some simple scripts to insert data into it and to display data on a web page. The second lesson covers while loops, else statements, and HTML forms, along with showing you how to add, edit, and remove information from the database. In the third lesson, you will learn data validation techniques, and how PHP handles includes and functions. (pdf, 32 pages, 570kb)

Create Dynamic Sites with PHP and MySQL
This tutorial shows you how to use two open source, cross-platform tools for creating a dynamic web site: PHP and MySQL. When finished reading this tutorial, you sill know how dynamic sites work and how they serve content. You will also be prepared to setup and serve dynamic content from your own web site. (pdf, 19 pages, 615kb)


Accessing MySQL from PHP
This guide is an attempt to provide complete information on accessing MySQL API functionality from PHP web scripting language. PHP functionality, including installation process, is about the same for all POSIXcompatible operating systems, while it slightly differs for Microsoft Windows, and thus two MySQL-API installation sections are included to this guide. The information provided in this guide is mostly OS-independent. (pdf, 29 pages, 235kb)


PX : the PHP Code Exchange
Since 1996, the PX has provided free, high-quality PHP scripts, programs, and code snippets.


Handouts for Advanced Topics in Database
(University of Ibadan)

• Entity-relation
• Relational modeling
• Object modeling
• PHP Tutorial
• PHP Short reference
• PHP installation
• MySQL Tutorial

Lecture Notes from Hypermedia and the Web Course
(John Baskin School of Engineering)

• Overview of early hypertext systems
• Hypertext system types
• Overview of Web Engineering process
• Introduction to XML, DTD language
• SAX parsing of XML
• Cascading Style Sheets
• Object-orientation in PHP
• PHP Form Input
• PHP Session Management
• UML and PHP
• HTTP
• HTTP Caching
• Database connectivity with PHP
• SQL injection attacks
• XPath and XSLT Introduction
• XSLT Language Overview and Processing Model

PHP Tips and Tricks
79 pages of useful tips and tricks for coding your web pages with PHP. (pdf, 79 pages, 540kb)


First 4 Chapters of Build Your Own Database Driven Website Using PHP and MySQL
These four chapters cover installing PHP and MySQL, getting started with MySQL, getting started with PHP, and publishing MySQL data on the Web. (pdf, 111 pages, 1.01mb)


VT Web Wizard Tutorial

1. Introduction
   1. What this tutorial will show you
   2. What you should already know
   3. Other useful tutorials
   4. Why PHP instead of Perl & DBI?
2. Starting Out
   1. "Hello World" in PHP
   2. Create a test table in MySQL
   3. Adding information to the test table
   4. Connecting to the Database with PHP
3. Basic Selects
   1. Selecting a single item
   2. Selecting a single row
   3. Selecting multiple rows
   4. Example code
4. Insert, Update and Delete
   1. Insert
   2. Update
   3. Delete