Brown PHP

If you’ve been surfing the net for a while, you must likely have encountered websites created using JavaScript.

JavaScript is a programming language used to develop dynamic websites which run at the client side. This means that the language will not execute at the server but will run with your web page on the browser of the user. It is often used to manage online advertisements, validation of forms, and check on the ID of the browser. It doesn’t conflict with other languages such as PHP or ASP when you design a website.
Features

This language has been in use for several years now to produce websites with nice effects. Here are some highlights of what it can do:

•Browser Integrated Support – You don’t have to install any plug-ins to view sites using JavaScript programming. Most of the web browsers support the language. You only have to handle some specific features of the browsers so it will run properly

Changing Structure Run time – Web pages can be modified during run time since it has access to Document Object Model. It can also be used from the server side for script changes to better manage web contents

•Functional – JavaScript can be assigned to a function or variable where each can return also as a function. This language doesn’t worry about tagging names to functions, as long as the programming is working, everything will just be fine

Object Oriented – This language is easy to learn and handles most programming objects with no conflict. Being a loose object oriented language make me love it!

Benefits of the JavaScript Language

The JavaScript websites are commonly designed to check for validating the inputs of users on an online form. Let say you have an order form on your website and a client forgets to fill up the fields for home address and postal code, the browser will prompt her to supply the needed information before continuing. This saves time instead of the process being checked by the server which handles a lot of data. ASP and PHP programming may also solve the problem but in a more time consuming way for the customer.

This programming language is also used to design vibrant web pages which may feature rolling over graphic components. This is also done from the side of the user through their web browser.

Other features like links and images can be manipulated using this scripting language. Other special effects for navigation can also be added to your website.

Sample Sites and Sample Script

Menu Bar Example – JavaScript was used in combination with HTML. The menu bar will be highlighted when you point the mouse to it. There will also be a drop down menu where each of the content will also be highlighted

Display Information as a Splash Screen – This is a great effect where information about your website or anything under the sun can be displayed on a splash screen.

Make a News Ticker – This allows you to tell web surfers that there are changes in your websites. The display will be text scrolling upward.

Help Users Navigate Your Site – a box will pop up when a user points her mouse to an item. It can be instruction, description, or reminders that you want to tell them.

JavaScript can be a great tool for designing exciting and functional websites. Just make sure that you maximize the features of this language so you can enhance the performance and appeal of your web pages.

A PHP tutorial script is a way to learn PHP language. PHP scripting is a powerful computer language for creating flexible, attention grabbing and interactive websites. Once you have learned by practicing in a PHP tutorial script you can script your own websites on the server-side of whatever Internet service provider you are using.

A PHP tutorial script will give you the ability to use the widespread, free, and open source alternative language to others such as Microsoft’s ASP. PHP tutorial script learning is perfectly suited for Web development and the code itself can be embedded directly into the HTML code of the Internet.

The PHP tutorial script will show you how the syntax of the language is very similar to Perl and C two other language precursors to PHP. PHP is often used in combination with Apache, a web server program on various operating systems such a Windows, Vista and Mac OSX. It also supports ISAPI and can be used with Microsoft’s IIS on Windows.

To make best use of the PHP tutorial scripts for learning and then developing websites you really need a basic grasp of HTML, the mother tongue of the Internet and some scripting experience. PHP actually stands for Hypertext Preprocessor and is very like ASP in that you do not need to use your computer capacity to use it as it sits on the server of the ISP yo are working with.

The PHP tutorial script lessons will quickly make you familiar with real PHP scripts that run on the server. PHP tutorial scripts will also let you see how PHP works with

Many databases such as MySQL, Informix, Oracle, Sybase, Solid, PostgreSQL, Generic ODBC, etc.

The PHP tutorial script qualification will give you entry into the PHP open source software community where you will contribute to the development of this web design tool. The PHP tutorial scripts and the PHP sotware is free to download and use.

The PHP tutorial scripts will be just like real PHP files and can contain text, HTML tags and scripts. When you script in PHP it is uploaded to the browser as plain HTML but PHP files have a file extensions of “.PHP”, “.PHP3″, or “.phtml”

If you have a server that supports PHP you don’t need to do anything. Simply use your PHP tutorial script knowledge to create some .PHP files in your web directory, and your server will parse them for you. Precisely because it is free, most web hosts offer PHP support.

When PHP reads a file, it picks out the opening and closing tags, which are PHP flags to start and stop operating the code between them. Parsing in this way allows PHP to be linked into all sorts of different documents, as everything outside of the opening and closing tags is unreadable the PHP parser. Most of the time, as the PHP tutorial scripts show, you will see PHP embedded in HTML documents.

If you plan to become a MySQL professional, you should really consider obtaining one or more MySQL Certifications. Each certification requires that you pass one or more exams containing about 70 multiple-choice questions. The present cost of each exam is $200 but is sometimes discounted. This exam is available through the Pearson VUE test centers located virtually across the globe.

What do you get for passing these tests? The first answer is professional recognition. While certification is no proof that you can really perform on the job, doing the hard, hard work of certifying can help you prepare for the real world. Let’s be frank. If you only know your stuff on paper, you won’t know what to do on the job. Before long you’ll be pounding the pavement. In a community like certified MySQL professionals the word spreads fast.

In this article we look at your choices for MySQL Certifications. Companion articles will discuss each of these certifications in more detail. The CMA (Certified MySQL Associate) is an entry-level certification, designed for people who are relatively new to using the MySQL database server. This certification covers basic SQL and basic database management system concepts. While this certification is not a prerequisite to the other MySQL certifications many people new to MySQL start with CMA certification before going to the more advanced certifications. It’s up to you.

The CMDEV (Certified MySQL Developer) is targeted at candidates who will be developing applications using MySQL as back-end storage. It is issued to those who pass both the Certified MySQL Developer-I and Certified MySQL Developer-II exams. You may pass either of these two exams first; they cover different but complementary material.

The CMDBA (Certified MySQL Database Administrator) is targeted at database administrators who are responsible for tuning, planning, and optimizing data layout for one or several servers and who do not write many applications. It is issued to those who pass both the Certified MySQL DBA-I and Certified MySQL DBA-II exams. You may pass either of these two exams first; they cover different but complementary material. The CMCDBA (Certified MySQL Cluster Database Administrator) requires first obtaining the CMDBA certification and then passing a single exam associated with a very specific aspect of MySQL technology. You can be a professional MySQL database administrator and never deal with the material covered by this exam.

Several tracks are available to prepare for any and all of these certifications. For example, Sun MySQL offers books and classes at every level. Take my advice, don’t commit to anything more expensive than a book until you download MySQL and spend some serious time trying it out. One thing is sure; if you want to pass the test you must run MySQL hour after hour, day after day. If you don’t like that do something else.

MySQL is a very powerful open source database which means that it is free to use. One of the many tools that come with MySQL is their MySQL Command Line that will allow you to do pretty much everything from create a database to add and edit entries in the database. This article will help you to begin using MySQL Command Line Successfully.

When you install MySQL you will receive a command line application where you can create new databases, modify current databases, and delete databases.

Once you launch the MySQL Command Line Client you will be prompted for a password assuming you set one up when you installed MySQL. From here you will be given a mysql> prompt and you will be able to enters your commands.

Lets start with creating a database in our system:

mysql> CREATE DATABASE temp;
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)

Be sure that when creating databases, tables, and fields that the names are case sensitive and cannot include spaces.
All commands issued through the command line must end with a semi-colon (;) or else you will be promtped for more commands.

In order to edit this new database we have created we need to switch to it and that is where the USE command comes into play.

mysql> USE temp;
Database changed

Now that we have a working database lets create a table in the database to store our relatives

mysql>CREATE TABLE family (name char(25), age integer, relation char(50));
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.05 sec)

We just created a table that contains three fields so lets go into a little more detail about that command we just ran.

First we used the CREATE TABLE command which does exactly what it says does and it creates the table. Where we typed in family is the name of the table that we just created. Everything else within the parenthasis are fields in the table and what type of information is going to be stored in that field. For example that name char(25) tells SQL to create a field within the table called “name” and the char(25) tells it that it will be a character field meaning you can type any character you want in it and that it is 25 characters long. The age integer tells SQL to create a field in the table called age and that it will be a integer meaning that only whole numbers are stored in this field. You can add a size to the integer field like when using char but it is not nessecary as the default length of an interger field is 11. The last one is just like the first one realtion char(50) except for the fact that we made this field able to hold 50 characters instead of 25.

Now that we have created a database and a table lets look at a coupld show commands to see what we have. The show commands are pretty straight forward in terms of what they do. Lets start with SHOW DATABASES;

mysql> SHOW DATABASES;

+—————-+
| Database   |
+—————-+
| temp          |
| mysql        |
| mikenetpc  |
+—————+

3 rows in set (0.01 sec)

You can see that the SHOW DATABASES command will print you a list of all the databases on the system so can you guess what the SHOW TABLES command will do once you have used the USE temp command. Yep you guessed it, it will show you a list of all the tables in the database temp.

mysql> SHOW TABLES;

+———————-+
| Tables in temp  |
+———————-+
| family               |
+———————-+
1 row in set (0.01 sec)

Lets keep going deeper with the SHOW commands and lets look at the table itself and see all of the fields we have. We will simply use the SHOW COLUMNS FROM family command.

mysql> SHOW COLUMNS FROM family;

+———-+————-+——-+——–+————+———+
| Field    | Type      | Null  | Key   | Default  | Extra |
+———-+————-+——-+——–+————+———+
| name   | char(25) | YES |         | NULL    |           |
| age      | int(11)    | YES |         | NULL   |           |
| relation | char(50) | YES |         | NULL   |           |
+———-+————-+——-+——–+———–+———-+
3 rows in set (0.07 sec)

Now that we have create a database and a table and confirmed that they are there and setup the way we would like, lets add some information to the table because a database is not good without information. If you have every done any MySQL and PHP programming these next 2 commands should look very familiar. Lets start by adding in some people into the table by using the INSERT INTO table command. We are going to add Derek who is 22 and my cousin, Chelsie who is 21 and my cousin, and Leslie who is 27 and my sister.

mysql>INSERT INTO family (name, age, relation) VALUES (‘Derek’, 22, ‘Cousin’);
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.03 sec)

mysql>INSERT INTO family (name, age, relation) VALUES (‘Chelsie’, 21, ‘Cousin’);
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.03 sec)

mysql>INSERT INTO family (name, age, relation) VALUES (‘Leslie’, 27, ‘Sister’);
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.03 sec)

Now that we have added our information lets take a look at it and confirm it is all there. We will be using the SELECT command to view content in the table.

mysql> SELECT * FROM family;

+———–+——+————-+
| Name   | Age | Relation |
+———–+——+————-+
| Derek   | 22   | Cousin   |
| Chelsie | 21   | Cousin   |
| Leslie   | 27   | Sister     |
+———-+——-+————-+
3 rows in set (0.01 sec)

We can also use the SELECT command to order our list or to only pick a specific person.

mysql> SELECT * FROM family ORDER BY name;

+———–+——+————-+
| Name   | Age | Relation |
+———–+——+————-+
| Chelsie | 21 | Cousin     |
| Derek   | 22 | Cousin     |
| Leslie   | 27 | Sister       |
+———+——+—————+
3 rows in set (0.01 sec)

As you can see by simple adding ORDER BY name we were able to resort the information in the table by name. Now lets pull a specific person from the table

mysql> SELECT * FROM family WHERE name=’Leslie’;

+———+——+————-+
| Name | Age | Relation |
+———+——+————-+
| Leslie | 27   | Sister     |
+———+——+————-+
1 rows in set (0.01 sec)

By qualifying what we want name to be equal to we can pull specific records out of the table.

PHP Frameworks:

PHP is finally getting the attention that i deserves, yes I have always believed that PHP is one of those neglected languages, neglected because they are used in abundance but there isn’t enough programs or as we call them frameworks to work on PHP. But that was until the release of PHP 5. After the release of PHP, there is a range of Frameworks available.

Today we review and understand closely the various frameworks available for PHP. Some of the most popular frameworks for PHP are:

The Zend Framework.
The Prado Framework.
CakePHP Framework.
Symphony Framework.

These frameworks are ofcourse the most popular ones and there are more than 40 frameworks for PHP and it is very difficult to know which framework suits you the best and will be the most productive for your web development and enterprise goals.

Ofcourse all these frameworks are free and provide a host of services to satisfy almost all of the web development needs of a web designer or a website owner. Some of the most common features of all these PHP Framework are as follows:

PHP 5: Thats obvious! All the frameworks support both PHP 5 version of the PHP.Only “The Prado Framework” support the PHP 4.x version of the PHP as well as the PHP 5 version of the PHP.
Multiple DBs: All the above mentioned frameworks support multiple databases to be used without making any setup and configuration changes.
Validation: All the four frameworks have an inbult validation and a filtering component which can be used.
MVC: All the four frameworks have the MVC that is the Model View Controller setup.

So, these are the few components and controllers that are common in most of the PHP based frameworks and therefore one should look out for these components when downloading or using a PHP framework.

Now let us see a brief introduction about each of these PHP based frameworks and their salient features:

Zend Framework:Zend Framework is a component based framework with components for almost all of the programming needs of a PHP programmer or PHP developer.

Some of the components in the Zend Framework are:

zend_acl
zend_auth
zend_cache
zend_config
zend_consolegetop and many more.

Prado Framework: The Prado framework provides the following benefits for web application developers.

reusablility
Ease of use
Robustness
Performance
Team Integration

CakePHP:

Some of the important features of CakePHP are as follows:

Model, View, Controller Architecture
View Helpers for AJAX, Javascript, HTML Forms and more
Built-in Validation
Application Scaffolding
Application and CRUD code generation via Bake
Access Control Lists
Data Sanitization
Security, Session, and Request Handling Components
Flexible View Caching

Like all other frameworks cakePHP is also component based framework.

The Symphony Framework:

Some of the features of the symphony framework are as follows:

simple templating and helpers
cache management
smart URLs
scaffolding
multilingualism and I18N support
object model and MVC separation
Ajax support
enterprise ready

Thus these are the best options available for frameworks relating to PHP and one should review all these features of all these frameworks against his needs and choose the appropriate framework to work on!

Any suggestions and comments as always are welcome.