PHP Scripting Language

1
PHP Scripting Language
2
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)

3
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.

4
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 Unix-like
  systems (e.g. Linux).

5
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.

6
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.

7
Windows Installation Example

• Apache HTTP Server Version 2.2
• Open-source
• Windows, OS X, Unix/Unix-Like (Linux)
• Documentation http//httpd.apache.org/docs/curren
  t/
• PHP Version 5.3.9
• Latest stable version
• Installation instructions http//php.net/manual/e
  n/install.php

8
Windows Installation Example

• Basic Steps
• Download Apache Win32 Binary from
  http//httpd.apache.org/download.cgiapache22
• 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.

9
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

10
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