Introducing PHP and MySQL

Enter PHP and MySQL. These two make up what must be the best combination for data-driven Web sites
on the planet. You needn't take my word for it. An unofficial Netcraft survey shows that PHP usage has
jumped from 7,500 hosts in June 1998 to 410,000 in March 1999. That's not bad. The combination was also awarded Database of the Year at Webcon98, where it received a lovely tiara.

MySQL is a small, compact database server ideal for small - and not so small - applications. In addition to
supporting standard SQL (ANSI), it compiles on a number of platforms and has multithreading abilities on
Unix servers, which make for great performance. For non-Unix people, MySQL can be run as a service on
Windows NT and as a normal process in Windows 95/98 machines.

PHP is a server-side scripting language. If you've seen ASP, you'll be familiar with embedding code within an
HTML page. Like ASP, PHP script is processed by the Web server. After the server plays with the PHP code, it returns plain old HTML back to the browser. This kind of interaction allows for some pretty complex operations.

In addition to being free (MySQL does have some licensing restrictions though), the PHP-MySQL
combination is also cross-platform, which means you can develop in Windows and serve on a Unix platform.
Also, PHP can be run as an external CGI process, a stand-alone script interpreter, or an embedded Apache
module.

If you're interested, PHP also supports a massive number of databases, including Informix, Oracle, Sybase,
Solid, and PostgreSQL - as well as the ubiquitous ODBC.

PHP supports a host of other features right at the technological edge of Internet development. These
include authentication, XML, dynamic image creation, WDDX, shared memory support, and dynamic PDF
document creation to name but a few. If that's not enough, PHP is easy to extend, so you can roll your
own solution if you're programming savvy.

Finally, since both efforts are collaborative in nature, there's always plenty of support from documentation
and mailing lists. Bugs are fixed rapidly, and requests for features are always heard, evaluated, and if
feasible, implemented.