PHP: An Open Source Solution for Web Programming and Dynamic Content. (Communications)
Year: 2002
Type: article
Abstract: Managing large amounts of static, traditional HTML pages can be difficult. Dynamic content generated by tools such as common gateway interface (CGI) scripts and databases is the best-known alternative to maintaining a vast amount of information in HTML format. There are numerous alternatives to CGI programming, but technologies and acronyms are bandied about so often that the task of selecting suitable tools becomes quite confusing. Anyone evaluating alternatives to pure HTML or CGI programming should take a close look at PHP. ********** While we often hear about Perl, ColdFusion, Java, and other programming languages, is the sleeper hit of Web programming. Millions of Web domains have installed and hundreds of thousands of Web sites use it, but this open source product lacks the marketing power of Macromedia or Sun--or the cult status of Perl--to sing its praises. What Is PHP? According to its creators, PHP is a server-side, cross-platform, HTML embedded scripting (1) It is essentially a programming language and script-parsing engine that work in unison to provide a way for Web developers to quickly and easily develop dynamic content. (2) A more complete discussion and conceptual schematic of how works can be found later in this article. is an open source project, so the server software and full documentation can be found on the Web for free at www.php.net. can be used for most, if not all, of the same tasks as technologies like Active Server Pages (ASP), ColdFusion, Java Server Pages (JSP), or CGI programs in languages like Perl or C. In the broadest sense, is similar to technologies like JSP, ASP, and ColdFusion. For the purposes of this article, this type of technology will be referred to as HTML embedded scripting languages (HESLs). Unlike CGI programs, which require the entire document to be generated by commands in the programming language, an HESL allows developers to place program elements within HTML text. Using this method, standard HTML can be typed normally, while dynamic content is generated via the scripting language. Special tags are used to designate program code within a document. When a Web browser requests the document, the engine parses the code and writes the resultant text into the final version of the document. The Web server then sends this document to the end user. For example, a simple document designed to write today's date and the current time would be: Document The code is opened by the tag. None of the code is sent to the end user's Web browser. Instead, it receives the following HTML document: Document 10:25am While this simple task could be duplicated with JavaScript, there are advantages to using PHP, As mentioned above, the end user never sees the source code because it is converted to HTML before being sent. And because the script is run on the server, there is no problem with JavaScript version and browser incompatibilities or users who have turned JavaScript off. PHP, however, is not merely a scripting language. It is a full-featured programming language that allows developers to create full-fledged applications. To better explain PHP's capabilities, it would help to review its history. was first created by Rasmus Lerdorf in 1994 as a limited set of utilities to carry out common Web-site functions such as a guestbook and hit counter. These utilities started as wrappers of Perl/CGI functions that were later discarded in favor of C functions. In 1995 Lerdorf released these utilities in a kit called Personal Home Page tools (PHP). …
Author: Kevin F. Cullen
Language: English
Subfield: Information Systems
Field: Computer Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W310009936