What Is Php?

[slave 0]

hm i guess you have learn a lot about it. but i think it would be better if you start with HTML cause if you don't have any knowledge of HTML you cant do better work with PHP. well it well be better search more on about php on wikipeida.com

[flashy 0]

PHP stands for (PHP: HyperText Preprocessor). It is a server sided language which therefore must be used with a server. PHP was originally created by Rasmus Lerdorf in 1994, the main implementation of PHP is now produced by The PHP Group and serves as the de facto standard for PHP, as there is no formal specification. Released under the PHP License, the Free Software Foundation considers it to be free software.

The actual first name of PHP in 1994 when it was created was officially called "Personal Home Page Tools (PHP Tools)". Then in the release of V3.0 the PHP company called it by what we call it today.

Some of the simple tags that people use everyday are

echo "Hello world";

$POST, $GET, $REQUEST

(these are otherwise known as super globals)

The POST GET and REQUEST were not actually introduced until 4.1.0 release on December 1, 2001.

[threepach 0]

the better question is WHY PHP and not other web developing language.the answer is: * PHP will run on (almost) any platform. Using the same code base, PHP can be compiled and built on about 25 platforms, including most UNIXs, Windows(95/98/NT/2000) and Macs. As this uses the same code base, all scripts will run identically, whatever the platform. * PHP is similar to C. So anyone who has experience with a C-style language will soon understand PHP. In C-style languages we can also include Javascript and Java. In fact, much of PHP's functionality is provided by wrappers around the underlying system calls (such as fread() and strlen()) so C programmers will immediately feel at home. * PHP is extendible. PHP consists of the core parsing engine (written by Zend), a set of core code modules and then a set of code extensions. This allows programmers two ways of extending PHP to do some special processing, either by writing an extension module and compiling it into the executable, or by creating an executable that can be loaded using PHP's dynamic loading mechanism. * Lots of HTTP server interfaces. PHP currently will load into Apache, IIS, AOLServer, Roxen and THTTPD. Alternatively, it can be run as a CGI module. * Lots of database interfaces. PHP currently will work with MySQL, MS SQL, Oracle, Informix, PostgreSQL and many others. These are binary level interfaces, and ODBC is also provided for those situations where the database is not supported. * And lots of other modules... when a PHP user wants to interface to particular library, then it is easy to write an interface for it, and many have done so, and contributed to the main PHP source repository. So you can find modules for graphics routines, PDF files, Flash movies, Cybercash, calendars, XML, IMAP, POP and a host of others. If the library you need is not supported, you can either write one yourself, or employ your favourite programmer to do it. * PEAR. The PHP Extension and Add-on Repository. Similar to the CPAN network for Perl, although still in its infancy, the idea of PEAR is to provide a set of PHP scripts that would be installed by default with the PHP installation * Fast. PHP is normally used an Apache module and this makes it very fast. It is entirely written in C and is quite small, so loads and executes quickly with small memory footprint. * PHP is Open Source. Almost a religious matter to some people! In purely practical terms, it means that you are not dependent on a manufacturer to fix things that don't work, nor are you forced to pay for upgrades every year to get a working version. Those of us who have waited for Allaire to get something fixed will appreciate this.central PHP website is : http://php.net/

[tricky77puzzle 0]

PHP = PHP Hypertext Preprocessor

I believe it means "Prepreocessed Hypertext Programming".

But, yes, PHP is a server-side scripting language that allows you to view pages' output without displaying the source code. This is especially useful if you have a trade-secret script (for example, this forum's credit system) that you don't want anyone to see.

[pugboy 0]

Knew it was server sided, but never knew of the many acronyms :(Good info

Edited March 19, 2008 by pugboy (see edit history)

[azri92 0]

php is another web langunge programing...same like html but php is more powerfull than html..FOR me

[Ufaweb 0]

I am a new starter. Who can tell me what is PHP?

Goto http://php.net/

[Absolute Zer0 0]

PHP is a web language, like HTML, Javascript, and CSS. You use it for dynamic content, in other words, content that is added, removed, etc., without having to reupload a page. It's good to also know MySQL in conjunction with PHP, as they work well together. PHP is harder than HTML, but it can do a LOT more... I wanna learn it...