Php stands for Hypertext PreProcessor and it is an open source server-side scripting language. it's widely-used for making dynamic and interactive Web pages and founded by Rasmus Lerdorf in 1994.

It is integrated with a number of popular databases, including MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, Sybase, Informix, and Microsoft SQL Server. PHP is pleasingly zippy in its execution, especially when compiled as an Apache module on the Unix side. The MySQL server, once started, executes even very complex queries with huge result sets in record-setting time. PHP is forgiving: PHP language tries to be as forgiving as possible.

PHP is a widely-used general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for Web development and can be embedded into HTML. ☞ PHP can generate dynamic page content
☞ PHP can create, open, read, write, and close files on the server
☞ PHP can collect form data
☞ PHP can send and receive cookies
☞ PHP can add, delete, modify data in your database
☞ PHP can restrict users to access some pages on your website
☞ PHP can encrypt data
With PHP you are not limited to output HTML. You can output images, PDF files, and even Flash movies. You can also output any text, such as XHTML and XML.

☞ PHP runs on different platforms (Windows, Linux, Unix, Mac OS X, etc.)
☞ PHP is compatible with almost all servers used today (Apache, IIS, etc.)
☞ PHP has support for a wide range of databases
☞ PHP is free. Download it from the official PHP resource: www.php.net
☞ PHP is easy to learn and runs efficiently on the server side

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