Archive for December, 2007

How to get started with PHP?

Thursday, December 13th, 2007

So, you’ve decided to try using PHP, but you don’t know where to start?

Here’s a list of things you’ll need before you even get cracking on writing your first PHP program.

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Why should you use PHP?

Wednesday, December 5th, 2007

This is one of those questions which is inherently hard to answer - simply because the answers are all very subjective. It all depends on what you want to do and how you want to do it. It’s like asking why you should (or should not) drive to work? If you ask 100 people, they’ll all give you their own reasoning as to why you should drive to work. Moreover, this kind of question can only be put in perspective when you compare it to something else - PHP vs Javascript, PHP vs ASP.NET, PHP vs J2EE - the list (and arguments) goes on.

So why use PHP?

Personally, after 8 years in this industry I’m still using PHP, and these are my top 5 reasons why I am:

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What is PHP?

Wednesday, December 5th, 2007

This is probably one of the most commonly asked question about PHP. Netizens have often visited websites which have URLs showing ‘.php’ files, but seldom do they know what it is or what it means.

Well, PHP is just another scripting (or computer programming) language - one of many in the IT industry. But it is one of the most popular for writing website-based computer programs/applications.

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<? echo “Hello world!”; ?>

Wednesday, December 5th, 2007

Welcome to the first post of Ask About PHP, the site that’s dedicated to bringing PHP to the everyday person. I’m sure you can find many great resources on how to get started with PHP on the web and in print, but many of these resources assume you have some background in IT, or programming or understand the workings of the Internet in some way. Here, I’m going to try to keep it simple.

I hope, this site will one day be a useful place to guide those of you who wants to start to carve a corner of the ‘Great Web’ for yourself but you don’t know where to start. Websites of today are no longer just ‘pages’ of static information - with technology like PHP, you can have your own online shop, your own blog - your own whatever.

So why PHP? Well, it’s as good a place to start as any, and I like PHP - it’s useful for everyone who wants to start or operate their own website.

Anyway, do drop me a line to say hello at webbie@askaboutphp.com

Have a nice day!

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