Introduction To PHP

A PHP file may contain text, HTML tags and scripts. Scripts in a PHP file are executed on the server.

What you should already know

Before you continue you should have some basic understanding of the following:

• WWW, HTML and the basics of building Web pages

• Some scripting knowledge

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 (OSS)

• PHP is free to download and use

What is a PHP File?

• PHP files may 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 small database server

• MySQL is ideal for small and medium 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 (means that 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?

• Install an Apache server on a Windows or Linux machine

• Install PHP on a Windows or Linux machine

• Install MySQL on a Windows or Linux machine