This is a pretty accurate table of contents, give or take a sub-heading or two. Each hour also has a summary, quiz questions, and one or more activities.

PART I: Getting Up and Running
Walks you through the installation and configuration of MySQL, Apache, and PHP. You'll need to complete the lessons in Part I before moving on to the remaining lessons, unless you already have access to a working installation of these technologies. Even if you don't need to install and configure MySQL, Apache, and PHP in your environment, you should still skim these lessons so that you understand the basics.

Hour 1: Installing and Configuring MySQL

• How to Get MySQL
• Installing MySQL on Linux/Unix
• Installing MySQL on Windows
• Troubleshooting Your Installation
• Basic Security Guidelines
  • Starting MySQL
  • Securing Your MySQL Connection
• Introducing the MySQL Privilege System
  • The Two-Step Authentication Process
• Working with User Privileges
  • Adding Users
  • Removing Privileges

Hour 2: Installing and Configuring Apache

• Choosing the Appropriate Installation Method
  • Building from Source
  • Installing a Binary
• Installing Apache on Linux/Unix
  • Downloading the Apache Source Code
  • Uncompressing the Source Code
  • Preparing to Build Apache
  • Building and Installing Apache
• Installing Apache on Windows
• Apache Configuration File Structure
  • Directives
  • Containers
  • Conditional Evaluation
  • ServerRoot
  • Per-Directory Configuration Files
• Apache Log Files
  • access_log
  • error_log
• Additional Files
• Apache-Related Commands
  • Apache Server Binary
  • Apache Control Script
• Starting Apache for the First Time
  • Check Your Configuration File
  • Starting Apache
• Troubleshooting
  • Already an Existing Web Server
  • No Permission to Bind to Port
  • Access Denied
  • Wrong Group Settings

Hour 3: Installing and Configuring PHP

• Building PHP on Linux/Unix with Apache
  • Additional Configuration Options
  • Integrating PHP with Apache on Linux/Unix
• Installing PHP Files on Windows
  • Integrating PHP with Apache on Windows
• php.ini Basics
• Testing Your Installation
• Getting Installation Help
• The Basics of PHP Scripts
  • Beginning and Ending a Block of PHP Statements
  • The print() Function
  • Combining HTML and PHP
  • Adding Comments to PHP Code

PART II: Basic Language Elements
Predominantly devoted to teaching you the basics of the PHP language, and will get you in the habit of writing code, uploading it to your server, and testing the results. One of the lessons offers a basic SQL primer, and this part wraps up with an hour devoted to the integration of PHP and MySQL.

Hour 4: The Building Blocks of PHP

• Variables
• Data Types
  • Changing Type with settype()
  • Changing Type by Casting
  • Why Test Type?
• Operators and Expressions
  • The Assignment Operator
  • Arithmetic Operators
  • The Concatenation Operator
  • Combined Assignment Operators
  • Automatically Incrementing and Decrementing an Integer Variable
  • Comparison Operators
  • Creating More Complex Test Expressions with the Logical Operators
  • Operator Precedence
• Constants
  • Predefined Constants

Hour 5: Flow Control Functions in PHP

• Switching Flow
  • The if Statement
  • Using the else Clause with the if Statement
  • Using the elseif Clause with the if Statement
  • The switch Statement
  • Using the ? Operator
• Loops
  • The while Statement
  • The do...while Statement
  • The for Statement
  • Breaking Out of Loops with the break Statement
  • Skipping an Iteration with the continue Statement
  • Nesting Loops
• Code Blocks and Browser Output

Hour 6: Working with Functions

• What Is a Function?
• Calling Functions
• Defining a Function
• Returning Values from User-Defined Functions
• Dynamic Function Calls
• Variable Scope
• Loops
  • Accessing Variables with the global Statement
• Saving State Between Function Calls with the static Statement
• More About Arguments
  • Setting Default Values for Arguments
  • Passing Variable References to Functions
• Creating Anonymous Functions
• Testing for the Existence of a Function

Hour 7: Learning Basic SQL Commands

• Learning the MySQL Data Types
  • Numeric Data Types
  • Date and Time Types
  • String Types
• Learning the Table Creation Syntax
• Using the INSERT Command
  • A Closer Look at INSERT
• Using the SELECT Command
  • Ordering SELECT Results
  • Limiting Your Results
• Using WHERE in Your Queries
• Using Operators in WHERE Clauses
• String Comparison Using LIKE
• Selecting from Multiple Tables
• Using JOIN
• Using the UPDATE Command to Modify Records
  • Conditional UPDATEs
  • Using Existing Column Values with UPDATE
• Using the REPLACE Command
• Using the DELETE Command
  • Conditional DELETE

Hour 8: Interacting with MySQL Using PHP

• Connecting to MySQL with PHP
  • Using mysql_connect()
  • Executing Queries
  • Retrieving Error Messages
• Working with MySQL Data
  • Inserting Data with PHP
  • Retrieving Data with PHP
  • Additional MySQL Functions in PHP

PART III: Getting Involved with the Code
Consists of lessons that cover intermediate-level application development topics, including working with forms and files, access restriction, and other small projects designed to introduce a specific concept.

Hour 9: Working with Forms

• Predefined Variables
• Creating a Simple Input Form
• Accessing Form Input with User-Defined Arrays
• Combining HTML and PHP Code on a Single Page
• Using Hidden Fields to Save State
• Sending Mail on Form Submission
  • System Configuration for the mail() Function
• Creating the Form
• Creating the Script to Send the Mail
• Working with File Uploads
  • Creating the File Upload Form
  • Creating the File Upload Script

Hour 10: Working with Files

• Including Files with include()
  • Returning a Value from an Included Document
  • Using include() Within Control Structures
• include_once()
  • The include_path Directive
• Testing Files
  • Checking for Existence with file_exists()
  • A File or a Directory?
  • Checking the Status of a File
  • Determining File Size with filesize()
  • Getting Date Information About a File
• Creating a Function That Performs Multiple File Tests
  • Creating and Deleting Files
• Opening a File for Writing, Reading, or Appending
• Reading from Files
  • Reading Lines from a File with fgets() and feof()
  • Reading Arbitrary Amounts of Data from a File with fread()
  • Reading Characters from a File with fgetc()
• Writing or Appending to a File
  • Writing to a File with fwrite() or fputs()
  • Locking Files with flock()
• Working with Directories
  • Creating Directories with mkdir()
  • Removing a Directory with rmdir()
  • Opening a Directory for Reading with opendir()
  • Reading the Contents of a Directory with readdir()

Hour 11: Working with Dates and Times

• Using Date and Time Functions in PHP
  • Getting the Date with time()
  • Converting a Timestamp with getdate()
  • Converting a Timestamp with date()
  • Creating Timestamps with mktime()
  • Testing a Date with checkdate()
• Using Date and Time Functions in MySQL
  • Working with Days
  • Working with Months and Years
  • Working with Weeks
  • Working with Hours, Minutes, and Seconds
  • Formatting Dates and Times with MySQL
  • Performing Date Arithmetic with MySQL
  • Special Functions and Conversion Features

Hour 12: Creating a Simple Calendar

• Building a Simple Display Calendar
  • Checking User Input
  • Building the HTML Form
  • Creating the Calendar Table
• Creating a Calendar Library

Hour 13: Working with Strings

• Formatting Strings with PHP
  • Working with printf()
  • Specifying a Field Width
  • Argument Swapping
  • Storing a Formatted String
• Investigating Strings in PHP
  • A Note About Indexing Strings
  • Finding the Length of a String with strlen()
  • Finding a Substring Within a String with strstr()
  • Finding the Position of a Substring with strpos()
  • Extracting Part of a String with substr()
  • Tokenizing a String with strtok()
• Manipulating Strings with PHP
  • Cleaning Up a String with trim() and strip_tags()
  • Replacing a Portion of a String Using substr_replace()
  • Replacing Substrings Using str_replace
  • Converting Case
  • Wrapping Text with wordwrap() and nl2br()
  • Breaking Strings into Arrays with explode()
• Frequently Used String Functions in MySQL
  • Length and Concatenation Functions
  • Trimming and Padding Functions
  • Location and Position Functions
  • Substring Functions
  • String Modification Functions
  • Obscure String Functions

Hour 14: Creating a Simple Discussion Forum

• Types of Table Relationships
  • One-to-One Relationships
  • One-to-Many Relationships
  • Many-to-Many Relationships
• Understanding Normalization
  • Problems with the Flat Table
  • First Normal Form
  • Second Normal Form
  • Third Normal Form
• Following the Design Process
• Creating a Discussion Forum
  • Designing the Database Tables
  • Creating the Input Forms and Scripts
  • Displaying the Topic List
  • Displaying the Posts in a Topic
  • Adding Posts to a Topic

Hour 15: Restricting Access to Your Applications

• Authentication Overview
  • Client Authentication
• Apache Authentication Module Functionality
  • File-Based Authentication
  • Database File-Based Access Control
• Using Apache for Access Control
  • Implementing Access Rules
  • Evaluating Access Rules
• Combining Apache Access Methods
• Limiting Access Based on HTTP Methods
• Introducing Cookies
  • The Anatomy of a Cookie
• Setting a Cookie with PHP
  • Deleting a Cookie
• Restricting Access Based on Cookie Values
  • Creating the Authorized Users Table
  • Creating the Login Form and Script
  • Testing for the auth Cookie

Hour 16: Working with User Sessions

• Session Function Overview
• Starting a Session
• Working with Session Variables
• Passing Session IDs in the Query String
• Destroying Sessions and Unsetting Variables

Hour 17: Logging and Monitoring Server Activity

• Standard Apache Access Logging
  • Deciding What to Log
  • Logging Accesses to Files
  • Logging Accesses to a Program
• Standard Apache Error Logging
  • Logging Errors to a File
  • Logging Errors to a Program
  • The syslog Daemon Argument
  • The LogLevel Directive
• Managing Apache Logs
  • Resolving Hostnames
  • Log Rotation
  • Merging and Splitting Logs
  • Log Analysis
  • Monitoring Error Logs
• Logging Custom Information to a Database
  • Creating the Database Table
  • Creating the PHP Code Snippet
  • Creating Sample Reports

PART IV: Simple Projects
Contains lessons devoted to performing a particular task. These lessons consist of projects that integrate all the knowledge you have gained so far, and walk you through the process of building and testing the elements you will create.

Hour 18: Managing a Simple Mailing List

• Developing the Subscription Mechanism
  • Creating the subscribers Table
  • Creating the Subscription Form
• Developing the Mailing Mechanism

Hour 19: Creating an Online Address Book

• Planning and Creating the Database Tables
• Creating a Menu
• Creating the Record Addition Mechanism
• Viewing Records
• Creating the Record Deletion Mechanism
• Adding Subentries to a Record

Hour 20: Creating an Online Storefront

• Planning and Creating the Database Tables
  • Inserting Records into the store_categories Table
  • Inserting Records into the store_items Table
  • Inserting Records into the store_item_size Table
  • Inserting Records into the store_item_color Table
• Displaying Categories of Items
• Displaying Items

Hour 21: Creating a Shopping Cart Mechanism

• Planning and Creating the Database Tables
• Integrating the Cart with Your Storefront
  • Adding Items to Your Cart
  • Viewing the Cart
• Removing Items from Your Cart
• Payment Methods and the Checkout Sequence
  • Creating the Checkout Form
  • Performing the Checkout Actions

PART V: Administration & Fine-Tuning
Devoted to administering and tuning Apache and MySQL, and also includes information on virtual hosting and setting up a secure Web server.

Hour 22: Apache Performance Tuning and Virtual Hosting

• Scalability Issues
  • Operating System Limits
  • Performance-Related Apache Settings
• Load Testing with ApacheBench
• Proactive Performance Tuning
  • Mapping Files to Memory
  • Distributing the Load
  • Caching
  • Reduce Transmitted Data
  • Network Settings
• Preventing Abuse
  • Robots
• Implementing Virtual Hosting
  • IP-Based Virtual Hosting
  • Name-Based Virtual Hosts
  • Mass Virtual Hosting

Hour 23: Setting Up a Secure Web Server

• The Need for Security
  • Confidentiality
  • Integrity
  • Authentication
• The SSL Protocol
  • Addressing the Need for Confidentiality
  • Addressing the Need for Integrity
  • Addressing the Need for Authentication
• Installing SSL
  • OpenSSL
  • mod_ssl
• Managing Certificates
  • Creating a Key Pair
  • Creating a Certificate Signing Request
  • Creating a Self-Signed Certificate
• SSL Configuration
  • Starting the Server

Hour 24: Optimizing and Tuning MySQL

• Building an Optimized Platform
  • Using the benchmark() Function
• MySQL Startup Options
  • Key Startup Parameters
• Optimizing Your Table Structure
• Optimizing Your Queries
• Using the FLUSH Command
• Using the SHOW Command
  • Retrieving Information about Databases and Tables
  • Retrieving Table Structure Information
  • Retrieving System Status