How to make php work

PHP Tutorial – How to Setup PHP and XAMPP for Your Project

Okoro Emmanuel Nzube

Hello and welcome to this tutorial, everyone. Today, we’ll look at how you can set up and use PHP in a project.

But before we get started, we’ll need to understand what PHP is all about.

What is PHP?

PHP is an abbreviation or acronym for «Hypertext Preprocessor.» It’s a web-based open source server-side scripting language that’s integrated in your HTML files.

You use it to make webpages that are both responsive and interactive with the database.

Advantages of PHP

PHP has many benefits, and here are a few of them:

PHP is Simple to Use

You don’t need to study extensively to learn and use PHP because its syntax is sensible and well-organized. The command functions are also easy to work with because they help you understand exactly what they do.

PHP is Flexible

Flexibility is a major benefit that every scripting language should have, and PHP is no exception. Even after a project has been launched, a PHP developer has the ability to make changes to the project.

PHP Helps You Collect Data from Forms

You can use PHP to collect data from a form that has been created with HTML (like Name, E-mail, Phone Number, or Password). Many websites use this particular function of PHP.

PHP Has Good Security

PHP does not outsource the data or information collected from forms. This is part of the reason why most most website and social media apps make use of it because it has a secure database system.

How to Install and Setup PHP in your Project

To get started with PHP, you’ll need three things: a code editor for writing your code, an installed version of PHP, and XAMPP.

We’ll be using Visual Studio code in this example, and I’ll teach you how to install a version of PHP and XAMPP on your PC.

Go to the PHP website and click on download in the navigation bar. The current version should be at the top.

Click on «Windows downloads,» and when it opens, scroll down a little and you should see a section that has «VS16 x64 Thread Safe (2022-May-11 09:29:42).» The section contains a «zip» file below it – click on it and wait for your download to finish.

When the download is complete, go to your computer’s downloads folder and look for a PHP zip file. Right-click it and select extract file. It’s important to save the file to your local drive.

Open the Local Disk and open the extracted PHP folder. Click once on the bar that shows the current directory then copy the name of the directory, which should be in this format: C:\php-8.1.6.

In your windows bar, search for “Edit the systems environment property”. Click on the “environment variables” button, click on “Path”, and then click on the edit button below. It opens a space where you can create a new variable.

So click on the new button and then paste the name of the directory you copied earlier (which should be “C:\php-8.1.6”) and click ok for all of them.

To test if PHP is now installed in your computer, search for the command prompt in Windows by using the search keyword cmd . Open it then type php —version and click enter. You should see something similar to this:

The current version of PHP is installed on our PC as seen in the image above. The next step is to get XAMPP.

What is XAMPP?

The acronym XAMPP stands for cross-platform, Apache, MySQL, PHP, and Perl. XAMPP is a free and open source web server that allows you to develop, test, and build websites on a local server.

Unlike PHP, XAMPP installation is quite simple and uncomplicated. Search for «XAMPP Download» in your browser or go to their website. You should see the current version of XAMPP for Windows, Linux, and OSX when it opens.

Because I’m using a Windows computer, I simply need to click on the one for Windows, and the download should begin.

When its done downloading, go to your downloads, right click on the setup file and select “run as administrator”.

This will take you to the Setup-xampp wizard:

Click next, and you’ll be able to select the components you want:

Then you’ll come to the installation folder. You have to select a folder where you want to install XAMPP. I recommend creating a folder in your local disk to install XAMPP.

Then you’ll select the language. You can select either English or Deutsch (your choice):

Now you’ll get Bitnami for XAMPP:

And you’re ready to install:

Be patient while the installation process completes. When it’s, done click ok.

Once the installation process is finished, you can now use XAMPP in you project.

Why Do You Need XAMPP?

To run PHP for the web, you will need to install a web server like Apache and a database like MySQL – and both are supported by XAMPP.

XAMPP is a local server that can run smoothly on our personal computer, and is accepted in both Windows and Linux. It also helps you test websites and see if they work before actually publishing them to a web server.

How to Run PHP with XAMPP

To run PHP with XAMPP you will have to go through some steps, and I will break it down so you can understand.

First, open the local storage folder, go to the “xampp” folder and open it. You should see a folder named “htdocs”. Open it then create a new folder in it. In my case I named the folder I created “Demo” (so give your folder the name of your choice).

Next, open your VS code, click on open folder, then go to the location where you saved the folder you created (which in my case I named “Demo”). Create a file with the extension .php – in my case I named mine test.php . The extension .php tells the code editor that we are working on a PHP code/project.

The echo keyword tells the browser to display My Name is Derek while the tells the web browser to format the text to be bold/bigger. Then save it.

After writing the code, open the XAMPP control panel, and start the Apache module by clicking on start under the action section.

Then go to your web browser and in the search bar type localhost/Demo/test.php , then enter. Your web browser should be display this:

If your code was displayed on the web browser, congratulations! You’re up and running.

Conclusion

Thank you very much for following along with this tutorial. I hope you got some value out of this lesson and I hope you’ll try using PHP and XAMPP.

Stay tuned for my next tutorial.

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PHP Tutorial: Get started with PHP from scratch

PHP is the ideal language for new developers. It is simple, fast, and intuitive. It is also very similar to other programming languages, like C, so you can pick other languages up faster with PHP knowledge.

Today we’ll get you started with PHP from the very beginning, breaking down what PHP is, why you should learn it, and some of its unique advantages. Then we’ll walk you through your first PHP “Hello World” program. Finally, we’ll cover the core PHP syntax and work through exercises.

By the end, you’ll have a solid foundation of basic PHP concepts and will be able to advance to intermediate topics. No prior knowledge of PHP is required, but to be successful in this tutorial, some general knowledge of programming will help you get the most from our exercises. For a quick introduction, , check out The Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Programming.

Here’s what we’ll cover today:

Start your PHP career for free

Learn all the basics of PHP with developer-made lessons, tutorials, and quizzes, all free of charge.

What is PHP?

PHP is a recursive acronym for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor. It is a popular, open source scripting language that is similar to C and especially suited for web development. PHP can be directly embedded into HTML using the instructions. These simple code instructions allow you to jump between HTML and PHP code without the need for extra commands used with C or Perl.

Another unique factor of PHP is that its code is executed on the server rather than client-side, or the side of the internet that a user sees. Once executed, PHP code generates HTML, which is then sent client-side. This makes PHP very secure and ensures that users cannot see what’s going on behind the screen.

Why should you learn PHP?

PHP is a great starting point for any new developer. PHP’s simplicity means it’s easier to pick up than other languages. Even if you don’t want to work in web development, the syntax and object-oriented thinking skills of PHP can give you a significant advantage when learning other OOP languages like Java or C++.

PHP also comes with a massive community. In fact, Github reports that PHP is the 5th most popular language in the world, PHP has the 3rd largest community on StackOverflow. This large community ensures you’ll never be without help if you get stuck.

Finally, PHP is a widely sought skill in the modern digital economy, and demand is growing. Popular sites like Facebook, Wikipedia, Yahoo, and Flickr are all built on PHP. In fact, data collected by Codementor found that PHP is used for 80% of the world’s top 10 million websites and about 40% of all sites on the internet!

PHP has also gained popularity as the go-to for small businesses. This is because intuitive content management systems like WordPress and Wix are written in PHP. A lot of PHP web developers are freelance workers who help launch new websites for businesses. The need for PHP developers is increasing.

What is PHP used for?

PHP is most often used in server-side web development. Thanks to server-side execution, PHP is great for dynamic web pages, a type of site which updates periodically or reacts to certain events. PHP’s secure function-hiding abilities also make it ideal for working with sensitive financial or personal information.

Online stores are a place we can see both of these strengths come into play. For example, PHP is used in the “shopping cart” functions of many sites. This is because PHP only sends the outcome of adding the item or completed transaction without giving access to the function.

Beyond this, PHP is also used in command-side scripting and graphical user interface design (GUI). PHP shows its value as a widely available and generalized language capable of running on nearly any operating system or database.

Advantages of PHP

• Quick and Easy to Learn: PHP is beginner friendly and can be learned quickly relative to other languages. It’s also often considered a great first language.
• Large Community: PHP has a large user base and online support community.
• Widely Applicable: PHP can be used on any operating system or database.
• Open Source: PHP is free to adopt and download along with all of its tools. This also means that the language is highly receptive to community feedback.
• Great Performance: PHP uses its own memory space rather than an overhead server.

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