Transcript Presentation: PHP

PHP Scripting Language
Introduction
• “PHP” is an acronym for “PHP: Hypertext
Preprocessor.”
• It is an interpreted, server-side scripting
language.
• Originally designed for web development.
• Syntax is similar to C, Perl.
• Similar languages are Perl, ASP.NET, Ruby, JSP
(JavaServer Pages)
PHP Features
• 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.
PHP Features
• 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 Unixlike systems (e.g. Linux).
PHP Features
• 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.
Windows Installation Example
• Apache HTTP Server Version 2.2
▫ Open-source
▫ Windows, OS X, Unix/Unix-Like (Linux)
▫ Documentation:
http://httpd.apache.org/docs/current/
• PHP Version 5.3.9
▫ Latest stable version
▫ Installation instructions:
http://php.net/manual/en/install.php
Windows Installation Example
• Basic Steps:
▫ Download Apache Win32 Binary from
http://httpd.apache.org/download.cgi#apache22
▫ Install Apache
▫ Download PHP binary installer from
http://www.php.net/downloads.php
▫ Install PHP, configured to use the Apache web
server
▫ Optionally modify Apache configuration to serve
PHP files as directory indices.
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
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