Web Database Applications with PHP, and MySQL

Colophon

Our look is the result of reader comments, our own experimentation, and feedback from distribution channels. Distinctive covers complement our distinctive approach to technical topics, breathing personality and life into potentially dry subjects.

The animal on the cover of Web Database Applications with PHP and MySQL is a platypus. The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) of Australia and Tasmania has been described as a living fossil. Its earliest known remains date back 100,000 years, and it combines mammalian and reptilian features. It is aquatic, furry, warm-blooded, and lays eggs. It sports webbed feet, a beaverlike tail, and a ducklike bill.

The preferred plural of platypus is either “platypus” or “platypuses,” and a baby platypus has been referred to as a “platapup.”

The platypus was first described by Dr. George Shaw, a British scientist. He thought the animal was a hoax and took a pair of scissors to the pelt, expecting to find stitches attaching appendages to skin.

The platypus is an air-breathing mammal that spends most of its day resting in an underground burrow. However, it feeds only in the water and is rarely observed on land. The platypus hunts mostly at night for such food as shrimp, worms, and aquatic insects. Because the animal doesn’t need to hear or see its intended food, a platypus protects its eyes and ears by automatically closing them underwater and relies on its bill to locate prey. While diving, the platypus temporarily stores food in special cheek ...