The Perfect Language For Dynamic Content

Joe Brockmeier presents a brief introduction to the PHP scripting language with a discussion of PHP's origins, capabilities, and the platforms it's available on. A simple PHP script example highlights basic syntax and usage.

If you work with Web-based development, you've probably heard about PHP. You might not know exactly what it is, how it works, or why it's so hot, but you do know it's time to find out more about it. So here's a quick intro to the basic concepts that underlie PHP.

A bit of background

PHP started out as a small open source project that evolved as more and more people found out how useful it was. Rasmus Lerdorf unleashed the first version of PHP way back in 1994. It has been picking up steam ever since and is now at version 4.0.3 with numerous improvements and refinements over the original release.

PHP is a scripting language that is embedded in HTML and interpreted by the server. It can be used to manage dynamic content, work with databases, handle session tracking, and even build entire e-commerce sites. It works well with a number of popular databases, including MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, Sybase, Informix, and Microsoft SQL Server.