PHP

PHP: Hypertext Preprocessing

Matt Murphy & Dublas Portillo
What is PHP?
PHP is a server-side scripting language designed
specifically for the Web.
An open source language
PHP code can be embedded within an HTML page,
which will be executed each time that page is visited.
Example code (all equivalent):
Short Style: <? echo Hello World!; ?>
XML Style: <?php echo Hello World!; ?>
Script Style: <SCRIPT LANGUAGE=php> echo Hello World!;
</SCRIPT>
ASP Style: <% echo Hello World!; %>
History of PHP
Created by Rasmus Lerdorf in 1994
Originally a set of Perl scripts used by Lerdorf to
show off his rsum as well as collect
information on his website, such as the sites
traffic info.
Lerdorf later transcribed these Perl scripts into a
set of CGI binaries written in C, and in doing
so, combined it with his own Form Interpreter
to create PHP/FI.
History of PHP
PHP/FI grew in popularity, but did not become
widely known until two program developers
named Zeev Suraski and Andi Gutmans,
developed a new parser in the summer of 1997,
which led to the development of PHP 3.0.
The newest version out is PHP 5, which uses an
engine developed by Suraski and Gutmans,
known as the Zend II Engine. (Zend I was used
by PHP 4)

PHP Programming Paradigms
Uses both procedural and object oriented paradigms
Procedural PHP
Has been in use since the creation of PHP, its primary
paradigm.
Allows for easy and quick learning of the PHP language.
Similar to other popular languages such as Visual Basic,
C++, and Fortran.
PHP Programming Paradigms
Object Oriented PHP
Similar to Java, example of an object class:

<?php
class BaseClass {
function __construct() {
echo "In BaseClass constructor<br>";
}
}

class SubClass extends BaseClass {
function __construct() {
parent::__construct();
echo "In SubClass constructor<br>";
}
}

$obj = new BaseClass();
$obj = new SubClass();
?>
public class BaseClass {
public BaseClass() {
System.out.println("In BaseClass
constructor\n");
}
}

class SubClass extends BaseClass {
public SubClass() {
super();
System.out.println("In SubClass constructor\n");
}
}
-----------------------------------------
public class Output {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Object obj;

obj = new BaseClass();
obj = new SubClass();
}
}
Features of PHP
Very Efficient Can serve millions of hits per day.
Database Integration Supports many databases, such as mySQL
and Oracle. Also has excellent XML support as of PHP 5.
Built-in Libraries Tailored to web development, one can connect to
other network services, send email, work with cookies, generate PDF
documents, and make GIF images on the fly all with a few lines of code.
Its Free Available on http://www.php.net
Easy to Learn Very similar in syntax to C/C++/Java and Perl.
Portable Works on Unix based operating systems, on Mac OS X, as well
as on versions of Microsoft Windows. Your PHP code will often work
without modification on a different system running PHP.
Database Support
The following is a list of supported databases in PHP 5:

Adabas D
InterBase
PostgreSQL
dBase
FrontBase
SQLite
Empress
mSQL
FilePro (read-only)
Solid
Direct MS-SQL
Sybase
Hyperwave
MySQL
Velocis

ODBC
Unix dbm
Informix
Oracle (OCI7 and OCI8)
Ingres
Ovrimos
IBM DB2
Differences From Java
Data types are not required in variable
declarations.
The $ symbol precedes all variables in PHP
Constants are declared using the define()
method in PHP: ex. define(AOL", "something");
Constructors do not necessarily have to be the
same name as the class name.
Destructors are used in PHP to remove objects
from memory after they are constructed.
What is PHP Good For?
It is great for complex web page designs
E-commerce sites with heavy traffic (ex. Amazon)
Complex bulletin boards and forums (ex. phpBB)
Secure websites (ex. Novasis)

Email web hosts (ex. Gmail)
Working with and integrating XML into your webpage
Database management and search (ex. theFaceBook)
Processing a PHP Page
Getting Started
Download Apache 2 Windows Binary (MSI installer) at
http://httpd.apache.org/download.cgi
The zip must end with win32-x86-no_ssl.msi
Download the PHP zip package at
http://www.php.net/downloads.php
Download the zip pack, not the installer
Install Apache 2, use recommended settings
If error message is given, go here (Google port 80 problem):
http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.0/platform/windows.html
Unzip PHP file to C:\PHP
Getting Started
Next, copy/paste "php.ini-dist" to C:/Program
Files/Apache Group/Apache2, and rename it to
php.ini.
Copy the following list of .dll files from your C:\PHP
and C:\PHP\ext directory to your root Apache
directory (where you put php.ini):
fdftk.dll fribidi.dll gds32.dll libeay32.dll libmash.dll
libmysql.dll libmysqli.dll msql.dll ntwdblib.dll
php5apache2.dll php5apache.dll php5apache_hooks.dll
php5isapi.dll php5nsapi.dll php5ts.dll phpmsql.dll
phpmssql.dll phpmysql.dll phpmysqli.dll ssleay32.dll yas.dll

Getting Started
Set the PHP path for Windows:
Go to:
Control Panel > System > Advanced tab
Click on "Environment variables"
Look in the "System variables" pane
Find the "Path" entry
Double click it and add at the end of the string your PHP dir
You need to start with ";" without double quotes!
And follow by: C:php
So it will look like: ";C:php" Again, without double quotes!
Now restart the Apache server.
Test: Create a simple file (using notepad) such as php5_info.php <?
phpinfo();?>
Save it in C:/Program Files/Apache Group/Apache2/htdocs/php5_info.php
Open a browser and enter the following address
http://localhost/php5_info.php it should display your complete PHP setting
if it does not work properly you might have done something wrong with the
multiple edits; check them out and give it another go.
Now you can use any text editor or html editor to create PHP files
An Example
titleCreator.php
Uses a simple form with simple fields
Asks a user for input, such as the title they want,
what their name is, the background color, etc.
When submitted, the page is reloaded with the
specified form values using PHP code to write out
new HTML code
titleCreator.php
Useful Links
Official Website (http://www.php.net/)
PHP Online Manual (http://us2.php.net/manual/en/)
Installation on Windows Systems
(http://us2.php.net/manual/en/install.windows.php)
Using Apache with Windows
(http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.0/platform/windows.html)
Alternative Installation Guide
(http://www.webmasterstop.com/86.html)