Introduction

o matter where you look on the Internet, it seems that everyone is talking about PHP. What is PHP? Why is it such a big deal? How does it compare with Perl/CGI? This article will address these questions and introduce PHP coverage on this site.

What is PHP?

The PHP Hypertext Preprocessor, or PHP for short, is a server-side embedded scripting language. It works within an HTML document to produce dynamic content, offering a simple and platform independent way to database-enable a web site.

Why is it such a big deal?

Although you can accomplish the same programming tasks with Perl/CGI, the advantage of PHP is that it was designed specifically for web programming. You can connect and query a database in as little as 2-3 lines of code. PHP has been optimized for fast response times needed on the web, so your web site is responsive to user demand. Because it is open source you can download and customize it.

Like Perl, (and unlike Cold Fusion and ASP), its free. So are Linux and Apache Web Server. MySQL is close to free as well, so you have an opportunity to integrate all these technologies to create a very nice site with dynamic content.

How does it compare with Perl/CGI?

The Common Gateway Interface (CGI) is a protocol designed to pass information from the browser to the server, and back again. For awhile it was the only real solution for producing dynamic data on web sites. Perl is the language of choice for implementing CGI because its strengths lie in the text processing so necessary for handling all kinds of information. But Perl is a full-blown language that exists beyond the confines of CGI, and in many cases that's more than you need. Although Perl works beautifully for web development, it wasn't designed specifically for it.

Is PHP better than Perl/CGI? Not necessarily. Now that PHP is widely available and in hot demand, should you toss out all you know about Perl? Should you quit trying to learn it? Absolutely not. But the fast pace of computing and internet development means that keeping up with important technologies is critical. To that end PHP is becoming a fact of life for web developers. If you don't know about PHP you will be left behind.

So stay tuned to this site to learn all you can about Perl/CGI and PHP. We will continue to learn about topics in Perl/CGI programming, covering the issues and questions that brought you here. We'll learn how to use specific modules, how to do neat things like password protection, and how to add search capabilities to your site. In addition, we'll learn how to install PHP, how to connect to a database, and how to easily generate dynamic HTML content. That way we can all stay current with latest and greatest technologies on the web.

Great! How do I get started?

The easiest way to get started is to sign up for an account on a server that has everything installed for you. You can find one at Hostsearch. Another alternative is to install Apache, MySQL, and PHP on your server or your own computer. Once you have access to all the software, you'll be ready for some tutorials. Have fun, and stay tuned!

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