Learnbasic-php || All about php

PHP Syntax

Nabin Maharjan — Thu, 27 May 2010 14:37:17 +0000

PHP code is executed on the server, and the plain HTML result is sent to the browser.

Basic PHP Syntax

A PHP scripting block always starts with and ends with ?>. A PHP scripting block can be placed anywhere in the document.

On servers with shorthand support enabled you can start a scripting block with .

For maximum compatibility, we recommend that you use the standard form (

What do you Need?

Nabin Maharjan — Thu, 27 May 2010 14:34:25 +0000

If your server supports PHP you don’t need to do anything.

Just create some .php files in your web directory, and the server will parse them for you. Because it is free, most web hosts offer PHP support.

However, if your server does not support PHP, you must install PHP.

Here is a link to a good tutorial from PHP.net on how to install PHP5:http://www.php.net/manual/en/install.php

Download PHP

Download PHP for free here: http://www.php.net/downloads.php

Download MySQL Database

Download MySQL for free here: http://www.mysql.com/downloads/index.html

Download Apache Server

Download Apache for free here: http://httpd.apache.org/download.cgi

Why PHP?

Nabin Maharjan — Thu, 27 May 2010 14:32:06 +0000

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?

Nabin Maharjan — Thu, 27 May 2010 14:30:34 +0000

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 + MySQL

Nabin Maharjan — Thu, 27 May 2010 14:15:29 +0000

PHP combined with MySQL are cross-platform (you can develop in Windows and serve on a Unix platform)

What is MySQL?

Nabin Maharjan — Thu, 27 May 2010 14:11:33 +0000

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

What is a PHP File?

Nabin Maharjan — Thu, 27 May 2010 13:38:42 +0000

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 PHP?

Nabin Maharjan — Thu, 27 May 2010 13:37:39 +0000

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 You Should Already Know?

Nabin Maharjan — Thu, 27 May 2010 13:36:06 +0000

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

HTML/XHTML

JavaScript