Introduction to php

Introduction to PHP/MYSQL

Presentation to Siltek Software Solutions (I) Pvt. Ltd.

What is it?

PHP is a scripting language commonly used on web servers.

Stands for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor

Open source

Embedded code

Comparable with ASP

Multiple operating systems/web servers

More About PHP

PHP is free software released under the PHP License.

PHP typically runs on a web server that takes PHP as input and gives out HTML pages as output.

PHP is installed on more than 20 million websites and 1 million web servers.

PHP has a syntax similar to C and Java.

The current version of PHP is 5.2.x.

What can it do?

Dynamic generation of web-page content

Database interaction

Processing of user supplied data

Email

File handling

Text processing

Network interaction

And more

Brief History of PHP

PHP (PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor) was created by Rasmus Lerdorf in 1994. It was initially developed for HTTP usage logging and server-side form generation in Unix.

PHP 2 (1995) transformed the language into a Server-side embedded scripting language. Added database support, file uploads, variables, arrays, recursive functions, conditionals, iteration, regular expressions, etc.

PHP 3 (1998) added support for ODBC data sources, multiple platform support, email protocols (SNMP,IMAP), and new parser written by Zeev Suraski and Andi Gutmans .

Brief History of PHP

PHP 4 (2000) became an independent component of the web server for added efficiency. The parser was renamed the Zend Engine. Many security features were added.

PHP 5 (2004) adds Zend Engine II with object oriented programming, robust XML support using the libxml2 library, SOAP extension for interoperability with Web Services, SQLite has been bundled with PHP

As of August 2004, PHP is used on 16,946,328 Domains, 1,348,793 IP Addresses http://www.php.net/usage.php This is roughly 32% of all domains on the web.

Fundamentals

PHP is embedded within xhtml pages within the tags:

The short version of these tags can also be used:

Each line of PHP is terminated, like MySQL, with a semi-colon.

Hello World!

PHP Test

Features of PHP

Performance

Relatively fast for an interpreted language.

Database Connectivity

Support for MySQL, Oracle, dbm, DB2, PostgreSQL

Can connect to any database which provides an ODBC driver (Open Database Connectivity Standard) e.g. MS Access.

Features of PHP

Existing Libraries

PHP was originally designed for web use lots of functions for common web-development tasks (e.g. Sending email, XML parsing, etc.)

Portability

Supported on Windows, Mac OS X, other Unix-like systems (e.g. Linux).

Features of PHP

Object-Oriented Programming

Similar syntax and features as C++ and Java inheritance, attribute visibility (private, protected), abstract classes/methods, constructors and destructors, etc.

Popularity

As a result, lots of documentation, books, and web tutorials.

PHP Usage

Server-Side Scripting Language

Must have a web server and the PHP interpreter installed.

PHP interpreter processes pages before they are served to clients.

PHP Usage

Accessing MySQL Using PHP

About MySQL

GNU Free, open-source, multi-platform

Implements the standard SQL language

Relational DBMS

Written in C and C++

Uses MyISAM B-tree disk tables

Uses in-memory hash tables for temporary tables

Building On MySQL

What languages can we use for building an application on MySQL?

ODBC Connector

JDBC Connector

.NET Connector

Web scripting languages

PHP, ASP, JSP

Uses of PHP and MySQL

Anything in a MySQL database can be viewed on a webpage

Any information which can be captured from a website can be stored into a database

Connecting to MySQL from PHP

/* Connection */

$username = user;// username

$password = password'; // password

$webhost = 'localhost';// host (localhost or something on a web server)

$db = test';// the database

$dbc = mysql_connect($webhost, $username, $password) or die("

Could not connect: " . mysql_error());

@mysql_select_db($db) or die("

Could not find database - $db - " . mysql_error() . "");

MySQL is Built Into PHP

There are function calls to connect to a MySQL server, send SQL commands, and retrieve data from the server

Application Structure

Lets Install

XAMPP Whats the tool?

XAMPP (pronounced as ZAMP) is a small and light Apache distribution containing the most common web development technologies in a single package.

Acronym for:

X- Read as "cross", meaning cross-platform)

A-Apache HTTP Server

M-MySQL

P-PHP

P-Perl

Features of XAMPP

Ideal tool for developing and testing applications in PHP & MySQL.

Takes less time than installing each of its components separately.

Multiple instances of XAMPP can exist on a single computer.

Allow website designers and programmers to test their work on their own computers without any access to the Internet

XAMPP also provides support for creating and manipulating databases in MySQL and SQLite among others.

How to install ?

Go to http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp.html

Versions available for Linux, Windows, Solaris, Mac OS X

Steps for Installation

http://wiki.fiforms.org/index.php/Installing_XAMPP

Types of XAMPP

WAMP - Windows

MAMP Mac OS X

SAMP - Solaris

LAMP - LINUX

XAMPP Configuration

Starting :

To start XAMPP simply call this command :

You should now see something like this on your screen :

If you get any error messages please take a look at the Linux FAQ.

/opt/lampp/lampp start

Starting XAMPP 1.7.4...LAMPP: Starting Apache...LAMPP: Starting MySQL...LAMPP started.

XAMPP Configuration

Stopping :

To stop XAMPP simply call this command :

You should now see something like this on your screen :

XAMPP for Linux is now stopped.

Starting XAMPP 1.7.4...LAMPP: Stopping Apache...LAMPP: Stopping MySQL...LAMPP stoped.

/opt/lampp/lampp stop

Recommended Texts for Learning PHP

Larry Ullmans books from the Visual Quickpro series

PHP & MySQL for Dummies

Beginning PHP 5 and MySQL: From Novice to Professional by W. Jason Gilmore

(This is more advanced and dense than the others, but great to read once youve finished the easier books. One of the best definition/description of object oriented programming Ive read)

Resources

Apache

Website: http://httpd.apache.org/

Documentation: http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/

PHP

Website: http://www.php.net/

Documentation and language reference: http://www.php.net/docs.php

http://www.w3schools.com/php/default.asp

Resources

Xampp

Combines an Apache web server, PHP, and MySQL into one simple installation service.

Very little configuration required by the user to get an initial system up and running.

http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp.html