New to Php Help required

ozy123

Hello
I'm a Comp science student trying to carry out a project involving php. My project involves creating a file manager encoded in PHP with a Java GUI for enhanced visualization to allow remote file store access. Basically I want to create an application to allow somebody to access their files remotely via a web page using a php script and a java GUI.

I have to carry out this project in an academic fashion which involves following a formal methodology.
I'm confused as to where to start.

What do I require, ie an internet server, web server etc
What type of methodology should I follow, I've used an O-O approach in Java programming but am completely new to PHP and a little confused as to the best approach.
I'm also unsure as to how the interaction between the php script embedded in HTML and the JAVA gui works.

Could anyone provide any help? Many thanks.

zero118

Yes, you would need a web server or search Google for "apache friends" to install a server on your system. I'm not sure about Java but I would start with a good user authentication system in PHP. It's easy to code around one.

ozy123

Excellent thankyou. Any ideas on best design methodology for PHP? or what most people commonly use?

bradgrafelman

A brief introduction to one set of coding standards can be found here.

Whether or not you follow them strictly or create a hybrid with your own preferences is up to you. There are many opinions out there as to what's better... posting on a forum like PHPBuilder in the Code Critique section is a good way to discover how the opinions apply directly to your coding methods.

ozy123

Thx again but I don't think conventions is what I'm after, but thanks for going to the trouble.

I'm slightly confused. Before writing a PHP script do most developers have a design phase? IE like using an object-oriented design methodology? I could write the code I think from scratch but I'm required to design it following a particular design method.

Also can someone enlighten me on the interaction of the php script with the java GUI? Will the php script have java code contained within it with each button, list etc referring to php code? Or if I were to have seperate pieces of code how would I refer to the php code. very confused!

ahundiak

Star by clarifying with your instructor if you need to use a "Java GUI" or a "JavaScript". Two very different things in spite of the fact that they both contain the word "Java".

If you really meant "Java GUI" then you first step will be to write a Java Applet. You will then use a bit of HTML to download and execute the applet in your browser. No PHP so far.

When your applet needs to interact with the server it will do so by executing an http request. The request will contain the name of the php script to execute on the server along with any additional data. The server will run your php script and pass any results back to your java applet.

But using java applets is rare. I'm willing to bet your assignment is really to use JavaScript for the client side.