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 FREE to download from the official PHP resource: www.php.net * PHP is easy to learn and runs efficiently on the server side
Where to Start?
To get access to a web server with PHP support, you can: * Install Apache (or IIS) on your own server, install PHP, and MySQL * Or find a web hosting plan with PHP and MySQL support
The PHP script is executed on the server, and the plain HTML result is sent back to the browser.
* Basic PHP Syntax * A PHP script always starts with . A PHP script can be placed anywhere in the document. * On servers with shorthand-support, you can start a PHP script with . * For maximum compatibility,