PHP started out as a small open source project that evolved as more and more people found
out how useful it was. Ramus Leadoff unleashed the first version of PHP way back in 1994.
- PHP is a recursive acronym for "PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor".
- PHP is a server side scripting language that is embedded in HTML. It is used to manage
dynamic content, databases, session tracking, even build entire ecommerce sites.
- It is integrated with a number of popular databases, including MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle,
Sybase, Informix, and Microsoft SQL Server.
- PHP is pleasingly zippy in its execution, especially when compiled as an Apache module on
the Unix side. The MySQL server, once started, executes even very complex queries with
huge result sets in record-setting time.
- PHP supports a large number of major protocols such as POP3, IMAP, and LDAP.
PHP4 added support for Java and distributed object architectures (COM and CORBA),
making n-tier development a possibility for the first time.
- PHP is forgiving: PHP language tries to be as forgiving as possible.
- PHP Syntax is C-Like.
1. Common uses of php
PHP performs system functions, i.e. from files on a system it can create, open, read, write, and close
them. The other uses of PHP are:
- PHP can handle forms, i.e. gather data from files, save data to a file, thru email you can send
data, return data to the user.
- You add, delete, modify elements within your database thru PHP.
- Access cookies variables and set cookies.
- Using PHP, you can restrict users to access some pages of your website.
- It can encrypt data.
2. Characteristics of PHP
3. "Hello World! " Script in PHP
To get a feel of PHP, first start with simple PHP scripts. Since " Hello, World " is an essential example, first we will create a friendly little " Hello, World! " script.
As mentioned earlier, PHP is embedded in HTML. That means that in amongst your normal
HTML (or XHTML if you're cutting-edge) you'll have PHP statements like this:
0 Comments