Thread: Basic PHP Tutorial

PHP is a server-side scripting language.

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: PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor
* 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

PHP Introduction

i have a basic knowledge of mysql and php but i never bothered to learn about them because they look time consuming. in how many days can i master php and mysql from your experience?

Originally Posted by sk8er431

i have a basic knowledge of mysql and php but i never bothered to learn about them because they look time consuming. in how many days can i master php and mysql from your experience?

That depends on how you interpret the word "master." To truly master PHP and MySQL it'll take you quite a few years if you do not have any previous programming experience, and no.. HTML doesn't count as previous experience.

The one good thing about PHP is that it's entirely documented (and very well at that) on their website (php.net.) Another neat feature is you can pull up the documentation on any php function by simply visiting php.net/functionname (example: php.net/echo)

MySQL is fairly simple to learn on it's own, but you may hit some snags when using it with another language (like PHP.)

In the end, PHP and MySQL are the two most popular technologies in the industry, with thousands upon thousands of tutorials and articles written about them. You should have no trouble at all getting started.