Chris Lott wrote:
> Looking for suggestions for a PHP textbook for an "Intro to Web
> Programming" class that will be using PHP5 and MySQL. This is a
> first-semester course, so no programming experience required.
> 
> It would be nice to have a text that adhered to (what I see as) good

every that shines is not gold - or to put it another way: horseshit to
your good practice.

> practice using quotation marks... i.e.
> 
> print 'The cost is ' . $cost;
> NOT
> print "The cost is $cost";

I almost certain that the above to equate to the exact same OPCODEs when
the php is compiled ... and you will never be able to benchmark a valid 
difference
between them either way.

> AND CERTAINLY NOT
> print ("The cost is $cost");

the brackets are superfluous - but not incorrect.
newcomers should be taught to understand what the brackets are
actually doing (effecting operator precedence)

> 
> echo substr('abcdef', 1);
> NOT
> echo substr("abcdef", 1);

rather nitpicking - again you'll never be able to measure the difference in a
meaningful way, nonetheless my preference goes for single quotes unless the
string literal I have contains a single quote.

explain to your noobs the difference between the quotes and tell them what your
preferences are and why - in the real world they'll come across all the 
variations
that you/they/me/us/he dislikes so they might as well be given the facts up 
front, no?

jmho.

> 
> 
> I will be teaching, so a book that a student can-- before the class--
> work through and understand is good-- doesn't have to be a traditional
> textbook! But it shouldn't be a reference manual either.

avoid anything where the title ends in 'for Dummies' ;-)

> 
> c
> -- 
> Chris Lott
> 

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