What is PHP? Why PHP is used? How to use PHP?

In this article, I am going to give an introduction to what PHP is, why to use PHP and how to use PHP. Read on to find out more.

What is PHP?

PHP stands for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor.

PHP is a free, open source server scripting language (similar to ASP, .NET, etc). Unlike HTML, PHP scripts are executed on the server and the final output is displayed on the browser in HTML format. In general, PHP files have the extension “.php”,  “.php3”, or “.phtml”.

Why PHP is used?

PHP especially used in web development. The additional feature of PHP is that it can be embedded into HTML. PHP is very to use and supports many databases  such as MySQL, Oracle, Sybase, PostgreSQL, etc., thus making it very robust and efficient. It is also compatible with many servers such as Apache, IIS, etc, thus making it the most widely used server side scripting language.

How to use PHP?

In order to use PHP, you can follow any of the following 2 ways:

• Install Apache (or IIS) on your own server and install PHP.
• Buy a web hosting plan with PHP support.

Download PHP for free:
http://www.php.net/downloads.php

Download Apache for free:
http://httpd.apache.org/download.cgi

I personally use PHP with MySQL database, so you may download MySQL for free:
http://www.mysql.com/downloads/

Some common applications of PHP are to:

• Connect databases like MySQL to the Web to store & retrieve data.
• Conduct online surveys.
• Create graphics dynamically as required.
• Process online payments and develop E-Commerce websites.
• Serve different content to users based on their IP address, browser, date and time, or numerous other chacteristics.
• Read and process XML.
• Send mail.
• Communicate with other web sites.

That’s it for now!