'PHP 5 Power Programming' Available for Download

OneSeventeen writes "As mentioned earlier on slashdot, the Bruce Perens Open Source series has expanded its selection with PHP 5 Power Programming. As with all of the books in this series, electronic copies are offered free of charge several months after its printed release. While it is always nice to have even more PHP books on the bookshelves, this has been officially released on the Bruce Perens' Open Source Series for download in the form of a 720 page PDF file. Better PHP programming is only 9.3MB away!"

Re:Why PDF?

[NitsujTPU]

Everyone uses PDF.

There are 2 formats that I download almost constantly (reading academic papers) postscript and pdf.

Re:Why PDF?

[NitsujTPU]

Just that everyone uses it :-)

Citeseer doesn't offer HTML, and many academic papers are difficult to find in that format. Mostly people pass around tex files and process them into whatever format is appropriate, since we don't want to process the tex, we pass around a nice looking PDF or PS.

As for benefits... eh, it looks the same to everyone who reads it. Essentially that's the benefit.

Re:Why PDF?

[NitsujTPU]

You're right.

What we were thinking.

Let me go tell everyone to change real quick.

Re:Why PDF?

[NitsujTPU]

What is the obsession you have with being so fractious.

Take it down a notch man.

Shit, the guy published his book in PDF format, and gave it away, and every post on this topic has been about the fact that he did it as PDF (guess nobody gives a shit about PHP).

Ok, fine. Nobody uses PDF, but you need a PDF reader to get that book, and any academic paper out of citeseer.

Re:Why PDF?

[NitsujTPU]

Ok, I gave you an answer with as much data as I have.

I have seen very few academic papers put out as HTML.

I have seen very many put out as PDF.

People put their paper into TeX, and then pop out a PDF. They do this so it looks the same way it did in the journal in which it was published.

As for the benefit, that's the benefit, that's why the do it. I'm sorry that you don't think that it's a benefit. If I read 2 or 3 papers, it helps me to have a hard copy that I can write on with a pen and a highlighter

Re:Why PDF?

[jascat]

Why would you use something like HTML, which is limited in it's layout abilities when you have PDF, which most formats can be converted to and distributed in a more managable package. PDF can be viewed on almost every system and it makes the most sense to use something that will be accessible by the most people. If you have such an issue with PDF, download it and take the text and convert it to HTML. When you are done, submit it back to the author and let him release it. Have fun typing argumentative ass.

Re:Why PDF?

[Bruce Perens]

We send it to the printer as PostScript, and there's a command-line program to convert PostScript to PDF and back.

Bruce

Link

[a1cypher]

Here is a link to said pdf: PDF [phptr.com]

Re:Yeah i really dont like PDF

[bcrowell]

pdf is stupid AND proprietary !
It's not proprietary.

Re:Yeah i really dont like PDF

[Bruce Perens]

We also make the document "source" available - be it Docbook or .doc files. Docbook is preferred. But the PDF we use doesn't make use of any proprietary features. It should render fine with Free Software. The main reason for using it is that we send PostScript to the printer, and there's a command-line tool to make PDF of that.

Bruce

But you do use proprietary software to do this

[pythonista]

Adobe Acrobat Reader shows that the document was created using Frame Maker 7.0 and AdobePS 8.8.0, and the PDF was created using Adobe Distiller 6.0.1 for Macintosh! I don't understand where DocBook and a command-line tool fit into the picture as Bruce claims. -bg-

Re:But you do use proprietary software to do this

[Bruce Perens]

This PDF was probably created by the publisher. I'm pretty sure there aren't Linux desktops there. Of the 15 books, there have been various ways of producing them.

Bruce

Re:Yeah i really dont like PDF

[Saeed al-Sahaf]

Well, the PDF format is not proprietary. What I do with book PDFs like this is print 'em out on the monster copy machine at work, and put 'em in a ring binder! Tech books and ring binders: a combination made in heaven...

Elitist idiot

[Anonymous Coward]

Part of being a good programmer is using the best tools for the job.

For many contracts, to act in the client's best interests, you have to build code that they can get up and running on a typical web hosting package. Practically all hosts offer PHP support. I have yet to see one offer Ruby support.

For many contracts, to act in the client's best interests, you have to develop something that other developers will be able to work on. This entails using commonplace languages like PHP, not obscure Japanese ones like Ruby.

Even if you hate the language, there are lots of reasons to pick PHP over Ruby. Posting comments like yours just gives the impression you are some student who likes to think you're better than everyone else because you've jumped on the latest trendy bandwagon. Grow up.

pdf reader for acrobat haters

[bairy]

I don't work for the company. I just like the software as its light, fast and no-install and it might be useful if you don't want to wait for acrobat.

Foxit reader [download.com]

PHP 5 Power Programming

[wdr1]

PHP 5 Power Programming? 720 pages?

Isn't it as simple as:

Chapter 1:
Use Perl
Index
Perl, 1

;-)

-Bill

Re:PHP 5 Power Programming

[NoSuchGuy]

A book about Perl programming?

Isn't it as simple as:

Chapter 1:
People hate Perl = PHP

Index
PHP, 1

;-)

enlightened publisher

[bcrowell]

Wow, check out the Perens series' web page [phptr.com] -- I hadn't realized they'd brought out so many titles. This is really impressively enlightened for a traditional print publisher. Note that all the books are available under a real free-as-in-speech license. Of the publishers that have tried making books free in digital form, almost all have made them free as in beer only. Prentice-Hall has really gone out on a limb for free information with the Perens series; it's even legal for their competitors to bring out competing editions of the same books! I hope this experiment turns out to be a commercial success, because that would be a big victory for free-as-in-speech books, and it would also help some of these writers to make a living while doing free information. BTW, all the books in the series are available for reviewing on theassayer.org [theassayer.org].