PHP Tutorials For Beginners

Contains

Chapter 1, “An Introduction to PHP,” introduces PHP, its history, and its key features. Instructions regarding how to install and configure PHP and Apache are also provided. The chapter concludes with a survey of the rudimentary PHP syntax needed to create a basic script.

Chapter 2, “Variables and Data Types,” describes the various data formats supported by PHP and how variables are named and used to store information. Chapter 3, “Expressions, Operators, and Control Structures,” expands on the material presented in Chapter 2, introducing how variable values are manipulated. Control structures are also introduced, providing you with the tools to begin creating larger and more complex scripts.

Chapter 4, “Functions,” discusses the many underlying details of building modularized, reusable PHP code.

Chapter 5, “Arrays,” introduces arrays, providing explanation and examples regarding the creation and manipulation of single and multidimensional arrays of both indexed and associative types.

Chapter 6, “Object-Oriented PHP,” highlights PHP’s object-oriented features. Although not a full-featured object-oriented language, PHP provides support for several of the basic OOP concepts that can contribute greatly to efficient code development and maintenance.

Chapter 7, “File I/O and the File System,” delves into one of PHP’s noted features, manipulation of data files. Information is also provided regarding how PHP can interact with the many facets of server directories.

Chapter 8, “Strings and Regular Expressions,” discusses string manipulation through the use of predefined functionality and regular expressions. Both POSIX and Perl-type regular expressions are introduced.

Part II, “PHP and the Web,” builds on the information covered in the first eight chapters, using it as a basis for developing Web applications. Part II contains Chapters 9 through 13.

Chapter 9, “PHP and Dynamic Site Development,” primes the reader on the very basic concepts of using PHP to create dynamic Web sites. Dynamic content, link creation, and basic page templating strategies are covered in this chapter. Chapter 10, “Forms,” describes how PHP can work with HTML forms to gather,display, and manipulate user input.

Chapter 11, “Databases,” highlights PHP’s vast support for database servers, focusing on the MySQL database to show how PHP can act as an efficient interface between a database and the Web.

Chapter 12, “Templates,” introduces advanced page templating strategies. Chapter 13, “Cookies and Session Tracking,” shows how PHP can effectively track site visitors.

Part III, “Advanced PHP,” introduces a few of the more advanced implementations of PHP and includes Chapters 14 through 16.

Chapter 14, “PHP and XML,” introduces the reader to XML and shows how PHP can parse and convert XML documents.

Chapter 15, “JavaScript and COM,” illustrates how PHP can work with JavaScript to produce increasingly user-friendly and interactive Web applications. Information regarding how PHP can interact with Windows COM objects is also covered.

Chapter 16, “Security,” describes several of the many facets of Web security and how PHP can be used to implement these features. Advanced PHP configuration, coding issues, data encryption, ecommerce, and user authentication are all topics covered in this chapter.
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