The endless possibilities of the PHP scripting language and a great community of users has made it one of the most popular open-source languages. For all you people living outside the UNIX world, Open Source means it doesn't cost anything. You can use it as much as you want and where you want, and nobody will ever charge you thousands of dollars for licenses and support. Even though it was originally conceived as a set of macros to help coders maintain personal home pages, its name grew a lot more from its purpose. Since then, PHP's capabilities have been extended, taking it beyond a set of utilities to a full-featured programming language, capable of managing huge database-driven online environments.
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PHP scripting
PHP is now officially known as "PHP: HyperText Preprocessor". It is a server-side scripting language usually written in an HTML context. Unlike an ordinary HTML page, a PHP script is not sent directly to a client by the server; instead, it is parsed by the PHP binary or module, which is server-side installed. HTML elements in the script are left alone, but PHP code is interpreted and executed. PHP code in a script can query databases, create images, read and write files, talk to remote servers - the possibilities are endless. The output from PHP code is combined with the HTML in the script and the result sent to the user?s web-browser, therefore it can never tell the user whether the web-server uses PHP or not, because all the browser sees is HTML.
PHP's support for Apache and MySQL further increases its popularity. Apache is now the most-used web-server in the world, and PHP can be compiled as an Apache module. MySQL is a powerful free SQL database, and PHP provides a comprehensive set of functions for working with it. The combination of Apache, MySQL and PHP is all but unbeatable.
That doesn?t mean that PHP cannot work in other environments or with other tools. In fact, PHP supports an extensive list of databases and web-servers. The rise in popularity of PHP has coincided with a change of approach in web-publishing. While in the mid-1990s it was ok to build sites, even relatively large sites, with hundreds of individual hard-coded HTML pages, today?s webmasters are making the most of the power of databases to manage their content more effectively and to personalize their sites according to individual user preferences.
Reasons for using PHP
There are some indisputable great reasons to work with PHP. As an open source product, PHP is well supported by a talented production team and a committed user community. Furthermore, PHP can be run on all the major operating systems with most servers.
The speed of development is also important. Because PHP allows you to separate HTML code from scripted elements, you will notice a significant decrease in development time on many projects. In many instances, you will be able to separate the coding stage of a project from the design and build stages. Not only can this make life easier for you as a programmer, but it also can remove obstacles that stand in the way of effective and flexible design.
Well-maintained open source projects offer users additional benefits. You benefit from an accessible and committed community who offer a wealth of experience in the subject, as fast and as cheap as possible. Chances are that any problem you encounter in your coding can be answered swiftly and easily with a little research. If that fails, a question sent to a mailing list or forum can have an intelligent, authoritative response. You also can be sure that bugs will be addressed as they are found, and that new features will be made available as the need is defined. You will not have to wait for the next commercial release before taking advantage of improvements, and there is no hidden interest in a particular server product or operating system. You are free to make choices that suit your needs or those of your clients and incorporate whatever components you want.
"…Open Source means it doesn?t cost anything. You can use it as much as you want and where you want, and nobody will ever charge you thousands of dollars for licenses and support."
Wrong. Look at what RedHat charges for their distros and support and tell me again what Open Source means? It simply means the Source is Open. It has nothing to do with the licensing fees or support.
Homer Simpson
November 1st, 2007
While most of the open source is free for use forever, some people do charge for it, such as Red hat and some of the other major distribution companies.
Although in support of this article, with some minimal research, you can typically find pre-written scripts or "expert" help for questions.
required
November 6th, 2007
THats helpful just made myself a site don't no what to put on it & every one was say how about a Php every time i told them tpo explain it more they just shut off now i understand tho ..Thanks
Cj
November 21st, 2007
i want to know more anout PHP.
thanks
Mohammad Shuaib Khan
December 3rd, 2007
Actully i m new with this topic n i want more deep knowladge on PHP also ASP pages.
This is also good start for me
Thanks.
Aditya Gade
December 7th, 2007
Hey Homer, Open source simply means that code is FREE.
Now this FREE is not as "FREE BEER" but as "FREE SPEECH". Open source does not means you won't have to pay for it. It means you don't pay for the code but only for the support and technical consultancy.
Rochak Chauhan
December 20th, 2007
free software? free speech? free beer? wOOt!
jonny rocket
January 2nd, 2008
Hi people,
PHP, Linux, Unix etc… These words are so famous these days and most of the developers are interested in these technologies. Is there a possibility that these technologies can overtake the likes of Microsoft, Siebel, IBM, Oracle etc? I mean, as far as the market share and profitability is concerned? But i have a feeling that Microsoft is moving forward day by day no matter what is said and done about these open source technologies. Since i am a Business Analyst, i'm not concerned about what technology is best and what is better or worse but i certainly am interested in these open source technologies.
Tharindu Jayasinghe
January 16th, 2008
I want to go into programming and i'd like 2 start with PHP. How do i go about it?
Duncan G
January 16th, 2008
doesn't it have any disadvantage????
tamt
February 2nd, 2008
Even though I read this, I still can't quite understand. I mean, ok, PHP is another web-coding.programming language, but, what is the purpose of it? Can you make a whole website out of it, or…does it simply make your website more interactive?
Please email me back if you can. Thank you.
Provi, USA.
Provi
February 3rd, 2008
plz can you tell me how apache php and mysql is connected for the first time and how to proced with them
Eyob
February 24th, 2008
is php purely coding like java or it is easy to understand ,that even a normal student can easily learn it
ashwynkrishna
March 10th, 2008
it is purely coding like html and java or it is easy to understand that even a normal student can easily learn it
sumanpalavalasa
March 11th, 2008
Even though I read this, I still can’t quite understand. I mean, ok, PHP is another web-coding.programming language, but, what is the purpose of it? Can you make a whole website out of it, or…does it simply make your website more interactive?i want more deep knowladge on web desiging, can u make a whole website
sumanpalavalasa
March 11th, 2008
My 2 cents on OpenSource.. As a linux user for 5 years now. Open source is free, that is no cost. What RedHat, Sun, etc sell is support. You can have all the software you want for free. You can do anything you want to it.. for free. you cannot sell it, but there is a good market for selling support contracts. (there has to be some incentive for all these people that pay their devs to write open source software (sun for example.. Openoffice and Compiz to name a few) read the GPL if you disagree…
Dean Parshall
April 8th, 2008
I'm redesigning this website I wanted to put an actual calendar on the the events page. All the programs I see are using PHP. Right now I'm using a table calendar with the tr td and so on, it's with all heading nd so forth it's not passing XHTML sttict mode. Was wondering if the would work for Event calendars? Thanks, Ryan
Ryan
April 9th, 2008
Hello mate I am student of LSCE( London School of Computer Education) I am reaching on PHP & ASP. Also study on this Subject so I think this website will be more helpful for me. Cheers!
Saad Khan
April 19th, 2008