What is the technology?
✤ Server side scripting and programming language.
✤ Can be embedded in HTML
✤ Free and open sourced - community
✤ frequently updates and fixes bugs
✤ downloadable templates and open source solutions
What is the technology?
✤ Cross-platform - use any OS server.
✤ Can relay information about specific users to produce certain results (Echo)
✤ Facebook uses this language to target users with custom advertisements
Who? When? Why?
✤ Rasmus Lerdorf, in 1995
✤ wanted to see how many people were looking at his resume
✤ released source code to public - help improve and fix bugs
✤ More compatible across multiple platforms than C, but more limited than Perl
History✤ 1997 - PHP 2.0, lots of initial bugs fixed, as many as 50,000
domains had it installed (1% of all domains on the Internet at the time)
✤ 1998 - PHP 3.0, most resembles what we know today. Re-written by Andi Gutmans and Zeev Suraski (halted production of PHP 2.0)
✤ tremendous success, “object oriented syntax support” (attracted developers)
✤ broadened scope, not just for personal home page use
✤ At its peak, it was installed on ~10% of all Web servers
History
✤ 1999 - PHP 4.0, Gutmans and Suraski began rewrite, focused on modularity and performance
✤ supported more Web servers, HTTP sessions, output buffering, higher security for personal data
✤ several million sites had it installed, accounting for over 20% of all Web domains.
✤ 2004 - PHP 5.0, uses Zend Engine 2.0
Best Practices for PHP
✤ Make sure to always use long form of open tags <?php
✤ never use short hand <?
✤ Code to a set standard (Zend Framework)
✤ Learn and follow the PHP Manual
✤ Make sure to comment your code and changes but also use meaningful and consistent naming.
PHP Managment
✤ Open source community.
✤ Centered around Zend: PHP company founded by Gutmans and Suraski
✤ Zend and PHP developers receive significant funding from venture capitalist firms and from companies like Intel.
Certification
✤ Zend Certification: http://www.zend.com/en/services/certification
✤ most credible
✤ costs between $125 and 160, but include yellow page listing
✤ W3 School Certification: http://www.w3schools.com/cert/cert_php.asp
✤ taken online, decreased credibility, $75
✤ quick and easy, but not for serious professionals
Live examples
✤ Amazon
✤ Yahoo
✤ Digg
✤ Photobucket