PHP and CGI virgin... where do I start?

[North_of_60]

Hi there,

I'm only familiar with HTML raw coding, and am eager to learn CGI and PHP. Is it my impression or has PHP indeed taken over Perl? I have no idea where to start. Is there an online resource that someone can lead me to?

Also, I don't have access to a server that I could play with while learning the basics. Will this hinder my learning curve?

Thanks so much to all who will take the time to answer... it's much appreciated.

[ergophobe]

You could start with our forum library - there are some basic and advanced articles there and links to tutorials. See esp Item 14 on learning PHP

[webmasterworld.com...]

And yes, not having a server to play on will hinder you if not make it impossible to learn PHP, but this is *not* a problem. You just make your desktop into a non-networked server. Just search on "xampp" and download the package. A couple of clicks and your computer is a fully-functioning php/mysql server.

Have fun!

[North_of_60]

Ergophobe,

Thank you so much for you advice - it's appreciated. I'm looking forward to getting started. I've downloaded xampp... Am I correct in my assumption that it simulates an Apache environment? I got it from [apachefriends.org...] - does this link seem to be what you were referring to?

Thanks again for your help.

[ergophobe]

That's the one. I always think it should be at xampp.org or something, but yes, it's the apachefriends install.

It will install Apache 2, PHP, MySQL and a bunch of other stuff.

It does not "simulate" an Apache environment, it is an Apache server. It's the same setup (or potentially) that you would have if you had your own dedicated server. All xampp does is aggregate the diverse apps that go into making a server run, and builds a unified install for all of them.

One word of caution. It has a switch to go back and forth between PHP4 and PHP5. Whenever you do this, it will overwrite your httpd.conf file (if you don't know what this means yet, don't worry). So if you change the settings for your *apache* server (not talking about the other apps like mysql or php or perl), you want to back it up with the name of the php version appended (so renamed to httpd.php4.conf or something like that). That way, if you do switch back and forth, it will retain your settings.

[North_of_60]

Ergophobe,

Are you always so nice? Thank you so much for your help.
I've installed xampp and started to play with it, trying to figure things out. I'm sure this is going to keep my brain cells occupied for a while :)

I'll keep in mind the issue with php4 and php5.

May good things come back to you for your help!

[ergophobe]

Thanks for the kind words. I think if you stick around here for a while you'll see that there are a *lot* of nice people who frequent this forum.