Apache, MySQL and PHP are each complex in and of themselves, and it's impossible for this book to cover every advanced detail of all three. The purpose of this book is to give you the best possible foundation for understanding how each of the core components work separately and together, which will enable you to take full advantage of all that they have to offer. When you’ve finished reading this book, you’ll have a thorough understanding of the core concepts you need to be an effective developer using Apache, MySQL, and PHP, and hopefully a burning desire to continue learning and growing as a developer.
We assume that anyone reading this book has some experience with web site development concepts and a basic working knowledge of HTML and CSS. Knowledge of other programming languages besides PHP is not a prerequisite for this book, but certainly any programming experience you have will help you understand and apply the concepts we present.
This book is geared toward the "newbie” to Apache, MySQL, and PHP, and we’ve done our best to distill many of the core concepts and code snippets down to their most basic levels. You will find more complex and perhaps more efficient ways of accomplishing the same tasks we present in this book as your knowledge, comfort level, and experience increase. When that happens, you can congratulate yourself and know that you have come over to the "dark side” to join us as Apache, MySQL, and PHP enthusiasts!
