Well hello there! Aren’t you just the most handsome AND/OR beautiful reader on the
planet! Well done you for buying PHP Pandas, and for taking the first step towards
your career as a world-famous web developer.
Who am I? Well that’s a simple question! My name’s Dayle, and I’ll be your author
for this adventure. I’ve been writing books for beginners for a few years now, and
have taken many other charming readers like yourself on adventures to learning
new skills. We’ll make new discoveries together, and all along the journey, rest
assured that I’ll be right by your side.
Why do you write like a crazy person?
Excuse me? Oh this.. Well you see, this is the only way that I know how to write. If
you’re looking for a technical book full of science teacher stern-ness (Is that a word?
I hope that’s a word.) then I’m afraid you’ve come to the wrong place. I write my
books for people. I like to think that we’re buddies, sitting in the pub, talking about
PHP over a pint of Special Bre... Fosters.
The truth is, the beginners that I’ve written for tend to like my writing style. They’re
not looking to gain a maths degree from this book, instead they’re looking to learn
a thing or two about PHP, and that, I can promise you!
Oh hey, you’ll also notice that we’re talking right now. You don’t get that from other
authors do you? You see, I have this magic power that will make you talk to me and
ask your questions.
Wait, how did you do tha...
That would be trade secret. Sorry, we can’t share that just yet, but don’t you feel
glad that you get to be a part of this adventure, and not just an observer?
I guess so... Sure I’ll give it a go.
Excellent.
Well now’s about the time where any other book would be telling you about PHP,
it’s whole history, its application, its author and about a million other things. Well
we’ve already established that I’m not the most traditional author, and I’m not fondIntroduction
2
of such chapters. You’ve bought this book to learn about PHP, so you’ve already built
up a little curiosity about the language. I think this is all you’re going to need.
PHP is a programming language that powers most of the sites out there on the big,
wide ol’ interwebs. It was originally written by a guy called Rasmus Lerdorf, who
can often be seen smiling in pretty much any image you find of him on Google. Now,
Rasmus is a great guy, and in my own way I thank him each and every day for this
language that has given me a trade, but I think that’s all you need to know about
him. Other PHP books would probably be telling you his favourite cereal about now,
but instead, how about we actually jump in and start learning?
This book is for absolute beginners. This means that if you’ve never tried pro-
gramming before in your life then you’re in luck my friend! If you’ve already tried
programming, then you’ll do just fine. If you’re a PHP expert, then now’s a time for
a refresh of your skills, and maybe you’ll pick up a few tips and tricks along the
way.
I’ve been using my girlfriend (no dev experience), my non-technical colleagues, and
random people on the street, forcing my book upon them as guinea pigs to see how
it goes down with folks that have no prior knowledge of PHP. My little guinea pigs
did exceedingly well, so now it’s your turn, squeak squeak!
My goal for this book, is for it to become the most fun, factual, and fantastic PHP
book that’s on the market. I want it to be the book that gets recommended when
someone is about to become a PHP developer. I’ve worked really hard to make it
accessible to everyone, so if you enjoy this adventure then please tweet about it,
blog about it, buy copies for your friends and family, or just print it out and slap
people in the face with it as you pass them on the street.
This book is a syntax book for PHP. It’s not going to teach you how to make websites
(I’m working on the title in the series for this). Instead, it’s the first step that will
build your foundation knowledge of the language so that when you come to build
your first website, you’re gonna be @% £ˆ hot, baby!
If you read the book and you feel like something is missing, that a certain chapter is
confusing, or there’s anything else bothering you, then please send me an email to
[email protected] to let me know! I’m incredibly responsive (thanks to all my media
queries... haha... programmer joke), and I want this book to be perfect for everyone.
If you read the book and you didn’t find anything wrong, well... send me an email
to tell me you enjoyed it! I’d love to hear from you.
Right then, let’s not waste any more time. You’ve got some skills to learn! Flip the
page, imagine the Jurassic Park theme when they open the gates, and prepare to
enter the world of development!
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