What You Should Already Know
Before you continue you should have a basic understanding of the following: * HTML/XHTML * JavaScript
If you want to study these subjects first, find the tutorials on our Home page.
What is PHP? * PHP stands for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor * PHP is a server-side scripting language, like ASP * PHP scripts are executed on the server * PHP supports many databases (MySQL, Informix, Oracle, Sybase, Solid, PostgreSQL, Generic ODBC, etc.) * PHP is an open source software * PHP is free to download and use
What is a PHP File? * PHP files can contain text, HTML tags and scripts * PHP files are returned to the browser as plain HTML * PHP files have a file extension of ".php", ".php3", or ".phtml"
What is MySQL? * MySQL is a database server * MySQL is ideal for both small and large applications * MySQL supports standard SQL * MySQL compiles on a number of platforms * MySQL is free to download and use
PHP + MySQL * PHP combined with MySQL are cross-platform (you can develop in Windows and serve on a Unix platform)
Why PHP? * PHP runs on different platforms (Windows, Linux, Unix, etc.) * PHP is compatible with almost all servers used today (Apache, IIS, etc.) * PHP is easy to learn and runs efficiently on the server side
Basic PHP Syntax
A PHP script always starts with <?php and ends with ?>. A PHP script can be placed anywhere in the document.
On servers with shorthand-support, you can start a PHP script with <? and end with ?>.
For maximum compatibility, we recommend that you use the standard form (<?php) rather than the shorthand form.
<?php
?>
A PHP file must have a .php extension.
A PHP file normally contains HTML tags, and some PHP scripting code.
Below, we have an example of a simple PHP script that sends the text "Hello World" back to the browser:
<html>
<body>
<?php echo "Hello World";
?>
</body>
</html>
Each code