[Flubb10]

So I've noticed that there are a lot of pages that end in php. What exactly is php and how do I use it. What are the advantages of using this instead of another language? And where do I learn more about this?

[TonyB]

more and more people are coding in php instead of other codes. it's a lot cleaner code than others out there which helps rankings for the search engines.

[dansgalaxy]

PHP which means Php - Hypertext - Preprocessor

is a server side language and can actually THINK do calculations and a hell of alot more.

[TonyB]

really, i didn't know it went off calcualtions.

[dansgalaxy]

*roll eyes*

Lol,

Okay in html/CSS you cant do simple things like:

1+1=2 and have it work it out

but in php you can do something like:

$total = 1+1;

echo $total (will show 2)

and thats the simple stuff...

HTML/CSS/XHTML is ONLY a display/Markup lanagage which controls the look at layout, all the server does to a html file is simple send it to the browser.

if the server reconises it as PHP it will put it through the PHP parser which works it all out and if you like it creates the final set of html and THEN apache sends it to the browser...

:D

[Chainsawkitten]

Actually, it doesn't wait until all the code has been finished. It sends html every time you use echo.

Then why should we use PHP to echo the answer of 1+1 instead of just writing 2 in a html file? The answer is that that was just a simple example. PHP can do much more advanced stuff like getting things from databases etc. This forum is coded in PHP which allows the users to create and answer in different threads. How would you let the user create a thread in pure html?

[Sarahlee]

Good question.

Php is so much more advanced than HTML. HTML is for those who are just starting out in coding websites....PHP is for advanced users. I'm not at all really familiar with PHP very much but in this forum, I figure some things out just by lookin at the code

[RandyC]

I can code PHP however I rarely ever use it anymore I have moved to using java, javascript, and other web coding formats. PHP is more cleaner and simple then all the others however there are too many ways to hack it and get into it, that the creators need to fix and quickly. PHP is basically what makes the internet run now adays. almost every website you visit uses PHP weather it is a simple include function or something as complex as an internet content management system/forum.

[dansgalaxy]

Originally Posted by Chainsawkitten

Actually, it doesn't wait until all the code has been finished. It sends html every time you use echo.

Then why should we use PHP to echo the answer of 1+1 instead of just writing 2 in a html file? The answer is that that was just a simple example. PHP can do much more advanced stuff like getting things from databases etc. This forum is coded in PHP which allows the users to create and answer in different threads. How would you let the user create a thread in pure html?

I did say it was a very simple example, of course it can be used for much much more, i personally have great fun with it

Love helping people out, especially when the services are paid ;)

Dan :-)

[web_doctor]

PHP is one of the great web programming language we can use on the internet, its codes are pretty simple. you can learn them in php.net.

A lot of tutorials for a beginner programmers.