PHP

You will learn how to

• Write effective, efficient PHP scripts
• Embed PHP scripts in HTML pages to create dynamic Web pages
• Manipulate data from Web page forms
• Track users as they navigate your site with cookies and other PHP features
• Structure PHP code using user-defined functions and external libraries
• Develop database-enabled Web applications using MySQL

Course benefits
PHP is a scripting language used to create dynamic, complex and robust Web pages. It is free and available for Web servers on many platforms, including UNIX/Linux, Windows and Macintosh. PHP is employed on millions of Web sites around the world and has quickly gained a large user base, ranging from small companies to government organisations.

This course provides a solid foundation in the PHP Web scripting language. Extensive hands-on exercises allow you to produce dynamic Web pages using database content.

Who should attend
This course is valuable for those creating dynamic, database-driven Web sites. Basic experience with HTML is assumed. Programming experience in a language such as ASP, Perl, JavaScript or VB, is helpful.

Hands-on training
In this course, you develop PHP scripts to perform a variety of tasks, culminating in the development of a full database-driven Web page. Exercises include:

• Accessing command line arguments from PHP scripts
• Generating Web pages dynamically using PHP
• Retrieving and manipulating form data
• Personalising Web site content using cookies
• Tracking user navigation on your Web site
• Integrating database content to generate dynamic Web pages
• Building modular scripts to enable code reusability

Course content

Programming with PHP PHP language building blocks Comparing PHP with other Web scripting languages Investigating PHP data types Integers Floating point values Strings Booleans Writing PHP scripts Storing values in scalar variables Employing ordinary and associative arrays Writing conditional expressions Implementing loops such as while, for and foreach Building complete scripts incorporating loops and conditional expressions Writing Web Pages with PHP Interacting with the server Outlining Web protocols Embedding PHP code into HTML pages Determining how data is sent from forms to PHP scripts Creating dynamically-generated hyperlinks to call PHP scripts Manipulating user input Retrieving form data with $_POST and $_GET arrays Validating retrieved data Strategies for handling invalid input Storing state information using cookies Applying Advanced Scripting Techniques Exploiting the built-in functionality of PHP Formatting date and time information Manipulating string data Reading and writing data using file I/O functions Investigating other built-in features Structuring PHP code Writing user-defined functions to structure your code Passing arguments and default values to functions Returning data from functions Accessing global variables Building code libraries for reusability Incorporating external PHP scripts with require and require_once Building Complete Web Applications Managing errors and problematic situations Investigating the HTTP header Suppressing on-screen error messages Troubleshooting problems when manipulating data Redirecting the browser to other pages Modifying the PHP configuration file to suit your needs Developing debugging strategies Establishing database connectivity Creating and managing database connections Sending queries to the database server employing the most efficient methods Retrieving and displaying query results Avoiding potential problems by managing quotes and backslashes in data Closing the database connection