Expect more from your homepage than just a static website? Would you like to rely not only on the capabilities of your homepage construction kit or a ready-made solution for homepage creation? Do you hope to better understand the background of homepage programming and create your own solutions?
- Then you should get to know PHP better. Thanks to PHP and MySQL, multifunctional diversity has been brought to the web hosters' servers. With a short introduction to PHP and MySQL we invite you to discover the most important web tools for yourself.
PHP and MySQL for the homepage - why the high value?
PHP and MySQL are not directly displayed in the browser. Until today, the visual representation of the homepage is done by the browser using HTML. Both the "free" script language PHP (PHP license) and the Database MySQL only runs on the server.
This raises the question why PHP is used on about 250 million websites instead of programming in HTML. It would be logical to prefer direct data output to "pre-processing" by a script language.
But only HTML for the website would be too short thought, because the high value can be explained by retrospect.
Short review:
In the 90s, before Rasmus Lerdorf developed the first version of PHP, creating a website was no child's play. Only with HTML commands it was not possible to create a dynamic homepage with connection to a database. Thus, the automated interaction with the site visitor was limited.
Contemporary witnesses probably still remember animated gif images, so that something moved on the page at all. To connect a forum or a shop to the homepage was at that time reserved for a few expert teams on special servers.
Only PHP made it possible to call self-designed commands (scripts) on web servers. This paved the way for observing user behaviour and the easy integration of databases. According to the myth, PHP was created because its inventor wanted to know how often visitors looked at his resume on his website.
PHP for the website - what is to be considered on the server side?
About 83 percent of all servers worldwide run PHP in versions 5.4 to 5.6. There will be no version 6, but the developers have announced an update to version 7.0 for 2015. Constant further development ensures the future sustainability of the software solution. PHP scripts run faster and faster, the number of function libraries (auxiliary modules) continues to grow.
As a result of the wide distribution it is important to pay attention to PHP and MySQL when choosing a web hosting provider. Almost all content management systems, shops and ready-made applications require the script language and the database MySQL on the server side. Even without own PHP knowledge it would be unwise to host the homepage on a server that does not offer the script language.
Write scripts yourself - learn PHP
Homepage construction kits and content management systems give the impression that dealing with PHP and the database oneself would be outdated. The need for individualization on every website speaks against this widespread thesis.
The basics of PHP can be learned in a very short time. The syntax of the scripting language is based on C and Perl. Learning is not only worthwhile for technology freaks. For users who work with ready-made solutions, a little PHP provides extensive customization options.
Practically every web software provider for the homepage allows you to supplement your software with your own PHP scripts. This is the only way to create the multifunctional website that modern visitors expect.
