PHP 5 Recipes is essentially a cookbook of programming snippets. You will be able to search for the topic you are interested in and then find a sample you can integrate into your own projects. Each recipe has an overview, contains code listing, and is followed by an in-depth explanation of how the code works and where it might be applicable. This book will guide you through the PHP 5 functionality set. In Chapter 1, you will start with the basics, including a complete overview of what makes the PHP language what it is. In Chapter 2, you will enter the world of object-oriented programming and see the advancements in PHP’s fifth rendition. In Chapter 3, you will learn how to take care of math issues (with an object-oriented approach, of course); in Chapter 4, you will enter the flexible and powerful world of arrays. One issue that can be a constant battle for programmers is dates and times. Therefore, Chapter 5 covers date and time–related functionality. Chapter 6 covers how to work with everyone’s favorite virtual textile, strings. Chapter 7 covers files and directories and explains in detail how PHP 5 can deal with a server’s file structure. Once you have a good grasp of how to work with files and directories, you can then move into the rather amusing Chapter 8, which covers dynamic imaging; this chapter will teach you everything you need to know about creating images that can captivate the Internet and its audience. Because working with regular expressions can be a difficult endeavor, Chapter 9 provides you with some custom expressions to help you improve your programming skills. Then you will return to the basics; Chapter 10 covers variables, and Chapter 11 explains functions. Don’t be fooled, though—PHP 5 has added a lot of functionality that will make these two chapters interesting and informative. We will then get away from the basic programming content and cover web basics. In Chapter 12, you will understand how to use some of the bells and whistles available in PHP 5. Forms will follow in Chapter 13, which contains a lot of functionality for providing a web interface to your potential development projects. Chapter 14 is on the cutting edge of technology in that it provides an in-depth listing of markup recipes. Things will then wind down to Chapter 15, which covers MySQL and brings you up to speed on the technology associated with the new mysqli extension; these recipes use MySQL 4.1. Lastly, Chapter 16 provides an informative look at Internet services.

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Regular expressions, a powerful tool for manipulating text and data, are found in scripting languages, editors, programming environments, and specialized tools. In this book, author Jeffrey Friedl leads you through the steps of crafting a regular expression that gets the job done. He examines a variety of tools and uses them in an extensive array of examples, with a major focus on Perl. 

Regular expressions are a powerful tool for manipulating text and data. If you don't use them yet, you will discover in this book a whole new world of mastery over your data. If you already use them, you'll appreciate this book's unprecedented detail and breadth of coverage. If you think you know all you need to know about regular expressions, this book is a stunning eye-opener. With regular expressions, you can save yourself time and aggravation while dealing with documents, mail messages, log files — you name it — any type of text or data. For example, regular expressions can play a vital role in constructing a World Wide Web CGI script, which can involve text and data of all sorts. Regular expressions are not a tool in and of themselves, but are included as part of a larger utility. The classic example is grep. These days, regular expressions can be found everywhere, such as in:

• Scripting languages (including Perl, Tcl, awk, and Python)
• Editors (including Emacs, vi, and Nisus Writer)
• Programming environments (including Delphi and Visual C++)

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