What is PHP and used for?

Before we start discussing what is PHP, here are a few things you must know before starting any programming language like PHP. Below are some terms that you must keep in your mind throughout this program.

  • What is a Programming language?
  • What is a web browser?
  • What is a web server?
  • What is a database?
  • What is IDE?

What is a programming language?

A programming language is a set of instructions given to your computer by the user to do some specific tasks using some text editor like notepad++, Sublime, or Visual studio code.
In other words, when you are writing instructions or commands in a sequence in your IDE to run, that process of giving instructions is known as computer programming.

What is a web browser?

In simple words, A web browser is an application which we use to browse anything from the internet.
In programming language, a web browser is used to see the output of our code.
Examples of different web browsers: -Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge etc.

What is a web server?

A web server is a platform that runs websites. A web server’s main purpose is to store website files and show them over the internet when we search about anything. In other words, all the information and data which we get on searching is stored on a web server. For example, Apache, Microsoft’s Internet Information Services (IIS), and Nginx — pronounced engine X are some popular web servers.

What is Database?

In simple words, collection of data is known as database. A database is an organized collection of our data which is stored in a computer memory in an electronic form. We can use this database for editing or uploading purpose anytime later on . Example of database:

What is IDE?

IDE is an acronym of ‘integrated development environment’. In simple words IDE refers to those text editors in which we write our code. The basic work of IDE is to provide the data a basic environment which is necessary to write any code. IDEs increase programmer productivity by combining common activities of writing software into a single application: editing source code, building executables, and debugging.

  • Note Pad ++
  • PyCharm
  • Visual Studio
  • Sublime
  • etc.

What is PHP?

PHP is an acronym of Hypertext Pre-processor (PHP). It is a server-side scripting language, which is used to design dynamic web applications with MySQL database. PHP was created by Rasmus Lerdorf in 1994. It is a backend programming language. It works with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

Here Is the explanation of some terms which we used:

  • Server-side scripting language: – Server-side scripting is used at the backend where the source code is not viewable or hidden at the client-side or to the user (browser).
  • Source code: -List of commands or instructions which we write on any text editor to display our content in a specific manner on a website.
  • Dynamic web applications: -a dynamic web application is an application that changes itself when a user requests some specific operation on a website. For example, calendars, and notepads, etc.
  • MYSQL (structured query language): – MYSQL is a database management system software. It manages your data in systematic and structured form. So that user can add, delete or edit data anytime.

Who can learn this?

PHP is a MUST for students and working professionals who wish to become great Software Engineers especially when they are working in Web Development Domain.

Why do we need PHP in today’s world?

Features of PHP?

  • PHP is an open source scripting language. Open source means you no need to pay for using PHP, you can free download and use it. (www.php.net)
  • The PHP code will run on any platform (Windows, UNIX, Linux, Mac OS X, etc.)
  • PHP is compatible with most of the web servers used today (Apache, IIS, etc.)
  • PHP supports a wide range of databases.
  • PHP is simple and easy to use.
  • PHP is an interpreted language, i.e., there is no need for compilation.
  • PHP is a server-side scripting language that is embedded in HTML.
  • PHP is faster than any other scripting language.
  • It is used for create dynamic website.
  • To interact with any back-end / database server e.g. MySQL
  • To interaction with the native file system of the OS.
  • It can Encrypt Data
  • Access Cookies variable and set cookies
  • PHP usually used to output HTML code to the browser
  • Used for connect web application with Database.
  • It is used for send and receive E-Mails.
  • You can use PHP to find today’s date, and then build a calendar for the month.
  • If you host banner advertisements on your website, you can use PHP to rotate them randomly.
  • Using php you can count your visitors on your website.
  • You can use PHP to create a special area of your website for members.
  • Using php you can create login page for your user.
  • Using PHP, you can restrict users to access some pages of your website.
  • It can handle forms, i.e. gather data from files, save data to a file.
  • Online Community that helps beginners learn PHP, and webmasters solve PHP coding problems since 1999.

Prerequisite?

Before learning PHP, you must have a basic knowledge of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

  • HTML – HTML is used to design static webpage.
  • CSS – CSS helps to make the webpage content more effective and attractive.
  • JavaScript – JavaScript is used to design an interactive website.

Where PHP is used?

Applications of PHP.

As mentioned before, PHP is one of the most widely used languages over the web. I’m going to list a few of them here:

  • PHP performs system functions, i.e. gather data from files on a system, create, open, read, write, and close them.
  • You add, delete, modify elements within your database through PHP.
  • Access cookies variables and set cookies.
  • Using PHP, you can restrict users to access some pages of your website.
  • It runs on different platforms such as Windows, Linux, Unix, etc.
  • It supports many databases such as MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL etc.
  • It is perfectly suited for Web development and can be embedded directly into the HTML code.
  • PHP can also be used to create dynamic web pages.
  • It is open source and it is free downloadable.
What is PHP and used for?
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