PHP, MySQL & JavaScript All-in-One For Dummies
PHP, MySQL & JavaScript All-in-One For Dummies
Introduction
The Internet has become an amazing place to shop, do your banking, look up homework assignments, and even keep track of your bowling league scores. Behind all those great applications are a bunch of different web technologies that must all work together to create the web experience you come to expect. You may think that creating web applications is best left for the professionals, but you’d be surprised by just how well you can do with just a little knowledge and experience! That’s the point of this book.
About This Book
In this book, I walk you through all the different technologies involved with creating dynamic web applications that can track data and present it in an orderly and pleasing manner. I cover several key topics that you’ll need to know to create a full-featured, dynamic web application
» Creating the basic layout of a web page: In this book, you see the program code behind placing content on a web page and reacting to your website visitors’ mouse clicks.
» Styling the web page: Just placing data on a web page is boring. In this book, you learn how to use CSS to help use color, images, and placement to help liven up your web applications.
» Adding dynamic features: These days, having a static web page that just sits there doesn’t get you many followers. This book shows you how to incorporate JavaScript to animate your web pages and provide dynamic features.
» Leveraging the power of the server: The PHP programming language allows you to harness the power behind the web server to dynamically generate web pages “on the fly” as your website visitors make choices.
» Storing data for the future: Just about every dynamic web application needs to store data, and in this book you learn exactly how to do that using the MySQL server, which is commonly available in just about every web platform.
» Creating full applications: Many books throw a bunch of technology at you and expect you to put the pieces together yourself. This book not only shows you the technology, but also demonstrates how all the parts fit together to create a dynamic web application.
» Using helper programs: No one is an island; everyone needs some help putting together those fancy web applications. There are plenty of tools to help you get the job done, and with this book you find out which tools will help you with which features of your application.
Throughout this book you see sidebars (text in gray boxes) and material marked with the Technical Stuff icon. All of these things are skippable. If you have time and are interested, by all means read them, but if you don’t or aren’t, don’t.
Finally, within this book, you may note that some web addresses break across two lines of text. If you’re reading this book in print and want to visit one of these web pages, simply key in the web address exactly as it’s noted in the text, pretending as though the line break doesn’t exist. If you’re reading this as an e-book, you’ve got it easy — just click the web address to be taken directly to the web page.
Foolish Assumptions
You don’t need any level of programming experience to enjoy this book and start creating your own web applications. Each chapter walks through all the basics you need to know and doesn’t assume you’ve ever coded before. As long as you’re reasonably comfortable navigating your way around a standard desktop computer, you have all the experience you need!
That said, if you’ve already tried your hand at web programming and you just want to fill in a few holes, this book will work well for you, too!
This book doesn’t expect you to run out and buy any expensive software packages to start your web development career. All the tools that are used in the book are freely available open-source software. I walk you through how to set up a complete development environment, whether you’re working in Microsoft Windows, Apple macOS, or Linux.
Where to Go from Here
This book doesn’t have to be read from beginning to end, so you can dive in wherever you want! Use the Table of Contents and Index to find subjects that interest you. If you already know PHP and JavaScript and you’re just interested in
learning how to create a dynamic web application from scratch, start out with Book 6, Chapter 1. If you’re interested in learning how to use one of the framework
packages available for PHP, check out Book 7, Chapter 1. Or, if you’re interested in
everything, start with Book 1, Chapter 1, and read until the very end.
With the information in this book, you’ll be ready to start creating your own
dynamic web applications. Web programming is one of those skills that takes time
and practice to get good at, so the more coding you can do, the better you’ll get
at it. To get some practice, you may want to offer your services for free at first, to
build up a reputation. Find a needy nonprofit organization that you’re interested
in supporting and offer to work on its website. They’ll get a great website, and
you’ll get a project to add to your résumé!
Don’t stop learning! There are always new things coming out in the web world, even if you just stick to using the same software packages to develop your web applications. Stay plugged in to the PHP world by visiting the official PHP website at www.php.net or by visiting (and even participating in) one or more of the many PHP forums. Just do some Googling to find them.
Enjoy your newfound skills in developing dynamic web applications!
Wow...👌
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