Introduction to PHP

PHP, which stands for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor, is a popular server-side scripting language. Many popular web sites and content management systems are written with PHP, most notably Facebook. PHP code is preprocessed on the web server, which allows content to be created dynamically, especially when that content is stored in a database management system. PHP’s syntax generally follows that of C while also being influenced by Perl.

Learning Objectives

• Implement simple functions using PHP
• Pass data from HTML forms to PHP scripts
• Perform server-side validation of user input

How to Complete this Lesson

Complete the following learning activities: (3–4.75 hours total)

1. Complete the following W3Schools tutorials (these have multiple parts):
   • PHP Tutorial, which covers basic syntax (30–45 minutes)
   • PHP Forms (15–30 minutes)
2. Optional: Complete W3Schools’s PHP exercises if you want practice with PHP’s syntax (15–30 minutes)
   • Note: Skip the last few exercises (Dates and Advanced)
3. Attend the class meeting (60 minutes)
4. Work on the web development programming exercise (PEX) (30–60 minutes)
   • Create a CSS theme for consistent presentation across the website
   • Create an alternative CSS theme
5. Complete the practice exercises (30–60 minutes)

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