XML: Visual QuickStart Guide

One of my super short reviews on the books I read in my My Way to PHP series.

XML: Visual QuickStart Guide by Kevin Howard Goldberg

I really love the layout of the book. It’s sounds superficial but it’s great. On one side there’s the code listing on the other the text explaining it. Splendid!

It’s a short book and quite practical. It’s also very easy on the reader. I could skip large parts because the examples were self-explanatory. I think it’s a good introduction if you want to work with XML, XPath and XSLT. Or just, like me, want an overview over the whole topic of XML.

Elemental Design Patterns

One of my super short reviews on the books I read in my My Way to PHP series.

Elemental Design Patterns by Jason McColm Smith

What are design patterns made out of? This book gives the answer. Jason McColm Smith shows the fundamentals of OOP languages called Elemental Design Patterns (EDPs).

The book begins to shows the fundamental entities in OOP languages and then looks at their relationship. The result is EDPs.

He also introduces PIN (Pattern Instance Notation), a simplified version to describe patterns visually.

The book features a catalogue of the EDPs in the format of GoF. It also shows intermediate patterns which help to explain the design patterns you learned in GoF.

All in all, a really good book which helps you to see the underlying themes in design patterns and understand the fundamentals on patterns in OOP. Recommended!

Pattern-Oriented Software Architecture For Dummies

One of my super short reviews on the books I read in my My Way to PHP series.

Pattern-Oriented Software Architecture For Dummies by Robert Hanmer

A for dummies book, heh? Actually, it’s a pretty great! The book covers all kind of patterns but mainly architectural patterns and some design patterns. He deviated from the ‘standard’ (GoF) way of presenting patterns and succeeded greatly! Each pattern is presented in a context. It feels connected, the examples are great. He shows similar examples of patterns in the real world. Very readable, no implementations but rather explanation.

Incredible good book which made me more accepting and interested in patterns. Thanks for that Robert Hanmer!

Modernizing Legacy Applications in PHP

One of my super short reviews on the books I read in my My Way to PHP series.

Modernizing Legacy Applications in PHP by Paul M. Jones

I’ve seen a talk by Paul M. Jones about the same topic before and I really enjoyed it. Therefore, I had high expectation about this book. They were fulfilled. Here’s the talk:

The talk gives you a good idea about what is covered in the book. However, the book goes a lot more in-depth. He shows the pitfalls, the small little problems which could occur.

The author writes very fluff-less and pragmatic. I like his style and his approach. He doesn’t preach from a high throne but rather is your companion on your journey. Someone who walked the path before.

I also liked the Q&As after each chapter which shortly talked about some deviations from the average case.

It’s a short book but it’s awesome! I would definitely recommend it if you have to maintain a legacy application in PHP.