Offering a step-by-step walk through understanding the three key open source technologies that form the basis for most active web servers, this book demonstrates how to quickly create a professional-looking, functional site using Apache Web server, the MySQL database system, and the PHP scripting language. You'll take an in-depth look at why the combination of PHP, MySQL, and Apache has become so popular: flawless interaction, flexibility, customization, and cost, as well as their ability to run on both Linux and Windows servers.

Beginning PHP6, Apache, MySQL® Web Development

With this guide, you''ll quickly learn why the combination of PHP, Apache, and MySQL is rapidly becoming the most popular way to develop dynamic web sites. It gives you the best possible foundation for understanding how the core components work separately and together, enabling you to take full advantage of everything they have to offer.

You''ll discover how to utilize the key features of these technologies as you follow two projects to create complete web sites. These projects take you through the basics, such as writing PHP code, building a MySQL database, filling the database with data, and showing specific information to your visitors. You''ll then incorporate some of the more complex topics of working with PHP, Apache, and MySQL as you progress step by step through the development of each site.

When you''ve finished this book, you''ll have a thorough understanding of the core concepts you need to become an effective developer. Plus you''ll be able to create a well-designed, dynamic web site using freely available tools.

What you will learn from this book

• Installation and configuration of PHP, Apache, and MySQL

• Ways to avoid errors and how to handle them when they occur

• Techniques for creating, altering, and working with image files

• Steps for building a content management system

• How to monitor your web site through activity logs and error logs

• Setting up e-mail lists and handling user registrations

• Tips for adding e-commerce capabilities

• How to connect to MySQL from PHP

Who this book is for

This book is for PHP beginners who have some experience with web site development concepts and a basic working knowledge of HTML and CSS.

Wrox Beginning guides are crafted to make learning programming languages and technologies easier than you think, providing a structured, tutorial format that will guide you through all the techniques involved.

Timothy Boronczyk is a native of Syracuse, New York, where he works as a programmer by day and a freelance developer, writer, and technical editor by night. He has been involved in web design since 1998, and over the years has written several articles on PHP programming and various design topics, as well as the book PHP and MySQL: Create - Modify - Reuse (Wrox). Timothy holds a degree in software application programming, is a Zend Certified Engineer, and recently started his first business venture, Salt City Tech ( www.saltcitytech.com ). In his spare time, he enjoys photography, hanging out with friends, and sleeping with his feet hanging off the end of his bed. He ' s easily distracted by shiny objects.

Elizabeth Naramore graduated from Miami University (Ohio) with a degree in organizational behavior and has been a web developer since 1997. Her main focus is in e - commerce, but she develops sites across numerous industries. She is currently a moderator at PHPBuilder.com, an online help center for PHP. She lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, with her husband and two children, and looks forward to someday returning to Miami U. to get her masters in computer science.

Jason " Goldbug " Gerner currently spends his days working as a web developer in Cincinnati and burns free time complaining about lack of support for web standards and abusing XML. He can often be found lurking in the PHPBuilder.com discussion forums, waiting to chime in with nagging comments about CSS or code efficiency.

Yann " Bunkermaster " Le Scouarnec is the senior developer for Jolt Online Gaming, a British gaming company. He is a moderator at PHPBuilder.com and a developer of open source PHP software for the gaming community. He has also worked for major software corporations as a software quality expert.

Jeremy " Stolzyboy " Stolz is a web developer at J & M Companies, Inc. ( www.jmcompanies.com ), a print company in Fargo, North Dakota. Jeremy is primarily a PHP/MySQL developer, but he has also worked with many other languages. When not working, he frequents the Internet and tries to keep his programming skills sharp and up to date. He is a contributor to and moderator at PHPBuilder.com.

Michael " BuzzLY " Glass has been a gladiator in the software/Web site development arena for more than eight years. He has more than ten years of commercial programming experience with a wide variety of technologies, including PHP, Java, Lotus Domino, and Vignette StoryServer. He divides his time between computer programming, playing pool in the APA, and running his web site at www.ultimatespin.com . You can usually find him slinking around on the PHPBuilder.com forums, where he is a moderator with the nickname BuzzLY.