Review: CodeIgniter 1.7 Professional Development
Along with being a Zend Certified PHP5 engineer I’m also a strong advocate for application frameworks (CodeIgniter specifically). That’s why I was pleased when Pact approached me about a month ago to write a review of their new book about CodeIgniter (CI): CodeIgniter 1.7 Professional Development. Aimed at experienced PHP developers with a solid footing in object oriented programming, the book provides a detailed overview of the CI framework from an absolute beginners perspective. Chocked full of code samples and tips/techniques on how to leverage CIs tools this book is a great resource for anyone new to the framework looking to quickly get up to speed.
CodeIgniter 1.7 Professional Development is a complete soup to nuts overview of the CI framework. Coming in at 10 chapters and around 260 pages this book is perfect for those new to CI. The book starts out with reviewing CIs MVC architecture, system libraries and form validation techniques. Then the author dedicates 2 chapters to user authentication and walks you through building your own authentication solution (includes details on oAuth and Facebook Connect). Application security, large scale development and extending CIs core is also covered in later chapters. All in all this book provides a very well rounded sampling of topics for complete newbies and experienced developers alike.
The one chapter I found most informative was chapter 8 Web Services. Like most developers, I have done quite a bit of work with consuming APIs but never had to write one of my own. Recently however I was charged with the task of writing an API that other developers would be interacting with and I had to stumble along and come up with my own solution. In chapter 8 the author reviews web services in depth and how to create your own REST service using CI. Very helpful for those new to that particular topic.
To be honest, when I first received the book I was a little disappointed. I’m not a CI beginner so I was hoping for a lot more advanced items, answers to questions I’ve been struggling with myself. But after spending some time with the book and writing this review I think I have changed my tune. The author spends ample time on the basic stuff but also finds time to touch on more advanced topics like user authentication (with oAuth and Facebook Connect), application security and web service development.
If you are a professional web worker who uses CI in your day to day activities then you should consider getting this book. There is a little something for everyone.
Related posts:
- CodeIgniter 1.7 Professional Development
- 10 Reasons Why CodeIgniter Rocks
- Never Buy Another Tech Book Again!
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