Effortless E-Commerce with PHP and MySQL

by Larry Ullman

In this comprehensive guide to creating an e-commerce Web site using PHP and MySQL, renowned author Larry Ullman walks you through every step--designing the visual interface, creating the database, presenting content, generating an online catalog, managing the shopping cart, handling the order and the payment process, and fulfilling the order--always with security and best practices emphasized along the way. Even if you're an experienced Web developer, you're guaranteed to learn something new. The book uses two e-commerce site examples--one based on selling physical products that require shipping and delayed payment, and another that sells non-physical products to be purchased and delivered instantly--so you see the widest possible range of e-commerce scenarios. In 11 engaging, easy-to-follow chapters, Effortless E-Commerce with PHP and MySQL teaches you how- Think of the customer first, in order to maximize sales- Create a safe server environment and database- Use secure transactions and prevent common vulnerabilities- Incorporate different payment gateways- Design scalable sites that are easy to maintain- Build administrative interfaces- Extend both examples to match the needs of your own sitesLarry Ullman is the president of Digital Media and Communications Insights, Inc., a firm specializing in information technology (www.dmcinsights.com). He is the author of several bestselling programming and Web development books, including PHP and MySQL for Dynamic Web Visual QuickPro Guide. Larry also writes articles on these subjects and teaches them in small and large group settings. Despite working with computers, programming languages, databases, and such since the early 1980s, Larry still claims he's not a computer geek (but he admits he can speak their language).

Genres: Software

409 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 21, 2010

About the author

Larry Ullman is a writer, Web and software developer, trainer, instructor, speaker, and consultant. He has written 23 books and numerous articles. His books have sold over 350,000 copies world wide in more than 20 languages. As his readers, students, and co-workers can attest, Larry’s strength is in Translating Geek into English: converting the technical and arcane into something comprehensible and useful.

Reviews

[Dave Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is great book to keep your skills sharp. It assumes that you have a working knowledge of back-end development, so it's going to be over your head if you're new to PHP. I particularly enjoyed the work with various MySQL techniques (prepared statements, etc.). Ullman provides great discussion of security considerations in e-commerce, and there's hands-on experience with PayPal, Authorize.net and (best of all) Stripe.

I disagree with some of Ullman's coding practices (personal preferences). My biggest complaint is that the template he uses for the second site built in the book is not web standards compliant. However, since the purpose of the book is not the front-end development, something needed to supplied, so this is a minor issue.

This is a worthwhile read for any developer working in the e-commerce space.

[أحمد زبيدة · Rating 2 out of 5]

لا أعرف إن كنت سأكمل الكتاب أم لا والمؤكد أنني لن أشتري نسخته الورقية .. وذلك بسبب ترددي بين الجانب الجيد وهو ندرة فكرة الكتاب المبنية على تقديم الخبرة العملية وليس العلمية من خلال العمل على مشاريع خطوة خطوة وبين الجانب السيء وهو أسلوب mysqli المستخدم الآخذ في الإنحسار أمام pdo وبسبب تقطع أسلوب الكتاب وإنتقاله بركاكة من الشرح إلى الكود والعكس. الكتاب نادر في فكرته سيء في طرحه.