Summary: Episode 161 of The SitePoint Podcast is now available! This week our regular interview host Louis Simoneau (@rssaddict) interviews long-term podcast host, Kevin Yank (@sentience) who now works at Learnable and is releasing the fifth edition of his book on PHP and MySQL now called PHP and MySQL: Novice To Ninja (formerly Build Your Own Database Driven Website using PHP and MySQL). Listen in Your Browser Play this episode directly in your browser — just click the orange “play” button below: Download this Episode You can download this episode as a standalone MP3 file. Here’s the link: SitePoint Podcast #161: The Return of the Yank with Kevin Yank (MP3, 43:37, 41.9MB) Subscribe to the Podcast The SitePoint Podcast is on iTunes! Add the SitePoint Podcast to your iTunes player. Or, if you don’t use iTunes, you can subscribe to the feed directly. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1328644474660-10'); }); Episode Summary Louis and Kevin talk about how the changes in PHP over the 10 years since the launch of the book’s first version have driven the need for the different versions, and how the latests version differs to the previous editions. They also talk about how PHP still makes a great choice for getting beginners into server-side coding. Browse the full list of links referenced in the show at http://delicious.com/sitepointpodcast/161. Interview Transcript TLouis: Hello and welcome to another episode of the SitePoint Podcast. We are kicking it old school today on the podcast, we have an alum from the SitePoint Podcast joining us, and also the author of a new book from SitePoint, if you haven’t guessed yet it’s Kevin Yank; hi, Kevin. Kevin: Hello! Hi, I’m here, I’m back! Louis: Welcome back, it’s good to have you back. Kevin: Thank you. Yeah, it feels weird to be introduced still on this show. Louis: I was toying with the idea of letting you do the introduction and playing it all backwards and surreal. Kevin: It’s the lost episode. Louis: So, yeah, lately you’ve been hard at work cranking out the latest edition of SitePoint’s most venerable title. Kevin: Yeah. Louis: It used to be not only SitePoint’s most venerable title, but also SitePoint’s longest title in terms of the title. Kevin: Oh, yeah, it was really long! I think we’ve had others, it used to be called Build Your Own Database Driven Website Using PHP and MySQL, and I’ve gotten really used to saying it that way over the years, and now I can’t even call it that, that’s not the title of my book anymore; it’s now PHP & MySQL: Novice to Ninja, but even though it’s a different title it’s still the fifth edition. It blows your mind. Louis: My mind is blown, I have no reaction. Kevin: (Laughs) Louis: So, yeah, this is sort of our, as the title now says, Novice to Ninja, so beginner title for PHP and MySQL. Kevin: Yep. It was the first-ever book that SitePoint published way back in I want to say 2001, I think the book might have actually been published in 2002 for the first time. But, yeah, back when SitePoint wasn’t even a book publishing company someone said “You know these articles we have on PHP and MySQL are really popular, we should put them out as a book that we can sell.” And I said, “You’re crazy, these articles are available for free online, why would anyone pay for them?” And it turned out a lot of people wanted them in a book format, and it’s just a whole lot nicer to read that way. These days you can’t get the whole thing for free online, I’m afraid, sorry dear listener, you’ll have to buy a copy of the book (laughs). This is the fifth edition; it’s had five whole editions over the years. Louis: Why don’t we just talk a little bit about what’s changed in the world of PHP since the good olden days. Kevin: Well, since the first edition a lot has changed, and [...]
