Developers of beginner to intermediate level will benefit from this book. Even for those familiar with someof the concepts, thisbook will hold somevalue. Remember, everyone you ever meet will know something you don't. You can always learn more, even if most of it sounds familiar.
If you are interested in improving your current development workflow and often find yourself confused by missing PHP extensions or features while developing applications, and frequently running into errors about software you need but are yet to install―this book is for you. If your computer is so full of software used to make other people's code run well on your machine, this book is definitely for you. By reading it, you'll be able to restore your computer to an almost factory level of performance while keeping all apps you come across compatible with it.
If you're just starting out with PHP, this book should be the very first resource you read. It will explain not only isolated development environments and conflict prevention, but also the inner workings of web requests and what happens when you actually type an address into a browser's address bar. You'll learn why a server is important, what PHP's role is, and how it all fits into the grand scheme of development environments and setups that can help you achieve a smooth development experience.
Note that this is not a programming book, per se. There will be very little PHP coding in this book, at least until the very end of it. This book is a guide to setting up your computer so that it obeys you, rather than the other way around. You want programming to be a pleasant, relaxing, and predictable experience you can train yourself in, day by day, rather than a source of endless frustration. That is what this book is for―laying the foundation for a pleasant programming career.
