Lecture on PHP

Overview

• Instructor: Mike
• Purpose: Teach basics of PHP and its application in web development

Course Content

Introduction to PHP

• PHP: A server-side programming language for web development
• Integration: Works well with HTML for dynamic websites
• Popularity: Used by millions of web apps and sites
• Server-side language: Runs on the web server, interacts with clients

Course Roadmap

1. Setting Up PHP:
   • Installation instructions for Windows
   • Setting up environment and path variables
2. First PHP File:
   • Creating and running the first PHP file
   • Combining PHP with HTML
3. User Inputs:
   • Handling HTML form inputs with PHP
   • Using PHP to manipulate HTML output
4. Programming Basics:
   • Data types: Strings, numbers, booleans
   • Control structures: if else, loops, arrays
5. Object-Oriented Programming:
   • Classes and objects creation
   • Constructors, methods, and inheritance

Installation Process on Windows

1. Download PHP: Visit php.net
2. Choose appropriate version: Select version based on OS (e.g. 64-bit, thread-safe)
3. Extract Files: Extract downloaded zip to C:\PHP
4. Configure PATH variable:
   • Access environment variables in Windows
   • Add C:\PHP to PATH
   • Verify installation via command prompt (CMD)

Text Editors for PHP

• Options: Any text editor that supports saving files with a .php extension
• Recommendations: Atom (by GitHub), Notepad++, Sublime Text
• Installation: Simple setup, follows user preference

Creating Your First PHP File

• Starting a PHP server: Use command prompt (Windows: CD, Mac: Terminal)
• Write PHP code in HTML file: Use PHP <?php ?> tags
• Display output: Example: `echo