PHP

PHP is a server-side scripting language, which means it runs through the computer that serves the web page as opposed to the visitor's computer where the site is viewed. JavaScript is an example of a client-side language that completes its tasks without interacting with the server at all [1]. Generally PHP is used for building dynamic web pages, but it is also possible to use it through a Text User Interface (TUI) or in a standalone Graphical User Interface (GUI) application. The acronym PHP actually stands for “PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor”, indicating that it is in fact recursive [2 ]. This open source scripting language, produced by The PHP Group, is able to function on most web servers and almost all operating systems and platforms [3 ]. In its primary use on web servers, the PHP code is interpreted by the server and converted into data for display by the browser. PHP is an ideal scripting language for many reasons. It is easy to learn. It can be written right into one's (X)HTML documents, plus it is a language designed specifically for the web, so it is good at accomplishing tasks needed on the web such as forms [4].

Here is an example of PHP script from Elizabeth Castro's website: code  $value) { if (get_magic_quotes_gpc) $value=stripslashes($value); if ($key=='extras') {

if (is_array($_POST['extras']) ){ print "   "; foreach ($_POST['extras'] as $value) { print "$value "; }               print "  "; } else { print "   $value  \n"; }   } else {

print "   $value  \n"; } } } ?> code The script was written directly into an HTML page and its purpose is for processing forms by outputing the name of each bit of information (that corresponds to the  attribute for that field) along with the value that was sent with it right in the browser window.

An example of a form is (also taken from Castro's site): More information on PHP can be found on their official website at [|www.php.net].

References:

[1] [4]Castro, Elizabeth. Visual Quickstart Guide HTML, XHTML & CSS sixth edition. Peachpit Press: California, 2007. (Castro's website which includes lots of information on her books plus lots of code for the taking is [|http://www.cookwood.com/]

[2][3] " PHP ". Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Php Retrieved on 2007-09-15.