PHP: Hypertext Preprocessing

PHP

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):

Hello World!; </SCRIPT> ASP Style: <% echo Hello World!; %>

Short Style: <? echo Hello World!; ?> XML Style: <?php echo Hello World!; ?> Script Style: <SCRIPT LANGUAGE=php> echo

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 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.

Object Oriented PHP

PHP Programming Paradigms

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(); } }

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(); ?>

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

Database Support

The following is a list of supported databases in PHP 5: Adabas D FilePro (read- ODBC only) InterBase Unix dbm PostgreSQL Solid Informix dBase Direct MSOracle (OCI7 and OCI8) FrontBase SQL SQLite Ingres Sybase Empress Ovrimos Hyperwave mSQL IBM DB2 MySQL Velocis

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

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.

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.

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.ph p) Using Apache with Windows (http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.0/platform/windo ws.html) Alternative Installation Guide