Michael Peacock's "PHP 5 Social Networking" offers a hands-on, foundational guide to building a custom social platform, though reviews note mixed results regarding instructional quality and the need for significant code refactoring. While covering essential features like user management and database sessions, the book's reliance on PHP 5 and a custom framework is considered outdated for modern, scalable production environments. Read a detailed critique at Kartones' Blog . Full text of "PHP 5 Social Networking" - Internet Archive
