Slide 4.b: PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor)

Slide 4.a: Web programming languages
Slide 4.c: PHP syntax
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PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor)

PHP is a general-purpose server-side scripting language that is especially suited for dynamic and interactive websites and can be embedded into HTML.

It is the widely-used, free, and efficient alternative to competitors such as Microsoft's ASP. The PHP syntax is very similar to Perl and C. PHP is often used together with MySQL (DBMS) and Apache (web server) on various operating systems. A PHP file may contain text, HTML tags, and scripts. Scripts in a PHP file are executed on the server.

What Is PHP?

PHP is a server-side scripting language, like ASP.
PHP scripts are executed on the server.
PHP supports many databases including MySQL, Informix, Oracle, etc.
PHP is an open source software (OSS).
PHP is free to download and use.

What Is a PHP File?

PHP files may 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 including Windows, Linux, Unix, etc.
PHP is compatible with almost all servers used today including 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.