For any course in Web Programming, Web Development, and Web Design teaching PHP, an open source server-side HTML-embedded scripting language. While there are several professional-level books available on PHP, there are few guides to this open-source scripting language for students who may be familiar with HTML but are not studying to be professional programmers. This task-based, visual reference guide features step-by-step instructions and plenty of screen shots-the ideal way for students to learn the basics of PHP, starting with basic syntax, testing scripts, working with variables, creating Web applications, and more.

Table of Contents:
Introduction. What Is PHP? Why Use PHP? How PHP Works. What You'll Need. About This Book. Companion Website. 1. Getting Started With PHP. Basic Syntax. Sending Data to the Browser. Testing Your Script. Sending Text to the Browser. Sending HTML to the Browser. Using White Space in PHP (and HTML). Adding Comments to Your Script. 2. Variables. What Are Variables? Variable Syntax. Types of Variables. Assigning Values to Variables. Predefined Variables. 3. HTML Forms and PHP. Creating a Simple Forms. Using Get or Post. Receiving Data from a Form in PHP. Imputing Data Manually. 4. Using Numbers. Adding, Subtracting, Multiplying, and Dividing. Formatting Numbers. Incrementing and Decrementing a Number. Using Multiple Operators. Using Built-in Mathematical Functions. 5. Using Strings. Trimming Strings. Connecting Strings (Concatenation). Encoding and Decoding Strings. Encrypting and Decrypting Strings. Pulling Out Parts from a String. 6. Control Structures. The If Control. More Operators. Using Else. Using Elseif. The Switch Conditional. The While Loop. The For Loop. 7. Using Arrays. Creating an Array. Adding Items to an Array. Accessing Array Elements. Sorting Arrays. Transforming Between Strings and Arrays. Creating an Array from a Form. Creating Multidimensional Arrays. 8. Regular Expressions. What are Regular Expressions? Defining a Simple Pattern. Matching Patterns. Defining More Complicated Patters. Matching and Replacing Patterns. 9. Creating Functions. Creating and Using Simple Functions. Creating and Calling Functions that Take Arguments. Creating and Using Functions that Return Value. Variables and Functions. 10. Files and Directories. File Permissions. Writing to Files. Reading from Files. Directories. Handling File Uploads. Renaming and Deleting Files and Directories. 11. Databases. Connecting to and Creating a Database. Creating a Table. Sending Data to a Database. Retrieving Data from a Database. 12. Cookies. Creating and Reading from Cookies. Adding Parameters to a Cookie. Deleting a Cookie. 13. Creating Web Applications. Using Include and Require. Determining the Date and Time. Using HTTP Headers. Sending Email. 14. Debugging. Common Errors. Error Reporting and Logging .Debugging Detective Work. Using the Die Statement Appendix A: Installation and Configuration. Installing on a Linux Server. Installing on a Windows 2000 Server. Configuring. Appendix B: Security. Cryptography and SSL. Writing Secure PHP. Security Resources. Appendix C: PHP Resources. The PHP Manual. Web Sites and Newsgroups. Database Resources. Advanced Topics. Tables. Index.