Build interactive, data-driven websites with the potent combination of open-source technologies and web standards, even if you only have basic HTML knowledge. With this popular hands-on guide, you’ll tackle dynamic web programming with the help of today’s core technologies: PHP, MySQL, JavaScript, CSS, and HTML5.

Explore each technology separately and learn how to use them together—and pick up valuable web programming practices along the way. At the end of the book, you’ll put everything together to build a fully functional social networking site.

• Learn PHP essentials and the basics of object-oriented programming
• Discover MySQL, from database structure to complex queries
• Create dynamic PHP web pages that integrate forms and other HTML features
• Manage cookies and sessions, and maintain a high level of security
• Work with JavaScript fundamentals, from functions and event handling to accessing the Document Object Model
• Use Ajax calls to turn your website into a highly dynamic environment
• Pick up CSS basics for formatting and styling your pages
• Learn HTML5 features, including geolocation, audio, video, and canvas
• Get up to speed on all of today's main web development technologies