[tres]

Totally agree on point 2.

PHP's documentation was always excellent, available and was always a quick Google search away from finding the relevant materials. It was tangibly superior at the time.

Coding with other languages at the time always involved some kind of physical reference book (or some closed off "compiled" walled "context sensitive" help system whose search capability and discoverability was little-to-none).

Although I had sooo many O'Reilly reference books, I don't think I ever had an O'Reilly PHP reference book... (Not sure there ever even was one because it would be totally unnecessary)

[rav]

PHP's documentation is still excellent and is still available at the same place it was 20 years ago: Typing php.net/FUNCNAME in the address bar gives the documentation for FUNCNAME(). I'm glad my current work is only about 1% PHP and not the 100% it used to be, but whenever I need to edit one of those PHP scripts we still have around, I know how to get by, even though I'm seriously rusty.

[cutler]

Sklar's "PHP Cookbook" was an O'Reilly favourite, now in it's 3rd edition.