Now you are cooking.

Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.5/5)

The 4th edition of Murach’s PHP and MySQL is one of the best entry-to-intermediate books for learning server-side web development. Its clarity, security-first approach, and project-based methodology ensure that readers can build real, secure, database-driven websites by the end.

While it does not cover advanced topics like microservices, Docker, or modern frontend toolchains, it excels at what it promises: teaching PHP 8 and MySQL 8 together in a painless, well-structured way.

Bottom line: Highly recommended for anyone starting with PHP and MySQL in 2024–2025, especially as a classroom textbook or self-study manual.

Theory is useless without practice. Throughout the book, you build a complete e-commerce website called the "Guitar Shop."

By the end of the project, you haven't just read about PHP; you have built something tangible.

This edition has been fully updated to reflect modern web development standards, specifically focusing on PHP 7 and MySQL. Here is a breakdown of the core sections:

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

For over a decade, the "Murach" brand has been synonymous with a specific style of technical training: practical, no-nonsense, and physically structured for retention. The 4th Edition of Murach's PHP and MySQL continues this legacy, updating the curriculum for modern web development standards (PHP 8.x and MySQL 8.x).

If you are looking for a dense theoretical textbook on computer science, this is not it. However, if you are a developer who needs to build functional, secure, database-driven websites right now, this is arguably the best training resource on the market.