http://www.kekh.com PHP Tutorials Fri, 25 May 2007 13:35:14 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en PHP is an excellent choice for Web programming. It has many advantages over other languages, including other Web-oriented languages. To get a very general understanding of how the common Web programming languages compare, let's compare them. ASP is Microsoft's Web programming environment. (It's not a language itself because it allows the ... http://www.kekh.com/chapter-1/why-php/ If you've never written a computer program before, the whole idea may be quite intimidating. Most programmers will probably tell you (if they aren't embarrassed to admit it) that they were intimidated when they began. However, the programming process isn't all that difficult and, contrary to popular belief, you don't ... http://www.kekh.com/chapter-1/if-youre-new-to-programming/ Before we get into an actual program, let's take a look at the steps we'll take to create one. The steps aren't complicated; in fact, they're basically the same as the steps you use when creating an HTML page and publishing it to your server. Unlike creating an HTML page, creating ... http://www.kekh.com/chapter-1/writing-a-basic-php-program/ As already explained, PHP code is processed at the Web server before anything is returned to the browser. This is referred to as server-side processing. Most Web programming works this way: PHP, ASP, Perl, C, and others. However, a few languages are processed by the browser after it receives the page. ... http://www.kekh.com/chapter-1/server-side-versus-client-side-scripting/ Following the same procedure outlined at the beginning of this chapter, try running this program. If your program doesn't display "Hello, World!" in your browser, go through the next section and try to eliminate reasons why the program might not run. TIP A good directory structure should use general categories and narrow those ... http://www.kekh.com/chapter-1/running-your-new-program/ You should now have a clear understanding of how PHP processes a PHP file. You should also have a basic understanding of PHP's syntax, including how to use the PHP tags, how and when to use comments, and the importance of statement termination with semicolons. In the next ... http://www.kekh.com/chapter-1/whats-next/ Now that you know the basics of creating a PHP program, it's time to learn about all the things a program can do. Essentially, all programs exchange and manipulate data. For example, the information from a Web site's feedback form might be collected and sent via e-mail to the Webmaster. ... http://www.kekh.com/chapter-2/variables-and-constants/ A program contains two basic things: commands and values. The commands all have certain tasks they perform; the values are the information that the tasks are performed with. Until now, all your programs have used literal values; that is, any time a value has been specified, it has been hard ... http://www.kekh.com/chapter-2/introduction-to-variables-and-constants/ Declaration is the term used to describe the creation of a variable or constant. Assignment, which is covered in the following sections, is the process of storing a value in a variable. Declaring Variables Declaring a variable is quite simple—all you have to do is assign something to it. If, for example, ... http://www.kekh.com/chapter-2/declaration-and-assignment/ Variable types, which are handled automatically by PHP, tell PHP what kind of value it's working with. To put things in perspective, think about what you know about certain values. Cat, for example, is text. You can't multiply cat by cat because they're not numbers, they're text. However, 5 and ... http://www.kekh.com/chapter-2/variable-types/