From Uweb

PHP

PHP is a computer language designed for web development that is loosely based on, and shares many syntax rules and functions with C. It's designed to be easy to get started in, and the online documentation is excellent.

Many programmers criticize PHP because it uses untyped variables and there are no enforced conventions regarding function and object naming in the PHP core nor any of it's extensions, but many others love it for it's simplicity and rapid development. One of PHP's special tools is that you can mix PHP and HTML/CSS/Javascript in the same .php file. PHP also makes an excellent command line scripting language, with mature linux and windows filesystem tools.

Although you are *able* to mix PHP and HTML in the same file, many modern developers eschew this in favor of separating code from content. There are many ways to do this, but the two most popular approaches are to use a templating engine like Smarty, or to write functions for all of the content you wish to put on a page, and then include the file with the functions in it and place the functions at the places in the HTML that you wish to have content.

Resources

• PHP Website: http://www.php.net - Contains excellent fully searchable documentation on the website

Similar Languages

Competing languages include Perl, Python and Ruby, Java, and various .Net lanaguages.