My first PHP book was “Beginning PHP4” which I read in 2002. I still remember that dark red cover with smiling faces on top of it 
. It was a good book. I should rather say it was a very good one for kick-starting PHP that time.
So far I’ve read a lot of books written on PHP. But when someone asks me which one is my favorite, I get three or may be four which were very good. First one was Professional PHP Programming. Then comes PHP5 Power Programming. Next comes Advanced PHP Programming and Finally I must say about Zend Enterprise PHP Patterns. Of course there are other books which are very good in fact. But these are my favorite (Well, you see that Beginning PHP4 and Professional PHP4 are obsolete by now, but they helped me a lot that time)
If I have to choose my most favorite one – I would vote for Advanced PHP programming
What is your most favorite Book on PHP? It doesn’t matter if they are obsolete or 10 years old – Just share you most favorite one with us
PHP Cookbook
O’Reilly
Can’t wait for the 3rd Edition!
Yes, PHP Cookbook is a very good one. Looking forward to see the 3rd edition
I have all the books you mentioned except ‘PHP5 Power Programming’.
I vote for Advanced PHP Programming – by far offers the most useful information on some really good programming practices, various solutions and approaches.
I can still clearly remember in my head for the first time I’ve talked to you and suggested me the book PHP5 Power Programming then learned from it. All I can say is great book for both beginner and advanced php devs.
You can download the book from Bruce Perens open source series page, for free (Its made free by the publisher themselves, so dont worry) Bruce Perens Open Source Books Page
PHP Objects, Patterns,
and Practice – Matt Zandstra
Beginning PHP4 was the book I started with too!
To be honest, the best book on PHP i’ve read, is not actually a book on PHP.
The Pragmatic Programmer, I think, was a book that taught me how to approach problems rather than the specifics of how to solve them.
Would thoroughly recommend it to anyone.
zend enterprise php patterns among your favourites? seriously? the book came out after half the products in there were invalidated by new versions and it’s mostly a product plug.
Dyson, I think you are probably mixing it up with some other book? – I am not sure. Because the book focus largely on common enterprise patterns. I really liked chapters on scalability and myql tuning and clustering. I found it’s a good book and went into the depth of some core techniques of scaling.
I am currently enjoying “PHP in Action” (http://www.amazon.com/PHP-Action-Objects-Design-Agility/dp/1932394753/).
I enjoyed two books very much:
PHPArchitect’s Guide to Enterprise PHP development (http://phparch.com/books/isbn/9780973862188) by Ivo Jansch (http://jansch.nl)
PHPArchitect’s Guide to Date and Time Programming (http://phparch.com/books/isbn/9780981034508) by Derick Rethans (http://derickrethans.nl)
PHP Objects, Patterns,
and Practice – Matt Zandstra
The only PHP book I ever read (or needed) was Core PHP Programming by Leon Atkinson: http://www.amazon.com/Core-PHP-Programming-Leon-Atkinson/dp/013020787X.
I started learning PHP by reading ‘Programming PHP’ by Rasmus Lerdorf of O’Reilly. I also refer PHP Manual often. And yes now I am focusing on ‘Advanced PHP Programming’!
I’m biased, because when I dove back into PHP I wasn’t satisfied with any of the reference books out there; the portable, function rich book that helps you remember all the nuances of each function. So, I wrote one, and I’m its biggest fan:
PHP Reference: Beginner to Intermediate PHP5
I think Beginning PHP4 was one of the first PHP books I had as well. The two that I consider my favorite though are Advanced PHP Programming and PHP in Action. The thing I really liked about PiA was that it doesn’t go through the basic PHP stuff, it just dives into OOP, Unit Testing and whatnot.
I have to agree that Advanced PHP Programming is a really good book, as I look at it on my bookshelf. I must say the best book for PHP5/OOP was “PHP 5 Objects, Patterns, and Practice” by Matt Zandstra. The 2nd edition came out last year.
Yup, PHP 5 Objects, Patterns, and Practice is a good book. I have it’s first edition in my collection.
I first read Beginning PHP4 in 2006, its really a nice book because first time I learn html/php and mysql from the same book. My most favorite book PHP 5 Power Programming.
PHP Objects, Patterns and Practice – Matt Zandstra
The PHP book that I have read is PHP and MySQL Web Development By Welling & Thomson (http://www.amazon.com/PHP-MySQL-Web-Development-4th/dp/0672329166).
I think this may be one of the best books out there for beginners.
I also love the book PHP Objects, Patterns and Practice (http://www.amazon.com/PHP-Objects-Patterns-Practice-Second/dp/1590599098)
I have always liked to wrox series of books. I vote for Professional PHP5. (http://www.amazon.com/dp/product/servicebrook-20/0764572822/).
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PHP and mySQL Web Development – http://www.amazon.com/PHP-MySQL-Web-Development-4th/dp/0672329166/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1258554034&sr=1-1
Great book to get started with. I actually meet and spoke with one of the authors Laura Thompson at CafeFest and didn’t even realize it.
For me no one. I purchased 1-2 books are 2 yrs but could not read that.
php.net manual is my book.
Hey! One thing though. You said smarty will be dead but it is still running. I also thought that it should be dead as it server no great purpose so I was looking for others who has similar thought and have found you.
I have posted this thought on my blog. but smarty is not dead and I am thinking what to do for my wrong prediction that smarty will not survive!
I am surprised why you think smarty will be dead where you have written a book for it!
mine is wrox’s beginning php. But my fav is php manual, though it’s not a book. it’s actually more than a book.
Ha how brilliant, all the big support for Matt Zandstra’s “Objects, Patterns and Practice.” I thought Larry Ullman’s stuff provides a really good introduction then Zandstra’s book just reads heavenly. I get annoyed when a book leads by example, unless it’s done in a way so as to grind home that point, not just illustrate syntax, which Zandstra does really well! The early stuff on the ShopProduct class just feels so natural and every bit of the example is relevant.
I guess, actually, the reason for my enthusiasm is that this is a book that, for once, is worth as much for the manner in which it is written as the content it covers. It’s not, “this is how you do this”, and it doesn’t, in fact, labour on explaining syntax as most books do. It’s almost axiomatic in its approach (I might be exaggerating now, but it _is_ really concise).
I like the fact that he makes no assumptions about the (lack of) intelligence of his readers… lots of books i’ve read lately you could just download the source code and get going.
Aloha! edv
my one is – PHP Bible
I forgot which was my first PHP Book. LOL…
for me Advanced Php Programming is the one i like object oriented programming and design patterns and i appereciate that book for that.
@hasin bhai, Thanks for the link of PHP5 Power Programming. I just download it
wrox’s php best one
Thank you so much for article