Questions and Answers about "Practical symfony" book

Should I buy it?

If you want to learn how to develop web applications with symfony 1.2, this is the best resource you can find as of today. If you only want to leaf through it, you can also read it online for free and even download it as a PDF file (4.7 MB).

Otherwise, if you are serious about web development with symfony, you should buy it. The book is an invaluable resource to learn symfony and it sells at a competitive price, much lower than printing your own book (considering printer cartridges, paper, binding, your own time and the low quality achieved with own printing).

Another reason to buy it is that part of the revenues goes to fund the symfony project, so buying the book is yet another way to support your favorite framework.

Will it get old too soon?

Practical symfony explains how to develop a web application with symfony 1.2, the most up-to-date version of symfony. Recently, symfony creators announced that symfony 1.3 will be released no sooner than November 2009 and that it will be an evolution of the previous version. That means that the Practical symfony book will last you for many months.

Do Lulu.com books have enough quality?

Lulu books have a printing and binding quality comparable with any other publishing house. Symfony books have a "perfect bound paperback" binding, as you can see in the following photos:

Should I wait to the new edition of the book?

There will never be a new edition of the book. The main advantage of Lulu service is that when a book is purchased, it gets printed, shipped and delivered on demand. We update periodically the contents of the published book, so when you buy the book you have the certainty that it’s the most up to date edition.

Should I buy the book or print The definitive guide to symfony 1.2?

Both books are completely different. Practical symfony teaches you how to build a complete web application with symfony 1.2 in just 24 hours, whereas The definitive guide to symfony 1.2 explains most of the features of the framework without building a real application. Another difference is that Practical symfony explains all the newest features of symfony 1.2.

Can I buy the books from my country?

Lulu.com delivers to all the countries of the world. Books prices are the same but the shipping costs vary by country. Your exact shipping cost displays after checkout but before the payment.

What forms of payment does Lulu accept?

Lulu accepts Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, and PayPal.

When will my books arrive?

First books go through a manufacturing process that lasts 3-5 days. After that, your books will take 1-5 days to arrive depending on the shipping method.

Are the contents of the book full color or b&w?

Except the covers, all the contents of the book are b&w. Color printing is absurdly expensive. In the case of Lulu, full color books are five times more expensive than b&w books.

Do I get a discount if I buy in bulk?

Yes, but bulk order discounts start at 25 copies, so it’s only suitable for large companies or schools teaching symfony courses.

Buy symfony books:

• Practical symfony – Propel edition - English
• Practical symfony – Doctrine edition - English
• Symfony en la práctica – Propel - Spanish

If you have any other doubt or question, please add it as a comment and we will answer it as soon as possible.