Basic PHP Programming

The PHP Windows installer works great on Windows XP Professional running IS. What the installer does is to install the CGI version of PHP for IIS, PWS, and Xitami. It also configures the web server. Don�t forget to select the appropriate build.

For Linux/Unix users, there is a PHP Source code available on the official PHP site. Compile it and voila! Make sure that you check first your web-server since most of the Linux/Unix versions already have PHP installed in them (neat huh?). Another option is to install it with an installer CD that comes with the Operating System.

Some PHP installer downloads are just add on�s. You would probably need a web server to install PHP. But before you install PHP, check if your web server is working properly.

PHP also allows you to build your site using PHP on Windows but you can still install and run the same code on Linux/Unix servers.

読者の皆さんは、さらに新しいバージョンがあることにお気付きでしょう。 この投稿では旧バージョンである「PHP Ver.4」を取り上げたいと思います。

PHPのVer. 4.1.0ではスーパーグローバル・アレイを採用しました。そのため、4.1.0以前のバージョンではスーパーグローバルで書かれたスクリプトは実行できません。4.1.0以前のバージョンを使用している場合は「$HTTP_POST_VARS」など旧型のアレイを使用する必要があります。

Ver. 4.2.0はもう少し複雑です。 PHPのこのバージョンは「register_globals」のデフォルト設定が「Off」に変わりました。「register_globals」設定が「On」であることを前提として旧バージョンで開発されたスクリプトがあります。これらのスクリプトはVer. 4.2.0では実行できない場合があります。この問題を解決するには、このバージョンで実行できるようにスクリプトのコーディングを変えてください。

Ver. 4.3.0ではPHPのCUバージョンに重要な改良が施されました。CUは、PHPがソースコードからコンパイルされるとデフォルトで自動的にビルドされます。ビルドされないようにするにはインストールオプションでこの機能を無効にする必要があります。

Ver. 4.3.1は4.3.0におけるセキュリティ上の問題点を修正したものです。

PHP is like a secretary.

I�m really liking these analogies I�m using (yeah, I�m weird that way). Anyway, as I was saying� PHP has the ability to interact with your file system. It means that PHP can write and reads into any file in your directories and files that are on your local hard disk (or other computers if they�re in a network). Aside from that, if a file doesn�t exist, PHP can create that file, directories, and copy files. It can also rename and/or delete files and change their attributes. If you want to create a back-up then PHP can do it for you.

The tutorial of the PHP aimed the users who have no previous experience with programming in PHP or any other programming language. But not at all there’s no guarantee to reach this goal to be reached, its very likely that there are places where the user is assumed to know things he or she wont know at this point of learning PHP.

PHP has many features that are designed particularly for Web site use. PHP interacts with HTML forms so that PHP can display on HTML and it also has the ability to process the information that users type in. PHP acts like a body-guard or bouncer of sorts and it secures Web pages. It allows the developer to create secure Web pages with features that requires users to enter a valid username and password before they can view the content. PHP also communicates with databases so they can both store and retrieve information from and to the users. Brilliant, isn�t it?

What more benefits of using PHP? Can�t the list be longer? Okay, okay� I�m getting to it.

PHP is customizable. Again, a nod to its being open source. That fact allows programmers access to core elements of the language (to the point of letting them extend the language) to modify the PHP software as needed to suit their own needs. This way, PHP softwares are always getting improvements. Imagine, a thousand of programmers working on the PHP code making the program dynamic � just perfect for the constantly changing Web.

Whew. Is that it? The last three posts are just the base, and more of the icing on the next posts.

In learning PHP and MySQL you need to understand that one of the greatest uses of these programs is in the form of Content Management System (CMS). As you can see, CMS is the main support of a dynamic web site. In fact, successful publishing sytems like Drupal and WordPress utilize server side scripting and a database, in which the top choices are often PHP and MySQL.

But PHP and MySQL are not the only scripting languages and databases in the market. There are also others like Oracle and DB2 which sometimes offer better choice than the former. The reason why PHP and MySQL have become popular choices however is that PHP is more manageable while MySQL is a placed in a more established and secure Open Source database position.

Here are more reasons why PHP is such a dear:

PHP has a very widely available technical support, which comes along with its being open-source. There are a lot of e-mail discussion lists and groups that offer help and support on the . These lists cover a variety of topics � from PHP and databases to PHP on Windows, and of course those usual issues that beginners encounter. What else? Well, it is secure. You won�t have to worry because other users will not see the PHP code (as long as your scripts are correct, that is). See, two more reasons why you should get acquainted with PHP!

PHP now known as “PHP Hypertext Preprocessor”, but originally “Personal Home Page Tools” is a widely used open-source programming language used primarily for server-side applications, to develop dynamic web content such as the MediaWiki software. It can be seen as an open source alternative to Microsoft’s Active Server Pages (ASP) system and to the CGI/Perl system.

Its ease of use and similarity with the most common structured programming languages, most notably C and Perl, allows most experienced programmers to start developing complex applications with a minimal learning curve. It also enables experienced developers to get involved with dynamic web content applications without having to learn a whole new set of functions and practices.

Zend Technologies plans to announce availability of the open source Zend Framework 1.5 for building PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) applications next week. With this release, Zend Framework is to be made available in a version of the Ubuntu Linux distribution in April.

Featuring contributions and sponsorships from such vendors as Microsoft, IBM, and Google, Zend Framework 1.5 supports OpenID and Microsoft InfoCard identity management technologies. Also supported is LDAP authentication and the Nirvanix media content storage and delivery network. PHP programmers using the framework can access Nirvanix capabilities. Zend is offering a Zend Framework subscription support service, featuring consulting and a guaranteed per-incident response time.