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I'm Working on a New Book Project

February 18, 2024 —John Koster

Hello, everyone!

We're already over two and a half months into 2024! It's absolutely crazy how fast time can go! Anyways, I am excited to announce a new book project: The PHP Spellbook: Practical Charms for Data Structures & Algorithms.

About a month ago, my oldest daughter, who started middle school this year, came to me with some questions about some extra schoolwork she got. She got to choose a few additional classes and she chose some heavy computer science classes. Her questions concerned data structures, algorithms, and general logic.

I started writing down some things for her, and before I knew it, I had some substantial writing completed. I also noticed that I have been really enjoying writing about these topics for her, so I have decided to keep writing her these and package them together in a cohesive book project (don't worry if you're concerned about it being a "children's book": she's brilliant for her age and has no problem keeping up with some of the more advanced topics, notation and math).

The book aims to be a light-hearted, down-to-earth discussion around algorithms and data types for all PHP developers. While it does not shy away from challenging topics, it works hard to keep things friendly and approachable, regardless of current skill level.

Inside the book, you'll find:

  • An introduction to Big O notation, time complexities (and how to spot them), recursion, and sometimes even the math behind things,
  • Discussions and analysis of well-known (and some lesser-known) algorithms,
  • Practical examples and applications of data types and algorithms,
  • Fun tangents, side quests, and more!

I am working to have the first three chapters available by around March/April. I will incrementally update the book as it progresses. If this sounds interesting to you, sign up to get notified when I launch the initial version on Leanpub.

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