T1000Android Posted October 7, 2011 Share Posted October 7, 2011 Hello guys!I am done with the javascript tutorial on this site and am wondering what to learn next: PHP or ASP?To be honest i'm inclined towards PHP. So: PHP or ASP? The second question is:The PHP tutorial told me to download 3 things: PHP, MySQL database and Apache server. Are there any special considerations on installing these? If so, please tell me what they are. The third and final question is:After i am all set up with the 3 applications above. With which one do i work? On which one do i type code and on which one do i see the result? Also if this is a real server, wont people be able to connect to my server by using my IP? How do i know if the server is up or down? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don E Posted October 7, 2011 Share Posted October 7, 2011 Well, I would lean toward learning PHP. For Apache, PHP, MySQL, you can download something called Xampp or Wamp which has all of those in one package for you. Here's Xampp: http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp.htmlHere's Wamp: http://www.wampserver.com/en/ They both offer basically the same thing but if you want to know which is better, perhaps someone here can suggest for you. I personally use xampp. It's a real server(though not exactly like an actual server from a hosting company) and yes people can connect to it if they have your IP, but if you're on a network(behind a router), you don't have to worry about anything. If you want people to connect to your server from outside your network, you will have to configure your router settings to port forward the server. To know if the server is up or down, you'll know. Each of the above packages will let you know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synook Posted October 7, 2011 Share Posted October 7, 2011 ASP is outdated, if you want to learn Microsoft server-side technologies, ASP.NET is where it's at. But it's up to you, really — .NET may be more useful if you hope to work in corporate environments in the future, but PHP is a good hobby language. Apache is the actual web server - the thing that people connect to when they request a page from your IP address. PHP is the PHP interpreter - the thing that Apache contacts when it needs to process a page with PHP code. MySQL is a database server (and database management system) that you use to store structured data, if you so need. You can interface with it using libraries available in PHP. The process of installing them one by one is ... a bit tricky, to say the least, and it is usually much more convenient to use one of various packages, such as WAMP and XAMPP, that install and configure them all at once. You don't use any of these to actually type code — you need an editor (like Notepad) for that — but Apache will serve files on the web server if someone requests them. People will be able to contact your server using its IP address, however if you are on a network with NAT, then the NAT device (usually your router) will have to have the relevant ports (by default 80) forwarded for people on the outside to get to the server machine. Finally, to test your server you can just connect to yourself using the loopback network interface (localhost) on 127.0.0.1. Edit: beaten by Don E! Personally, I use WAMP, but either of them work fine. There is also MAMP for OS X machines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don E Posted October 7, 2011 Share Posted October 7, 2011 Hey Synook, Glad you brought that up about ASP.NET. In the corporate environment, is PHP really not the language to go with? Why is ASP.NET the language for the corporate environment? I've noticed that big "sites" really don't use PHP. Yeah there's facebook, but it seems like major sites like AOL, Google, Yahoo wouldn't even consider using PHP? I wonder why if so. PHP seems to be really well put together especially now that it has full object oriented support. Your input on this would greatly be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T1000Android Posted October 7, 2011 Author Share Posted October 7, 2011 Ok then, PHP it is.Someone on this forum pointed me to download wampserver2 (the one with the pink icon) and i have it on my HDD. Should i use it?I have dreamweaver for typing code but how do i submit it to the server to see the result?I am not on a network with NAT. I have a direct broadband connection and i have a dynamic IP.To connect to my own server i just type "localhost" in the browser, right? I have done this a while back with a teamspeak server but i cant remember the exact process. Please tell me the exact stems for viewing my PHP results in a browser. Ok i have typed my code, i have saved it in a test.php file, then what? Thanks guys, you are really supportive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescientist Posted October 7, 2011 Share Posted October 7, 2011 Hey Synook, Glad you brought that up about ASP.NET. In the corporate environment, is PHP really not the language to go with? Why is ASP.NET the language for the corporate environment? I've noticed that big "sites" really don't use PHP. Yeah there's facebook, but it seems like major sites like AOL, Google, Yahoo wouldn't even consider using PHP? I wonder why if so. PHP seems to be really well put together especially now that it has full object oriented support. Your input on this would greatly be appreciated. PHP is free but has no support or customer service to call if you can't figure something out. With ASP.NET, you are paying for the knowledge base of the developers to help you implement their product into your application/work environment/etc. Ok then, PHP it is.Someone on this forum pointed me to download wampserver2 (the one with the pink icon) and i have it on my HDD. Should i use it?I have dreamweaver for typing code but how do i submit it to the server to see the result?I am not on a network with NAT. I have a direct broadband connection and i have a dynamic IP.To connect to my own server i just type "localhost" in the browser, right? I have done this a while back with a teamspeak server but i cant remember the exact process. Please tell me the exact stems for viewing my PHP results in a browser. Ok i have typed my code, i have saved it in a test.php file, then what? Thanks guys, you are really supportive. If the server is installed and running correctly, you will have to make sure your files located in the webroot, which is usually a folder within the webserver app like htdocs, www, or something like that. From there you should be able to view PHP pages in your browser and see any output. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T1000Android Posted October 7, 2011 Author Share Posted October 7, 2011 I decided to use the wampserver2 application which is currently running.@thescientist: i found the root folder (www). I has 3 test files in it: test.php, index.php, testmysql.php. Now how do i view the result from them in a browser? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescientist Posted October 7, 2011 Share Posted October 7, 2011 open your browser and type in localhost (or localhost:8888, or whatever port it may be configured too), and index.php should open automatically. you could also just do file->open from the browser and navigate to the www folder as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T1000Android Posted October 7, 2011 Author Share Posted October 7, 2011 When i typed localhost or localhost:80 i get what you see in the "localhost or localhost80" image attached.When i did the file--> open thing i got what you see in the "open index.php" image attached.Now i have to mention that the path to the files above is : C:\wamp\www I have done some more searching in the installation folder and i found a folder called htdocs which has the path:C:\wamp\bin\apache\Apache2.2.21\htdocs When i opened the index.html file in the htdocs folder i got what you see in the "open index.html" image. This is a html file so it should work anyway.But when i opened the index.php file i got the same thing ans in the "open index.php" image. What am i doing wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ingolme Posted October 7, 2011 Share Posted October 7, 2011 PHP files are only executed when the page is opened over the HTTP protocol (which is through localhost) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T1000Android Posted October 7, 2011 Author Share Posted October 7, 2011 Ok so how do i do that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescientist Posted October 7, 2011 Share Posted October 7, 2011 I think the importnat part in that picture was cut off. I could see something that said Your Project but nothing below it, other than what looked like it could be a folder icon. Can you click on anything in that section and see what happens? Or post a picture including the bottom half of that page. Also worth checking out is the my tools -> phpinfo. If it does what i think it does, it should display a bunch of configuration stuff about the PHP install. It's a way to test to make sure you have the server running correctly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T1000Android Posted October 7, 2011 Author Share Posted October 7, 2011 Yeah sure: here is the bottom half of the picture: I saved the page under phpinfo() but i cant upload it cause my upload quota is full. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zachruss92 Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 I might be getting in a little late in the game, but if your leaning PHP, you probably want to learn MySQL along with it(it is the database component) I think WAMP uses PHPMYADMIN ( have a mac and am using XAMPP, which is slightly different) But everywhere I hear is to change the configuration file to set it to cookies, and take out the Username. I am pretty sure it is the same for windows. Hope this helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T1000Android Posted November 12, 2011 Author Share Posted November 12, 2011 Hello guys, its me again!Im done with the PHP tutorial too. Now I have basic knowledge of HTML, CSS, Javascript and PHP, knowledge which i will develop over time.Is this all i need to know to build a fully functional web page?If i need to know any other languages, what are they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ingolme Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 As far as languages are concerned, learn SQL and you're complete. Aside from languages, learning programming paradigms and data structures will really enhance your programming skills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T1000Android Posted November 13, 2011 Author Share Posted November 13, 2011 What are paradigms and data structures? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ingolme Posted November 13, 2011 Share Posted November 13, 2011 Data structures is a branch of computer science. It teaches you how to organize information for different purposes. Lists and trees, for example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T1000Android Posted November 13, 2011 Author Share Posted November 13, 2011 Thanks. Ill continue with SQL and ll get back to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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