Foundation PHP 5 for Flash

2nd
APR

Posted by IDM under PHP

Product Description
Our original Foundation PHP for Flash title was rightly regarded as a must-have title when it came to wanting to learn just how to make your Flash sites make use of backend technologies, that was published way back in the days of Flash 5 and PHP 4, and things move pretty fast in the world of web design!

This latest, completely rewritten, edition again brings together three of the web’s hottest technologies–Flash, the server-side language PHP, and the MySQL database system. We’ve brought things bang up to date, using ActionScript 2.0, PHP 5.0, and MySQL 4.1, the book has been designed to be version-neutral. In other words, you can be confident that you’re working with the latest standards, but that your applications won’t break if deployed on an older server. The book also provides a brief introduction to an alternative database system, SQLite, which is now automatically bundled with PHP 5 and requires no installation. At each stage of the book you’ll be given an overview of a new area of PHP/MySQL, introducing you to the syntax while showing how it compares to ActionScript, and how it integrates with Flash to produce increasingly complicated applications. For example, earlier chapters cover things such as getting data from PHP to Flash and back again, variables, arrays, string manipulation, validating user input, and feedback forms. Later on, it moves on to more advanced subjects such as creating databases via the MySQL console and via phpMyAdmin, manipulating database data via a Flash interface, displaying data from an RSS feed in Flash, persisting data with sessions, and creating a full blown content management system. In addition, to get you up and running, the book features a detailed guide to setting up your environment – PHP, MySQL, and the Apache web server – along with extensive troubleshooting information. PHP is the language of choice on nearly 18 million domains, and MySQL has more than five million active users, including industry leaders like Google, the Associated Press, Sony, and NASA. They’re open source and free; and with the help of this book, you’ll see that they’re easy and fun to learn.

From the Author
This book fills an important gap left by “Foundation PHP for Flash”, now long out of print and very much out of date. By no stretch of the imagination, though, is it a rehash of the earlier book. It has been completely rewritten to bring it up to date with all the latest versions: PHP 5, MySQL 4.1, and ActionScript 2.0.

While writing the book, the typical reader I’ve had in mind is someone already comfortable in the Flash authoring environment, and probably with some experience of ActionScript, who wants to add the power of PHP and the MySQL database to Flash movies to create a richer, more interactive experience. Although the book is project-driven, I’ve deliberately designed each chapter so readers can come back later, find the information they need, and use it as a reference book. I’ve also incorporated a lot of troubleshooting advice, based not only on my own experience, but on feedback from users in online forums. Rather than just throwing huge chunks of code at you, I explain what the code does, and why I’ve chosen a particular technique. All the ActionScript is described, too, so the book should also appeal to PHP programmers wanting to improve their ActionScript skills.

I’ve been using PHP/MySQL for many years, and was delighted that Sham Bhangal agreed to act as my technical editor. Sham’s an acknowledged expert on Flash and ActionScript (and the author of many best-selling books on the subject). Between us, I believe we’ve created a book that will not only take your skills to a higher level, but it’s one you’ll enjoy reading, too.

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