Questions From A Beginning Learner

Dee_Doubleu

Hello

I am a new member of this forum. I am not a programmer, I know a few basics about HTML, and am interested in learning how to program using PHP for website creation. To begin, I've read a lot of the posts here including the manual information to get a general concept of what PHP is, the terminology and the applications.

I have several questions which I hope someone here might be able to answer to help get me started.

Are there any websites using PHP that can be recommended for me to visit so I can read the PHP source to better understand what the language applications actually look like?

What are the first steps I need to take to create a basic set up for myself to begin to experiment with PHP basics as I learn? Is this something that I can do with my own basic home computer? Do I need to have access to a PHP server in order to do this?

I hope this is the proper forum to address with these questions, if I should be at another forum for such a basic learning stage, please help direct me to where I should go.

Thank you all,
Dee D

laserlight

Are there any websites using PHP that can be recommended for me to visit so I can read the PHP source to better understand what the language applications actually look like?

There are a number of open source messageboard scripts, content management systems, etc, written in PHP. You can search the web for them.

What are the first steps I need to take to create a basic set up for myself to begin to experiment with PHP basics as I learn?

For starters, you need a good text editor, or a PHP oriented integrated development environment.

Is this something that I can do with my own basic home computer?

Yes. You can download Apache HTTP Server, and of course PHP from php.net
If you want to play with relational databases, MySQL and Postgresql are available at zero price, as is SQLite.

thorpe

Hello... and welcome to the forum!

To your first question. Php is what is known as a server-side tech. This meens that php runs on the server, creates html output and sends it to the client (browser). There is no way to view the (php) source of such a site. Right click (and view source) of this forum for instance. Its created in php but all you'll see is html.

Of course there are open source projects around that let you download the source for viewing but honestly, for a beginer, these will just seem overwhelming. php can create quite complex applications.

As for question 2. For a basic (local) setup you'll need a webserver with php installed and configured. Both of which can be run on your local machine. Apache is a great server and highly recomended and you can get php from the http://php.net site.

Most people will also want a database, mysql is probably the number one choice, but I prefer postgres.

Some of these packages are (at times) a little troublesome to install for a newcomer (dont know why) and so there are also complete LAMP and WAMP installs available that take care of the whole thing for you. Just do a google search for XAMPP.

Hope this helps.

ps; You might find this free online book of interest too!

Houdini

After you have a webserver and PHP and possibly a database system like MySQL then you could use an online book and practice with your own server to test the code as you are reading to see how the examples given work. A good online resource is Practical PHP Programming. It is a great resource and is always there when you need to lookup something that you are unsure of or even something entirely new.

Dee_Doubleu

I will be referencing the reading material suggested.

Have another question regarding the requirments.

Will my home computer have enough memory and space to accomodate a server program, the PHP program AND a database? Again, I am new to all of this, please excuse the basic nature of the question and thanks again in advance.

Dee_Doubleu

After reading more, went ahead and installed Apache, PHP and MySQL using the XAMPP installation. Thanks again for the information and suggestions.

Houdini

Glad to see someone take advice about installing XAMPP. It is painless and rather easy, and although a large program look at all it has. The install could not be much simpler, mostly click install then take all the defaults. Then start using PHP and MySQL with the apache server or set up your mercury mail server then set up your FileZilla server or write a Perl script or play with phpMyAdmin or learn how to use the PHP switch to switch from PHP 4 to PHP 5. It is a great program, although you might want to alter the php.ini located in the c:\Program Files\xampp\apache\bin for GD and SMTP. All in all though right after install it is raring to go.

thorpe

All in all though right after install it is raring to go.

So is all that stuff installed from source when you know what your doing. But yeah... good choice for a beginner or someone not really intersted in server administration I guess.

Houdini

This is the point as a beginner the last thing you need to do is know all about Apache it's configuration PHP and it's configuration or MySql and it's configuration. Probably as a beginner you just want to be able to test some ideas out on a real webserver, and although you might not have all the things necessary to do some of those ideas, with something like XAMPP at least you will get a working system to test with. Really what do you need to test

<?php
echo "Hello World";
?>

or run and SQL query or start learning how phpMyAdmin works, unless you want to use curl or GD or the mail() function right off the word go, then you will have a working system that can be altered as you learn.

ironlion75

Guys I have been pondering over installing Lamp bundles or going for the straight up manual install...I am a web designer but want to move to the dev side.how boring can static html pages be!!! _______________________________

What about the other installation kits out there such as Reactor Server or Wamp5...How would you guys compare them to XAMPP, and will i have problems with configuration later on???

Appreciate any help!!!! :glare:

ironlion75

Houdini wrote:
This is the point as a beginner the last thing you need to do is know all about Apache it's configuration PHP and it's configuration or MySql and it's configuration. Probably as a beginner you just want to be able to test some ideas out on a real webserver, and although you might not have all the things necessary to do some of those ideas, with something like XAMPP at least you will get a working system to test with. Really what do you need to test

Thanks for the confidence bulider..Now thats what these forums are all about.....Cheers bro. 🙂