what is PHP

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 (OSS)
* PHP is free to download and use
What is a PHP File?
* PHP files may 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 small database server
* MySQL is ideal for small and medium 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 (means that 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: http://www.php.net/
* PHP is easy to learn and runs efficiently on the server side
Where to Start?
* Install an Apache server on a Windows or Linux machine
* Install PHP on a Windows or Linux machine
* Install MySQL on a Windows or Linux machine
http://www.codedcode.com/php/php-introduction.asp