Introduction to PHP for Website Developers

What is PHP? I could just have you visit php.net and find out for yourself, but although you would find out a lot of information about PHP you probably wouldn't really understand its use/purpose.

When you create a website using just HTML and CSS, it's "static". This means that no matter who accesses each page, all of the pages will look the same.

The reason for this is that with static web pages, the server simply regurgitates the same page (code) to each viewer. In most cases, you are going to want something better: a dynamic web page.

Interacting with a MySQL Database Table in PHP

Now that you can create HTML forms and receive HTTP POST data and properly set up a table in a MySQL database, you are ready for the next step: interacting with this MySQL database through the use of an HTML form. All that's left for you to know and do is run MySQL queries from PHP code. Here's the script we're going to be looking at in this tutorial:

Working with PHP HTTP GET Variables

This tutorial assumes you know the basics of how HTML and PHP work together. The better your understanding of their relationship, the easier this tutorial will be to understand.

What makes a website different from a picture? It usually has interactivity (buttons, links, videos, etc.), but it also has something else: customizability. If it has an account system, for instance, you can enter your username and password, and it will check its database for your credentials.

Once signed in, you will receive a more personalized web page, perhaps with information such as Facebook notifications, new Youtube channel subscribers, or the amount of money you have in your Paypal account. How does this work when you're using HTML and PHP? That's what this tutorial is going to help with.