WebSpinners.com
Small web sites for small businesses and non-profit organizations
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What is "PHP"?
An astute observer may notice that most of the web pages designed by WebSpinners.com end in the filename extension .php. This is an instruction to the web server to run the PHP preprocessor before sending the page to the web visitor.PHP is a programming language specifically written to generate HTML (HyperText Markup Language), the language used to create web pages. PHP has an incredibly rich library of functions to do every conceivable kind of operation on a web site, from processing data entry forms to manipulating graphic images and managing databases. Its command structure borrows heavily from the "C" programming language, regarded as one of the most powerful languages available. (The Unix and Linux operating systems are written in C.)
The name "PHP" is a recursive acronym, standing for "PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor". It derives from an older program named "Personal Home Page / Forms Interpreter" (PHP/FI), which was released as Open Source in 1995. It quickly became a favorite tool for web developers and gathered a large group of volunteer supporters who contributed greatly to its growth and development. Persons interested in learning more about php can visit their web site at http://www.php.net/ or consult their very extensive on-line manual at http://www.php.net/manual/en/index.php.
WebSpinners.com uses PHP extensively in the web sites we design. Most of our web pages are dynamically generated, meaning that the page that the web visitor sees is not stored on the server, but is generated by the server on the fly at the visitor's request from a set of PHP instructions. The majority of our sites utilize a template file, which contains all the information about the overall design of all the pages on a particular site. This allows us to make design changes that affect all the pages of even a very large site by editing only a single file.
PHP runs under Apache server software on Unix machines, and is very fast and efficient, making for very fast loading web pages. Over the years, WebSpinners.com has developed a sizeable collection of PHP scripts which can be adapted to our clients' needs.
Site and scripts created by: WebSpinners.com (info@webspinners.com)
Webmaster: Donald L. Blanchard.
Phone: 720-937-4829