PHP/Architect's Guide to E-Commerce Programming with Magento

by Mark Kimsal

Book Overview

This highly anticipated book will give you the insight you need to successfully manage and customize your Magento Commerce installation. phparchitects Guide to Programming with Magento takes you from... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0973862173
• ISBN13: 9780973862171
• Release Date: May 2008
• Publisher: PHP Architect, LLC
• Length: 184 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 7.6" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Gave me the answers I needed

I think this book is getting a bad rap from people who were hoping for a book on Magento design. This is not a book on design, but a programming book that explains in depth the inner workings of Magento, with excellent explanations on how the data flows. If I had tried to read this book 6 months ago, when I first started working with Magento, it probably would not have made much sense. I had read the poor reviews and almost didn't buy the book. However, in a discussion on Stack Overflow about "How does Magento code work?" someone recommended Mark's book, so I gave it another chance and bought a copy. Much to my surprise, as I started reading it, everything made perfect sense. I found the author's explanations to be thorough, introductions and summaries to be concise and informative. Overall for something so heavily technical, it is an easy read. Great job Mark, and thanks for turning the lights on for us.

for programmers, very good intro to Magento

this a great little book for any developer looking to learn more about Magento. The book is very general but explains very well many of the aspects about Magento. I would love the book to be more specific and with examples. I would recommend this book but I am on the lookout for other Magento books that come out

Great book, lots of info although you need prior knowledge

I was skeptical about this book due to the reviews people had to say, after having some interaction with the software 3 weeks before purchasing I found most of this information pretty easy to sift through. Some was a little difficult to grasp though. What readers need to realize with this book is that this was written for a class that is online through the company php|Architect. And if you research the class on Magento you have quite a few prerequisites before you can take the Magento class. To me, in this book what make's it hard is that the writers where not starting a book for absolute beginners, sure it helps for beginning Magento users, but assume you know PHP and the Zend Framework. If you are to make absolute 100% use of this book and comprehend some of the info, I suggest making sure you have a fairly decent knowledge in PHP and the Zend Framework which Magento is built on. If you do some research you can find the books that were created by the same publisheers (php|architect) taht should help ease the reading. I believe with a wide knowledge on this stuff this book would be me easier to read. Also try messing with Magento for a couple weeks before you purchase this book, that way you'll be able to understand some of the code and file structure. All in all I'd give this 4. A 4 only because how vast this software is, there's only 171 pages including the index... With all the updates this software gets, this book can only cover so much. You'll still find yourself in the wiki/forum area looking for answers to something.

Notes to fellow programmers

A better title for this book would be "Notes to fellow programmers". This books is short and that is great. As an experienced programmer you don't want to wade through pages of filler material. If you are an experienced programmer, new to Magento, this book will significantly ease your way into the code. It is not a be all and end all of Magento development. I am sure such books will follow in time. However, as a previous reviewer suggested, it will cut down the time that it will take you to get upto speed. If you expect hand holding you will be disappointed. Magento is at version 1.2 as I write this and things have been moving fast. This will provide you a start but from then on you will have to look at the latest code and figure out things for yourself.

Need a quick run through the system?

I like this book. It provided me with a quick run through the Magento commerce system. Some of the complaints here are really the fault of the system or the publisher's Book Series. Magento is a project that is in a constant state of change. This is a "NanoBook" by PHP|Architect, the purpose is to provide the user with a quick run through the system. With that limit in mind, I think this book exceeded my expectation. Here are some of my points on the book: - The author opens with an explanation on how to setup your system to develop locally. This is a plus for anyone not already doing this. - He explains the database model chosen by the Magento developers. - He shows the reader how to alter the product display page to change the quantity of tagged products with a drop down. - CMS Integration (Honestly I skimmed through this one only cause I didn't need this) - The next module is the Made To Order. Not exactly what I needed but after reading it I realized that was exactly every section in the system I need to alter to get my install customized how I needed it. - The next module was the Reward/Points system. Great because it shows you how to modify the coupon system. Also how to display information on the admin side. - The BackEnd Integration goes into creating a REST style system which any developer can easily take and adapt it into a SOAP or XMLRPC system. Instead of letting the reader figure out security for themselves the author provides his system. - The final chapter in the book, has a FAQ which immediately answered a question I had. Including a note on testing your code without having to integrate it into the system. I recommend this book to any PHP developer who wants to get started on altering Magento Commerce. When compared to the information that is currently out there this book is King!