Installing xampp

Before we get into PHP, we have to install xampp. Xampp is a package which consists of Apache HTTP server / web server, mysql, php and perl. xampp is freely available http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp-windows.html. Download it and install. And then start the xampp control panel by running xampp-control.exe inside xampp folder (in case of windows) and start the apache, mysql, filezilla services. And now open your browser and type the url "http://localhost/xampp". If xampp home page is displayed then you have successfully installed and set up a xampp environment on your os to run php scripts.                                      

PHP AN INTRO

As you are aware of it, php is a server side scripting language. It handles the web client(browser) requests and responds the client with the dynamic web content. Besides php there are many
other Server side scripting languages available. They are PERL, CGI, COLD FUSION,ASP, JSP,JAVA SERVLETS and most recent Ruby on rails framework. The list goes on. Then why and how php withstands in this highly competitive web development industry. Simply because of its simplicity and flexibility. Yes php is very easy to learn and code. Most of its syntaxes are borrowed from perl and C. Thats why its very robust and most people prefer it. And whats the orgin of php and who created it? Click here for the history of php