PHP: What is PHP?

Basic info about PHP with links to open source CMS systems and Web application frameworks.

PHP is

• PHP is a scripting language.
• PHP is a framework for Web applications.
• PHP is an abbreviation for "Personal Home Page".

Why use PHP

• Easy to use.
• High performance.
• The language is constantly being improved and expanded with new functionality.
• PHP has a vibrant, friendly and active community. See for instance Zend DevZone, ONLamp.com, IBM developerWorks.
• Supports most databases including SQL Server, MySQL and SQLite.
• Web-hosting is cheap (from 1,2 Euros/mth).
• PHP is Free.

Who uses PHP

• Yahoo!
• Facebook
• Copenhagen Business School
• TV2.dk
• ... and many others.

Content Management Systems built on PHP

Excellent and free CMS systems built on PHP, many of them have e-commerce integrations:

• Drupal - highly flexible system, often used for news publishing, e-commerce and corporate homepages.
• XOOPS
• Joomla
• WordPress - excellent for corporate blogs.
• eZ Publish
• Typo3
• CMS Made Simple
• MODx
• ... and many more.

Web application frameworks for PHP

• CodeIgniter
• CakePHP
• Zend Framework
• ... and many more.