1. PHP stands for …….. “PHP Hypertext Pre-processor” and is a server-side scripting language like ASP. PHP scripts are executed on the server PHP supports many databases (MySQL, Informix, Oracle, Sybase, Solid, PostgreSQL, Generic ODBC, etc.)

2.  PHP is an open source software (OSS).  PHP is free to download and use. www.php.net.www.php.net  PHP is easy to learn.  With an understanding of a scripting language you can easily edit scripts to do what you want.  Understanding a PHP can enable you to create your own scripts.

3.  PHP files may contain text, HTML tags and php tags.  PHP files are returned to the browser as plain HTML.  PHP files have a file extension of ".php", ".php3", or ".phtml".

4.  PHP is a server-side language therefore.  Install a web server software on a Windows or Linux machine. These include the following…….  Wamp server and Apache friends etc.  In order to check if PHP is installed on the server, run the script.

5.  WAMP s are packages of independently- created programs installed on computers that use a Microsoft Windows operating system.  WAMP is an acronym formed from the initials of the operating system Microsoft Windows and the principal components of the package: Apache, MySQL and PHP (or Perl or Python, although WAMP includes PHP exclusively).

6. Apache is a web server. MySQL is an open- source database. PHP is a scripting language that can manipulate information held in a database and generate web page. WAMP is a form of mini- server that can run on almost any Windows Operating System. WAMP includes Apache 2, PHP 5 (SMTP ports are disabled), and MySQL (php My Admin and SQLitemmanager are installed to manage your databases) preinstalled.

7. The files/web pages that are hosted on your WAMP server can be accessed by typing http:/localhost or http://127.0.0.1/ in the address bar of your web browser. WAMP must be running in order to access either of the above addresses. phpMyAdmin which provides a graphical user interface for the MySQL database manager.

11.  There is an alternative AMP package for the Microsoft Windows operating system called WIMP.  The equivalent installation on a Linux operating system is known as LAMP.  WIMP: A similar package where the Apache is replaced by Internet Information Services (IIS)

12. PHP scripts are always enclosed in between two PHP tags. This tells your server to parse the information between them as PHP. The different forms are as follows:  Standard tag…. <?php code; ?>

13. Short tags <? code; ?>

14. To output text in your PHP script is actually very simple. Use is be made of the echo () function. Defn: echo() is a function that outputs data. E.g. echo ("Hello world!"); echo is the command and tells the script what to do. This is followed by the information to be printed, which is contained in the brackets.

15. A PHP script Including HTML <?php echo(“Hello World!”); ?>

16. In PHP, we use // to make a single-line comment or /* ……. */ to make a large comment block. <?php//This is a comment /*This is a comment block*/ ?> 20-Sep-2009 Batungwa Frank Tumusiime, tumusiime@fit-world.biz

17.  http://www.php.net  http://www.evilwalrus.com/  http://www.devnetwork.net/