Billy Gee asked:


day is the most widely used back-end programming language used on the Web. PHP stands for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor. PHP is an open source language, which effectively means it is free to use, it’s very well supported with tons of books and online resources and it is the choice language of literally tens of thousands of Web developers around the World.

When would a Web Developer use PHP?

Initially websites were developed solely in HTML. HTML is the acronym for Hyper Text Markup Language. Having all the content written in HTML meant that all the content for the website resides on the actual HTML pages. So for example if your company had a 1000 products you would create a separate HTML Web page for each product. This sort of website is sometimes also referred to as a static website.

The major problem with this scenario is that the design and the content reside in the same place so, for example, if you wanted to update all the product prices you would need to edit and update all 1000 Web pages. Not only was this very time consuming but allowing non-Web designers access to the HTML could potentially have very serious consequences if the HTML code was compromised in any way.

The solution was to create a database driven website where all the content resides in an external database. You would then only need to create one product page and depending which parameters were passed from the database, the website would display only the relevant product/s. Obviously this creates a much more controlled environment and a simple task like changing product prices could be achieved in seconds.

As HTML is a static language, it can not communicate directly with a database and therefore Web developers use a programming language such as PHP to feed information to and from the Database. Other benefits of using database driven websites include accumulating information from your users via HTML form submission (new client enquires, mailing lists etc), login authentication (for security purposes), e-commerce (buying and selling goods and services), and managing large volumes of data and more.

MySQL is the World’s most popular database, which over a 100 million copies of it downloaded and distributed. MySQL with its superior speed, reliability, and ease of use is the preferred database used by PHP developers.

PHP and MySQL are a powerful team of tools for any Web Developer.

rob_asks asked:


I’ve already made a web site using PHP, but now I would like to make it accessible via https. Once I buy and configure the certificate, does the code itself need any changes? Or is all the encrypting and decrypting done by the web server and web browser automatically?

Sporadical asked:


Two fsockopens() in a single script uncontrolled by classes is tedious to maintain and doesn’t work very well. Then, is there a class that would allow my PHP client script to connect to different servers concurrently and handle the connections for each (supporting fwrite, etc.?)

Natasa asked:


With the many web programming languages available, it should come as no surprise that there’s a lively discussion about which is the best. Of course, there is no easy answer to that question, but programming in php can be an excellent skill if you plan on working with a database like MySQL. Working with such a dynamic language like php scripting can enable you to create interesting and professional php web applications even if you’re using free web hosting or cheap web hosting, as almost every web host will include PHP hosting. These php web applications can interface with the database to enable users to do anything from entering their information to playing games, if your ability for programming in php is advanced enough.

Some people may worry that if they have free web hosting from free webspace hosts, or even if they have cheap web hosting, that they will not be able to use php scripting. This worry is unfounded, because hosts realise that php web applications are such powerful tools that they will make sure to include it. PHP is entirely free and open source, as well, so they won’t have to charge extra for people to use it like they might with proprietary languages. It’s fairly easy to learn php scripting and the use of object oriented php if you’ve used other languages in the past, as it shares many of the same ideas and patterns.

Even better, since it’s an open source movement, there are plenty of php IDE toolkits you can use to further implement this powerful language. Eclipse, Netbeans, or Zend are all examples of a php IDE that further enhance the abilities of object oriented php.

Here are just a few of the things you can accomplish easily with php scripting:

* Make a php web application that connects to a MySQL database so users can input data and collate it from one central location.

* Allow users to send e-mails with a web-based form and protect yourself from spam.

* Allow users to upload files in a secure environment.

* Keep track of downloads for your files.

Sourcebits Technologies asked:


PHP is the most popular web scripting language and a widely used programming language used for website development. PHP stands for “Hypertext Preprocessor” but it originally stood for “Personal Home Page” in 1995. It is a wonderful language which was originally designed for producing dynamic web pages for virtually any web application. PHP is a general purpose scripting language that facilitates developer in making dynamically driven websites and it is very easy to learn and understand.

PHP provides support to different databases like Oracle, Sybase, MySQL, etc and it can be easily embedded into HTML also. It rapidly grew to become much more robust language, but was originally designed for use in Web Site Development. In a nutshell, PHP is most popular because of its functionality which can be changed as per ones requirements.

In PHP community, PHP frameworks are the newest buzz word from recent years. There are different kinds of frameworks available and it is good for developers to select the right framework. The objective of a framework is make the web-based applications process easier. This helps in reusing the developed code, intuitive to work with and of course stable. Some of the important frameworks are Zend framework, Symfony, CakePHP, Prado and Solar. Among these, Zend framework is the most hyped framework and a web based application designed to build complex PHP applications simpler.

Benefits of PHP application development:

#1. PHP is an open-source language so it is free. It can be easily installed and you don’t need to pay thousands of dollars to purchase. It is used by millions of people and large group of developers around the globe.

#2. PHP integrates well with HTML which is its primary use i.e. the actual PHP code can be embedded into HTML code. This enables your web server to process web pages before they are actually displayed in the user’s web browser.

#3. PHP is generally human friendly (simple and easy to learn) than other high level programming languages such as C, C++, ASP or ASP.net.

#4. PHP is versatile which is supported on most web servers and runs on all major operating systems like Mac OS, windows, Linux etc.

#5. PHP results in quicker navigation and efficient page loading as its processing speed is quite faster.

#6. The most recent version of PHP is very stable. It is used for web programming much like C / JavaScript, Java and Microsoft C#.

PHP is a very well-established language. Its popularity continues to grow rapidly because it is free (it is open-source software), it is fast (It can be easily embedded into HTML), have full object oriented support and huge capability to build any sort of application which can run in web browser.

Retrea asked:


I’m trying to access my school website, but the message PHP has encountered an Access Violation at 7C81BD02 keeps popping up.
I need it to figure out my homework and to upload some work.
Thanks in advance.

tyler asked:


I can edit php/mysql but I have a hard time writing it. I know there are php tutorial web sites and what not but what is the most efficient? I can not spend any money and am needing something that is to the point.

Thanks a lot.

Rightway Solution asked:


PHP or HyperText Preprocessor is a server side scripting language used for creating dynamic websites. The script which is initially possessed by the server is then transferred to buyer via HTML files. The language is even used for command-line scripting and client-side GUI applications. More importantly, the back-end tool for PHP is My SQL, the interfacing property of My SQL, an online database, which matches with PHP. So webmasters, who want to make their web sites automated, can zero in on My SQL and PHP, to build dynamic websites.

Now coming to the point, the developers at Rightway Solution have acquired the required skills to deliver high-end PHP Solutions to its clients world-wide. The advantages of PHP are enumerated below:

Benefits of PHP

• PHP has been breaking new ground in the outsourcing world, with over 1,000,000 websites currently lapping up the benefits PHP language. Shaking off traditional static image of the websites, the language apparently endows the site with certain level of vibrancy.

• PHP’s written scripts are pretty instrumental in keeping track of the visitor’s activities on your site. Sending out emails to the subscribers, aiding users upload files or images to the site, and driving content on your site dynamically, using databases.

• Small business sites, can utilize PHP to obtain feed back from users on their products and services. The script even aids in creating a form which will allow customers in sending emails to you directly.

• Being a free open source language, the users need not shell out thousands of dollars in licensing fee to acquire PHP. Cost-savings has made PHP the much preferred language over competitors like Microsoft’s ASP.NET and Visual Basic.net and Sun Microsystems’ Java.

• Easy in installation. Moreover, PHP Programs have their base in C & C++ and finds similarity with C++ and C syntax and so it is even easy to learn.

• PHP does not put a load on servers. The code is optimized to make the server’s job easier.

• As much of the processing is moved to the server, collection and use of data becomes more convenient with PHP. Data can be easily stored in databases and used in new ways. Users have access to this centralized data. Web sites can be created by making use of the central reserve much more efficiently.

• PHP gives developers much more freedom to create light, feature rich web sites that reuse common elements while still being connected to extended data sources.

• One of PHP’s primary benefits is a lack of dependence on external programs to run the code. Media files like sound, video and flash require plug-ins to function. Some browsers have the necessary plug-ins pre-installed, but many of the browsers need to download the necessary software to view components of websites. PHP is executed exclusively by the server and therefore requires nothing from the end-user.

PHP Development

John C asked:


For instance, I have the following string:

table:column

I need to get “table” as the result of the php regular expression.

So, I need everything before the “:” symbol

After that regular expression is performed, I would also like to get everything after the “:” symbol, or “column” as well.

neha Patel asked:


PHP

PHP (PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor) is a computer scripting language originally designed for producing dynamic web pages. It is used mainly in server-side scripting, but can be used from a command line interface or in standalone graphical applications.

While PHP was originally created by Rasmus Lerdorf in 1994, the main implementation of PHP is now produced by The PHP Group and serves as the de facto standard for PHP, as there is no formal specification.          

PHP Quick Start

Javascript

JavaScript is a scripting language used in many websites. A scripting language is a language, which is easy and fast to learn. So is this reference. A scripting language is interpreted in run-time. It is not compiled like other languages as C++, C#, VB.NET etc. JavaScript is a client side language and it runs on the client browser.

Netscape developed it and because of its simplicity it is one of the most known scripting languages. However JavaScript can be also used on the server-side.

JS Quick Start                                               

HTML

HTML is a computer language devised to allow website creation. These websites can then be viewed by anyone else connected to the Internet.British scientist Tim Berners-Lee invented HTML and the World Wide Web in 1990.

The definition of HTML is HyperText Markup Language.

* HyperText is the method by which you move around on the web — by clicking on special text called hyperlinks which bring you to the next page. The fact that it is hyper just means it is not linear — i.e. you can go to any place on the Internet whenever you want by clicking on links — there is no set order to do things in.

* Markup is what HTML tags do to the text inside them. They mark it as a certain type of text (italicised text, for example).

* HTML is a Language, as it has code-words and syntax like any other language.

HTML Quick Start

CSS

In web development, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a stylesheet language used to illustrate the presentation of a document written in a markup language. Its most common application is to style web pages written in HTML and XHTML, but the language can be applied to any kind of XML document, including SVG and XUL.

There are prosperity of reasons to learn and use CSS. The most important reasons to use CSS

1. Flexiblity – Make site-wide layout and formatting changes with a single edit.

2. Reduce code bloat – Streamline the file size of your Web documents.

3. Accessibility – Produce Web pages that can be used by any user, including the visually impaired.