Disclaimer: I was sent a free copy for review.

I am not a big believer in programming books. Over the years I have seen only a few that were worth reading, but Real-World Solutions (perhaps a shorter title would be nice…) is a great read. Read not reference. Most programming related books end up as “reference” which is generally useless in the world of Google and StackOverflow. Real-World Solutions is meant to be read, perhaps while looking at your own code and trying a few things out. I also suggest scanning sections that do not apply to you, or you have already mastered.

Most of the book focuses on testing. Unit testing primarily and this could be very dull. However the choice to have stories from real implementations by companies was smart. They also included sections of common problems with (my favorite) more that one suggested solution!

I wish there had been some reference to how the lone coder (such as myself currently) could implement a more agile methods. Also a listing of programs, frameworks, and tools with a one line description and then page numbers would have also been nice for those reading on the couch and then later recall the idea of a tool, but not the name.

Overall this book is great for: PHP programmer just getting started on testing. A self-taught PHP programmer who wants to find some holes in knowledge (like me!) A manager of programmers trying to find new ways to increase code quality.

Amazon: Real-World Solutions for Developing High-Quality PHP Frameworks and Applications