This is a really Silly Question

Anon

But I'm gonna ask it anyway.

What is PHP and what is it used for??

OK if you have stopped laughing an answer would be good! eheh thanks

Laura

Anon

Primarily a server side scripting language to allow for dynamic content generation for webpages. Additionally it has many modules to allow for access to a variety of databases and other functions such as raw socket calls, PDF functions, XML/XSLT interaction, image generation, and more.

Anon

For me PHP is a great way to develop a web-based application that accesses a database (I use Informix on Linux and Solaris). Previously I wrote C programs with embedded SQL. I'd compile the program, copy it to the cgi-bin folder, run it, and check the log file for errors to debug it. Now I can write all the code within a PHP script. I edit the file, save it, and run it. My results are displayed in the browser. The development and testing time is now much shorter for me.

That's one answer.

Hank

Anon

Thanks

I wasn't sure what it was. Sounds a bit like asp?

Anon

Except it is free, and all(with the exception of one call PHPTurbine, for Flash) of its extensions are free.

Anon

Can you recommend and good websits for tutorials for beginners?

I don't know If I will be able to learn PHP as I only know HTML and a bit of Java Script and that's it.

I am more of a designer than a developer but I want to get into the programming side of websites.

Any ideas??

Thanks

Anon

Well, I'll make a generalization here. If you understand JS then PHP won't be too difficult. So I suggest the manual at http://www.php.net/manual/

start at the begining and read through it, probably don't need to read everythign as you probably already know what a variable is and such. But its a good intro. Then I think i'd use WebMonkey's PHP tutorials.

If you don't already know Regular Expressions, I suggest educating yourself here:

http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/helpsheets/regex.html

And if you want my reccomendation for a web host, i'd say phpwebhosting.com

$9.95/mo gets you all you can use*

*within reason

Anon

Thanks!

I'll be on my bike now and try and learn some of this! I was looking at the manual on PHPbulider.com last night, It seems ok so far !

Ta for your help, I might be back when I know what I'm talking about lol

Lauraz

head stuck in PHP pages 😛

Anon

I have downloaded php405-installer.exe from http://www.php.net/downloads.php and I have instaled the exe and I read the instructions in the install.txt and it tells me to do the following for Personal web server (which is what I am running)

PWS 4.0+ (CGI):
1. Copy the php.ini-dist to your systemroot (the directory where you installed windows), rename it to php.ini, and
edit it to fit your needs
2. Edit the enclosed PWS-php4.reg file to reflect the location of your php.exe. Forward slashes should be escaped,
for example:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\w3svc\parameters\Script Map] ".php"="C:\Program Files\PHP\php.exe"
3. In the PWS Manager, right click on a given directory you want to add PHP
support to, and select Properties. Check the 'Execute' checkbox, and
confirm.
4. At this point, PWS should have built-in PHP support.

But there are no php.ini-dist or PWS-php4.reg file!!??

Where do I get them from!?? I am going mad!?

help please 🙂

Laura

Anon

I've never actully used the installer for the Win32 version, but I'd assume that it put a php.ini in the correct place, afterall, it is an installer.

If you search you drive(s) for php.ini you should find it, if not, go get the ZIP file and use the files in there. Those install instructions are for if you got the zip file anyway.

I've only installed it with IIS and Apahce as a ISAPI, so I don't know about PWS, but the install instructions should get it up and running.

Anon

Ta!

I managed to download it all form another site! I got it working too, I was amazed lol

thank you

Laura