I'm still pretty new to PHP and MySQL.

I notice that an increasing proportion of the books available for learning the language are geared to PHP5.

Will that version of the language be supported in Work the web accounts?

If not, do I "endanger" myself by learning from a PHP5-related book --- i.e., would the syntax and the commands I'd learn in such a book be WRONG for the version of PHP that's available to me?

Hi,

We support PHP 4.3.11 at this time. PHP 5 is not in the plans until PHP 5 becomes more production stable.

Does PHP5 change the syntax and command set, or is it "under the hood" changes?

I want to increase my knowledge of PHP coding I can use on my Work the web domains, I'm trying to decide whether I should read, or avoid reading, books that are written for PHP5.

the only main troubles you will have is with OOP in PHP5. All PHP4 code is suppose to work with PHP5.

If you dont want to read the books go to http://www.phpfreaks.com and read some of the tutorials there they are really good for learning the basics of PHP and MySQL. I suggest reading the Membership tutorial as that will teach you the basics of PHP including accessing databases inserting data into fields among other things. Also it is a massive community so if you have a problem with your coding you can go there ask someone about it and they should be able to help you normally within a few minutes since there is always someone on.

Just a follow up. If you desperately need PHP 5, we have Virtual Private Servers and Dedicated Servers available. Just Contact Us and we'll get you setup with the pricing. Currently, we are not putting PHP 5 into a shared environment.