PHP for the World Wide Web, Second Edition (Visual QuickStart Guide)

This "Visual QuickStart" book is great if you are a visual learning and would like a book with more pictures and instead of overwhelming amount of text. It starts from the beginning covering "Variables", "HTML Forms", "Using Numbers", "Using Strings", "Control Structures", "Arrays", "Creating Functions", "Databases", "Cookies", and more.

Build Your Own Database Driven Website Using PHP and MySQL

PHP and MySQL are widely used in creating webapps on shared web hosting. This book by Kevin Yank, Technical Director of Sitepoint, is a great way to get started. It assumes no prior knowledge and goes over all the basics that would be needed by anyone wanting to add backend functionality to their websites.

Chapter 1: Installation
Chapter 2: Getting Started with MySQL
Chapter 3: Getting Started with PHP
Chapter 4: Publishing MySQL Data on the Web
Chapter 5: Relational Database Design
Chapter 6: A Content Management System
Chapter 7: Content Formatting and Submission
Chapter 8: MySQL Administration
Chapter 9: Advanced SQL Queries
Chapter 10: Binary Data
Chapter 11: Cookies and Sessions in PHP
Chapter 12: Structured PHP Programming

Setting Up LAMP: Getting Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP Working Together

Many of today's web applications are built on the "LAMP" stack --that is Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP. This book will show you how to set up this environment and get the four pieces to work well with each other.

PHP in Action: Objects, Design, Agility

This is an more advanced book focusing on object-oriented PHP and design patterns ...

Chapter 3: Using PHP classes effectively
Chapter 4: Understanding objects and classes
Chapter 6: Object-oriented principles
Chapter 7: Design patterns
Chapter 13: Using templates to manage web presentation
Chapter 16: Controllers
Chapter 20: Objects and SQL