Introduction to PHP for Web Development: Hands-On

Frequently Asked Questions

What is this course about? This course provides a solid foundation in the PHP Web scripting language. Extensive hands-on exercises allow participants to produce dynamic Web pages, including pages generated from databases. Participants learn to embed PHP scripts in HTML pages and structure PHP code with user-defined functions and external libraries. Who will benefit from this course? Typical course participants include developers, Web site designers, Web creators, Webmasters, technical managers and project leaders. Anyone with an interest in PHP will benefit from this course. What background knowledge do I need? Basic knowledge of HTML is assumed, although this course provides sample templates for most of the Web pages used in the hands-on exercises. Experience with a third-generation programming language such as Perl, ASP, JSP, JavaScript or Visual Basic would be an advantage, but is not essential. What is PHP? PHP is a scripting language used to create dynamic Web pages. It is free and is available for Web servers on many platforms, including UNIX/Linux, Windows and Macintosh. PHP is used on millions of Web sites around the world. The language has quickly gained a large user base, ranging from small companies to government organizations. Its advantages include cross-platform availability and rapid development cycles. What is open-source? What is LAMP? Open-source software is software distributed for free. Anyone can install, use and modify the software. Although typically the software has been developed for no commercial gain, various for-profit companies offer support and maintenance for a fee. LAMP is an acronym for Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP-a combination of open-source programs used by many organizations around the world. My organization currently uses ColdFusion/ASP/Java servlets. Does this mean I cannot use PHP? No. A Web site can use more than one different server-side scripting language. Just because you use something like ColdFusion doesn't mean you can't also use PHP. Indeed, many organizations use a variety of different solutions within a single Web site. PHP provides the ability to integrate with other solutions. This also means that you can migrate from other languages to PHP by developing new features in PHP and slowly rewriting existing features in PHP as time and resources permit. What do the hands-on exercises cover? The hands-on exercises are designed to reinforce the material presented in the course notes. During this course, participants write PHP scripts to produce dynamic Web pages. Exercises include retrieving and manipulating data from Web forms, personalizing Web site content using cookies, and integrating database content with Web pages. What platform is used for the hands-on exercises? The course runs on both Windows XP and Linux. Students can select the operating system they prefer for the hands-on exercises, as the exercises are identical on both platforms. If I am using a database server other than MySQL, is this course relevant to me? Yes. PHP can integrate with a wide range of database servers, including Oracle, Informix, Microsoft SQL Server or any ODBC-compliant data source. Although this course uses MySQL during the portion of the course which discusses database access, the concepts are very similar regardless of the database server used. How much time is spent on each topic? Content Hours PHP language constructs 2.5 Integrating PHP code into Web sites 2.0 Structuring PHP code for reuse 1.0 Taking advantage of built-in functions 2.0 Error handling and troubleshooting 1.0 Accessing databases from PHP scripts 1.5 Times, including the workshops, are estimates; exact times may vary according to the needs of each class. How does this course relate to other Learning Tree courses? 470, Developing a Web Site: Hands-On  presents many fundamental Web concepts, including HTML, which are useful during the course 520, MySQL: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction  provides in-depth coverage of the MySQL relational database management system, which is frequently used in combination with PHP Course participants who are working in a Web environment would also benefit from Learning Tree courses such as: 566, Internet Information Services 6 for Windows Server® 2003: Hands-On  provides the knowledge to build a highly secure environment and configure ISA for packet filtering 522, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) for Web Page Development: Hands-On enables you to design cross-platform Web pages using CSS and HTML as well as develop effective site navigation and tabbed content 986, Developing Ajax Web 2.0 Applications: Hands-On provides the knowledge and practical skills required to efffectively design, create and implement Ajax-enabled Web sites 143, Linux®: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction provides the essential knowledge and skills required to leverage the wide range of Linux graphical and command-line tools