PHP speed

[Anon]

I have already setup(being developed) my website using PHP.
Now the problem is regarding speed..

Which is faster
1. Running a html file
2. running a php3 file with no php tags in between
3. running php3 file with with 10-15 require functions (i am using them to dynamically display total values by running scripts which give values by querying values given by mysql server)

i also had undertaken a test for my site (http://chandigarhbiz.com) at netmechanic.com
Regarding download time the staement of the test was 'poor'. Other virtual sites hosted on my server have very good ratings(many of them are html only).
And also please tell whether PHP code is compiled first or iterpreted like HTML or PERL-CGI

Please help

[Anon]

html will always be faster.

On PHP, is it PHP4 or PHP3?

Is it A module or CGI?

PHP4 is faster, a module install is also faster.

It will also depend on how the pages are written, do they do database lookups, very much processing?

Etc....

Darren
http://www.php4hosting.com/

[Anon]

3. running php3 file with with 10-15 require functions (i am using
   them to dynamically display total values by running scripts which
   give values by querying values given by mysql server)

Of course this is going to be slower than 1 or 2, but it's doing a lot
more for you. One thing to check here--if all the queries are always
done each time, what you've described is OK, but if only a subset is
actually executed, then you should try switching to 'include' instead
of 'require'. As the manual states:

    Unlike include(), require() will always read in the
    target file, even if the line it's on never executes.

You might therefore see a speedup by having to read and intepret
less code each time.

[Anon]

And also please tell whether PHP code is >compiled first or iterpreted like HTML or >PERL-CGI

I believe this is the correct order of how php works, from first to last:

Client requests index.php (for example).
Server parses index.php (finds syntax errors and the like).
Server executes index.php, meaning any "work" it has to do is then performed (like multiplication, addition, fread(), etc.).

Server compiles index.php into html code and sends it out to the Client.

One must remember that the browser handles PHP pages as nothing more than HTML/java/DHTML. But I'm assuming you already knew that 🙂

There are most likely other steps than what I listed, but that's the basic gist.

Note: the entire page is not neccesarily handled all at once. Meaning an early part of your code may of already been sent to the client while the rest of your code is still at work. Thus why you have to remember to stick header() and the like before any other information that would be sent to the browser.

PHP is smart, but it's not a rocket scientist 🙂