Php Tutorial For Beginners
what you need to know about php before diving into it
PHP is a server scripting language and a powerful tool for making dynamic and interactive web pages.
In this definition we have keywords like server, scripting language , dynamic web pages.
What does these terms means ?;
A server is a software or hardware device that accepts and responds to requests made over a network. An example is APACHE server.
A scripting language or script language is a programming language that is used to manipulate, customize and automate the facilities of an existing system. Examples are: PYTHON, RUBY.
A dynamic website is a set of pages, the content of which changes depending on the visitors locations, past actions taken on the site, time zones and more. Examples are: blogs, E-commerce sites.
When your ask to create a dynamic website know that PHP or another backend language is involved for you to build that website.
PHP was conceived sometime in the fall of 1994 by RASMUS LERDORF . EARLY non-released versions were used on his home page to keep track of who was looking at his online resume.
The first version used by others was available sometime in early 1995 and was known as
The personal homepage tools .
There are 8 released versions of PHP so far and the most recent is PHP 8.1.20 released on 8th June 2023.
Alternatives to PHP are ;
Node.js
Python
Ruby
Go
Why we should use PHP
It handles dynamic content, database as well as session tracking for the website.
You can create sessions in php.
It can access cookies variables and also set cookies .
It helps to encrypt data and apply validation.
PHP supports several protocols such as HTTP,POP3,SNMP and more.
Using PHP language, you can control the user to access some pages of your website.
PHP Features
Open source: php source code and software are freely available on the web.
Familiarity with syntax: php has easily understandable syntax.
Embedded: php code can be easily embedded within HTML tags and script.
Platform independent: php is available for Windows ,MAC ,LINUX and UNIX Operating system . A PHP application developed in one Operating system can be easily executed in other Operating system.
Types of apps you can build with PHP
A social media platform like FACEBOOK.
A search engine like YAHOO
A platform like WIKIPEDIA
A Content Management System (CMS) like WORDPRESS.
MAILCHIMP
DIGG
A FRAMEWORK is a structure that you can build software on. It serves as a foundation, so your not starting from scratch.
PHP FRAMEWORKS
LARAVEL
CODELGNITER
SYMFONY
CAKEPHP
Click on this link PHP /www.php.net to visit PHP official website. On their website you can learn anything about PHP. Their lessons are well structured and easy to understand.
To learn PHP you need basic knowledge in web development like HTML, CSS and JAVASCRIPT .
Websites where you can also learn PHP apart from their official website are ;
Udemy.com/EDWIN DIAZ
To conclude this article , I will guide you on how to install PHP on your pc :
Install a webserver like WampServer or XAMPP.
You can visit their official website wampserver.com/apachefriends.org to download them.
After downloading it you can watch tutorials on how to use them .
These software’s comes with PHP and MySQL by default.
Finally try to master a programming language like C , because if you master C programming language you can master any programming language .