PHP & MySQL® Web Development All-in-One Desk Reference for Dummies®

Introduction

When the World Wide Web was first developed, it was a static place. It was mainly a really big library with information that visitors could read. Documents were linked together so that the information was easy to find, but the Web pages were basically static. Every visitor to a Web site saw the same Web page.

Over time, the Web has evolved. It's now a dynamic environment where visitors interact with Web pages. Visitors provide information via HTML forms and see different information depending on their form input. This interaction leads to transactions of many types — commerce, research, forums, and so on.

Building dynamic Web sites requires a scripting language and a backend database. The most popular software for this purpose is PHP for scripting and MySQL to provide the backend database. Both are specifically designed for Web sites and provide many features to help you develop dynamic Web sites. This book provides the information you need to build a dynamic Web site for any purpose.

About This Book

Think of this book as your friendly guide to building a dynamic Web site. You need to know about the following:

• PHP: The language that you use to write the scripts that perform the tasks required on your Web site. Scripts create the displays that the user sees in the browser window, process the information that the user types in a form, and store and/or retrieve information from the database.

• MySQL: The database management system that you use to store data. The scripts ...