What is PHP?
PHP is an open source, server-side, HTML embedded scripting language used to create dynamic Web pages. In an HTML document, PHP script is enclosed within PHP tags. Because PHP is embedded within tags, the author can jump between HTML and PHP (similar to ASP and Cold Fusion) instead of having to rely on heavy amounts of code to output HTML. ISOC currently runs version 4.1.
PHP stands for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor, with that PHP standing for Personal HomePage [Tools]. This type of acronym is known as a retronym. Originally, in 1994, the language was designed as a small set of binaries used to collect some basic site traffic data. In 1997 the parser was rewritten by two Israelis and the name was changed to the current acronym — it being determined that hypertext preprocessor was a decidedly more acceptable name in the business world. PHP is an open-source language, used primarily for dynamic web content and server-side applications. It is often pointed to as the main competitor with: • Microsoft’s C# – Visual Basic.NET – ASP family, • Sun’s Java – JSP • Macromedia’s ColdFusion • CGI – Perl PHP has many open-source libraries included with the core build, and many more are readily available. Extensions exist to help PHP interface with a number of systems, including IRC, a number of compression formats, and Windows API. Other extensions exist to let PHP gen
This gentle PHP introduction explains the basics of PHP and looks at how you can use it to build feature-rich Web pages and applications. PHP is a programming language that you can use to write Web applications. A Web application can be anything from a simple “contact us” form through to a fully-fledged blogging system, online store, or forum system.
