PHP Introduction

PHP is a server-side scripting language.  

What is PHP?

• PHP stands for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor
• PHP is a server-side scripting language, like ASP
• PHP scripts are executed on the server 
• PHP supports many databases (MySQL, Informix, Oracle, Sybase, Solid, PostgreSQL, Generic ODBC, etc.) 
• PHP is an open source software 
• PHP is free to download and use 

What is a PHP File?
PHP files can contain text, HTML tags and scripts
PHP files are returned to the browser as plain HTML
PHP files have a file extension of ".php", ".php3", or ".phtml"

Why PHP? 
PHP runs on different platforms (Windows, Linux, Unix, etc.)
PHP is compatible with almost all servers used today (Apache, IIS, etc.)
PHP is FREE to download from the official PHP resource: www.php.net
PHP is easy to learn and runs efficiently on the server side

Where to Start?
To get access to a web server with PHP support, you can
Install Apache (or IIS) on your own server, install PHP, and MySQL
Or find a web hosting plan with PHP and MySQL support