A while back I picked up a book on html and I learnt it pretty fast but it never was what I really wanted, subsequently over the past 6 month's I’ve lost it. Instead I want to start a new we language and I have been considering learning php for a while now but I have never come to grips with exactly what I can do with it. I know it can make forums and online games like Darkthrone, but as far as website building is concerned am I right in thinking that html is the best way to go?

I am also confused about how to make it work, you have to load scripts into a web server but I am absolutely useless with Apache so does any one know of any easy server's to use or a php viewer. I don't want it to publish my site just to practice.

Finally can somebody explain the link between php and MySQL please?

I am sorry if these are all really simply and lame questions but before I begin I would like to learn exactly what I can accomplish with it.

Then you use php to collect the information out of the database and minipulate it into doing something you want. Soo, to list information, to change information shown, etc, etc.

Probly the best website to make would be html and php. So you have your html design, and then you can load your dynamic content into those areas.

I think of html as the sponge of a cake, and php is the icing.

I'm sure someone will have a better explaination, but hopefully I help a weebit.

Lothop

MySQL is not a language, it's a database server and is used to store data.

PHP takes your HTML page a step further by making it dynamic. With HTML, your stuck with a static page that never changes. Add PHP to your html page and it can change based on any number of things: Data from your MySQL database, input from forms, include other pages into your page, you can display something different for each day of the week, or every hour...

The possibilities with PHP is really only limited to your imagination and the confines of the internet.


To answer your question about apache and practising, I suggest you get a cheap web hosting account. That would be easier then setting something up on your PC, and you can concentrate more on coding in a real world environment.

Hmmm... HTML is not a scripting language. It's a mark-up language. So you cant't desing site without HTML (even using PHP). BUT. PHP allows you to build a site with a dynamic data. The simpliest example - if you want to place a 100 of "<p>Hello, world!" to your page you may:
- write it manually using HTML;
- write a cycle in a PHP that will print "<p>Hello, world!" for a 100 times
What is more convinient? Decide by yourself )

Anyway, PHP is a very powerful tool. Lern it. You won't regret.

Like everyone else said, HTML is necessary to make a web site. PHP just marries it extremely well.

As far as setting up a PHP server on your machine alongside Apache, it's extremely simple.

This has all the necessary steps to install PHP and Apache on a Windows system.
http://ca.php.net/manual/en/install.windows.php


Here's a list of programs to install preconfigured Servers on your machine (All you need is the ones with Apache, PHP and MySQL - the rest isn't necessary)
http://www.hotscripts.com/PHP/Softwa...allation_Kits/