Author Jason E. Sweat's book php|architect's Guide to PHP Design Patterns is the first, comprehensive guide to design patterns designed specifically for the PHP developer. This book includes coverage of 16 design patterns with a specific eye to their applications in PHP when building complex web applications, both in PHP 4 and PHP 5 (where appropriate, sample code for both versions of the language is provided).

As you can expect from a php|architect book, this Guide is very focused on its topic, with none of the fluff that accompanies the large, expensive "500-page monsters" you sometimes find at the bookstore. Naturally, this doesn't come at the expense of depth of coverage or clarity: the book contains tens of scripts that give you a practical overview of every topic covered, from top to bottom.