PHP Intro

PHP (=Hypertext Preprocessor) is a cross-platform, server-side, HTML embedded scripting language devised by Rasmus Lerdorf in 1994 (he called this code "Personal Home Page").

Server-Side:
PHP scripts are executed on the web server, not on the client (e.g. netscape).
After execution it merely sends an HTML stream to the client,
with no way of determining what the underlying code may be.

The syntax is borrowed from C, Java and Perl with some unique features.

Why Using PHP?

Ideal for developing dynamic Web-based sites and applications
Support for a wide range of databases. Writing a database-enabled web page is incredibly simple.
Support for talking to other services using protocols such as IMAP, SNMP, NNTP, POP3, HTTP and countless others.
PHP is an open source language, it is freely distributed across the Internet