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.

Natasa asked:


For years, ASP has been one of the most popular server-side scripting languages and for good reason. It is easy to learn, can be based on either Visual Basic scripting or Java scripting, and it runs on any Windows based server. But therein is the problem. It only runs on Windows based machines. With the growing popularity of UNIX and Apache based web servers, a new open sourced scripting language was needed. Out of this need grew PHP. PHP runs on all of the widely used web servers, including Windows. It also works with most of the common databases, such as MySQL, and can handle ODBC for any other database with an ODBC driver.

With more and more applications being driven to the World Wide Web, server-side scripting languages like PHP make sense. In a server-side scripting language, all of the processing takes place on the server. This means that the developer can create a fully scalable application at the source and have full control over the environment. The user, on the client side, enters data and clicks a button. This sends a request to the server with the form data embedded in the request. The server then takes this request, passes it on to the PHP translator that evaluates and processes the information, then returns simple HTML back to the client.

PHP uses a combination of HTML, scripts and tags to create code that is easy to structure and read. Anyone with knowledge of HTML and a scripting language such as Javascript or VBScript will be up and running in no time. And there is no shortage of places to learn PHP on the Web.

If you need a fast, open-source, easy to learn scripting language for your website, PHP is the way to go.