Introduction

PHP (recursive acronym for "PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor") is a server-side scripting language that can be used on a host of webservers and platforms.

Server-side scripting language means the script is put into the HTML files that make up a site, but the server processes the script BEFORE it is sent to the client browser. PHP code is not visible if you view the source of a page because the server processes the code and returns only the output. This is easier to code and debug than writing CGI scripts in Perl or C since the HTML form and related code are all in one page and PHP puts any errors on the browser.

Assumptions: you are viewing this tutorial because you have access to a machine that can connect to an MySql server and you also have access to PHP.

Purpose: Demonstrate how to connect to an MySql database using PHP as a web front end/web interface for the database. You should be familiar with how to create tables using MySql and how a PHP script is structured.

There are several good tutorials on the web that introduce the fundamentals of PHP and MySql ->resources. I recommend that you read and try these tutorials before or in conjunction with the tutorial on this site. I especially recommend going through an introductory tutorial on PHP scripting to make sure that PHP is working ->phpinfo and some other script as examples.

Create a test database using MySql - you will need to know the name of your host machine (the machine that has the physical database),your username and password for the database.