php or perl? [Archive] - FreeWebspace.net

LeX

January 21st, 2001, 01:17

perl is a lot more common, but php isn't bad either.

If you are hosting your site with a fwp, then you might want to decide which language to learn from what features the fwp you choose offers. Some offer CGI but no PHP, others vice versa. Some offer both.

[Edited by LeX on 01-21-2001 at 02:29 AM]

Koolguy

January 21st, 2001, 01:31

If your host has php support I would go with it all the way. It's faster, easier to learn, and uses less CPU.

Mrh0ax

January 21st, 2001, 01:44

your IP isnt secure, people can hack in and change your MYSQL and ---- :(

Vinay

January 21st, 2001, 02:11

PHP in my opinion.. its
1. easy for a beginner to learn
2. flexible
3. faster than perl
4. i like it :)

f2s i think supports PHP .. if you're looking for a free host... most commercial hosts support both...

laine

January 21st, 2001, 07:12

Thanks a lot guys... I think i'll first learn php then :) So are there any online tutorials to learn from? or do i have to get a book? ya know books are pretty expensive

and about the server... i forgot whether digitalrice supports php.. i think it does ;) anyways...

how long does it take you to learn php? haha....

LeX

January 21st, 2001, 07:17

Well, now there's a brilliant question! ;) Why don't you go and try to search up "php help" in search engines? :)
But I'm sure some of the other guys will provide much better links.

Here's something I found, you might want to take a look. http://php.resourceindex.com/Functions_and_Classes/
Might not help much, though...

Here's another site: http://php.net

[Edited by LeX on 01-21-2001 at 08:26 AM]

LawTown Junky

January 21st, 2001, 09:24

says this is a complete manuel of php

http://www.php.net/manual/

laine

January 21st, 2001, 19:03

HAHAHA... sorry for asking such a stupid question... :)

anyways thanks a lot...
so i can just get online tutorials so that means i don't have to buy a book right?

LeX

January 22nd, 2001, 03:47

Tutorials are just... tutorials. If you really want to LEARN the thing, I recommend you go and buy a book. They give more detailed descriptions in books than online tutorials or manuals - IMO lah..! :)

See, a lot of tutorials expect you to have some basic knowledge of whatever you're looking up, and then they give examples and tell a bit about it, but books go way deeper.

This may give a better example. Take any game for instance. All you gotta do is experiment around with it and look at the user's guide usually included in the box, and you basically know how to play. It's not that hard at all. But did you ever seen one of those strategy books they have for the game? They're THICK!!! Now, tutorials are kinda like the walkthroughs, they tell you what to do, but they don't go into details, whereas the stragety book gives you tips and hints and tells you where everything is. Get the idea?

Conclusion: Get a book. :)

laine

January 22nd, 2001, 06:11

:) i totally agree with you....

oh by the way
how do i install this php thing on my computer? something to do with apache server which i have noooooo idea....

i've heard you can install something on your computer so you don't have to test your scripts online.

thanks again :P

LeX

January 22nd, 2001, 06:21

Sorry, you'll get no help from me here, I'm as clueless as you are!

If there's a way, I'd like to know too. :)

laine

January 22nd, 2001, 06:39

hmmm
so which book do ya recommend for php? i looked in the other thread under this forum and somebody said
prof. php? or...there's this beginning php4

Hmm...
:)

LeX

January 22nd, 2001, 08:06

For a list of books, go here:
http://www.php.net/books.php

I can't recommend anything I haven't read b4. :)

Zef Hemel

January 22nd, 2001, 10:31

One thing about php and perl speed. Can someone give me a reason why php is faster than perl, proof? I hear this all the time (said especially by php users). But never noticed any difference, who says they're not same as fast?

LeX

January 22nd, 2001, 11:23

perhaps the people who can tell the difference has sorry computers? :confused:

atlas

January 22nd, 2001, 11:50

PHP runs as an apache module. Unless you're running mod_perl and your scripts setup to use it -- the external perl interpreter and perl need to be fired up each time (which takes time).

mjk@atlascgi.com

laine

January 22nd, 2001, 23:09

Ah- pretty complicated. today i went down to the bookstore and i couldn't find any books about php.. i was pretty shocked i thought it was pretty popular eh... and the books down in the library are all borrowed :(

:) how about ASP, active server pages? is it similar to php? and my friend was talking about XML...
haha all those names....

niekas

January 23rd, 2001, 02:35

Originally posted by laine
Ah- pretty complicated. today i went down to the bookstore and i couldn't find any books about php.. i was pretty shocked i thought it was pretty popular eh... and the books down in the library are all borrowed :(

:) how about ASP, active server pages? is it similar to php? and my friend was talking about XML...
haha all those names....

What kind of bookstore did you go to?
hope not antique :D

laine

January 23rd, 2001, 04:03

i agree but it shouldn't be ancient... it's Page One its like this HUGE bookstore in hongkong which you can find lots of new books, esp from overseas.... i doubt why there isn't anything about PHP!!!! :)

mysql is pretty complicated... but that seems to go with php for databases right? arggggggg......

LeX

January 23rd, 2001, 04:35

You're from HK? Cool... :)
Don't bother with ASP. Stick with PHP or Perl.
You *sure* they don't have any books on PHP in your bookstores??

laine

January 23rd, 2001, 06:31

Yep, HK... how about you?

geez... i'll stick to php :) i'll try finding the books in some "computer" places, maybe the books would be cheaper there...

well i haven't searched in all the bookshops, i think that bookshop has some problem...

do i have to buy another book for mysql? i've learnt in the tutorials online about php... haha all i know now is that you can check what browser version the user is using,etc.. and insert some external files... hm... but i don't quite understand databases...

anyway... php is fun... and not as complicated :)... geez i want to get the book right away

LeX

January 24th, 2001, 08:10

Good luck..... and have fun. :)

btw, what's your site about anyways? recipies for Chinese food??

laine

January 25th, 2001, 06:52

i hope i'd have fun :)

my site? oh that was a thinkquest site last year... yes, about chinese food... :) my personal page is... deleted 2 years ago ;)

-----
is xml related to php? i see them together sometimes :) hm...

dn52002

January 25th, 2001, 14:30

XML stands for Extensive Markup Language, it is like the next generation of HTML but I haven't looked into it much yet. Php is a server-side scripting language like ASP.
(that might not explain anything but I do have a helpful link at http://www.webmonkey.org )

ASP is written with many different languages, the two most used is VBScript and JScript(which is exactly like javascript) but most of the examples you'd find online are written in VBS. And I think that's a major turndown in my opinion- I want "}" and ";" ya know! - they make the code looks clearer

Also PHP is free in the case you would want to install it on your home computer.

Hope thay answers your question Laine!

[Edited by dn52002 on 01-25-2001 at 03:36 PM]

laine

January 25th, 2001, 19:59

thanks a million ;)

Visual basic... our school teaches that but i don't see the usage yet...

i'd better go find more about xml

so that means asp isn't free to install on your own server while php is?

dn52002

January 27th, 2001, 03:23

well you can install php on an apache server, kinda tricky and you have to know your unix command. I know that php can be installed on windows too but I didn't try. but right now what you want to do is to find a web hosting company(preferably free) that support php and if you are lucky, mysql(database). Then you wouldn't need to actually install php on your home computer, you can just upload your file and test your code online. I have a few suggestion for web hoster but I am not sure if it is legal for me to post it here, but contact me on icq if you would like to know who they are!

ASP runs on M$ Server like Windows 2000/NT/IIS. It is expensive to set up a server(unix or M$) because you need a big chunk of cash to buy a static IP. Right now, you don't have to worry about installing ANYTHING. Just focus on learning the language whichever you choose :)

XML: Anyone knows any good use for it? I looked it up, wasn't impressed. Oh well, I wasn't impressed with PHP at first either :)

[Edited by dn52002 on 01-27-2001 at 05:01 AM]

LeX

January 27th, 2001, 08:09

Okay, I shouldn't have laughed when you said that you couldn't find any books on PHP at your local bookstore... I went to a few bookstores here, and I was most surprised when I couldn't find any books on PHP either. There were ASP, Flash 5, Windows2k, Visual Basic... etc. books, but I couldn't find PHP books! Weird... my guess is that it's starting to get real popular on the web, but the book guys just haven't noticed and written anything yet. Who knows?

laine

January 27th, 2001, 20:59

*grins*

Well yeah i wonder why there are so few books. Geez i still haven't bought the book! I'm going to have a look in computer centers later on... you know in our bookstores Chinese computer books costs way lower than english books...

Thanks for telling me about the server stuff ;)

Thanks

LeX

January 28th, 2001, 02:14

yup, you can test run scripts on your comp once you get something like Apache installed and configured it to be able to run perl or php, both free I believe. You can see your own pages at http://localhost/ after you've installed it and stuff.

maybe you can order a book off the internet, but that'll be pretty expensive. Is there any computer-specific stores in your area? If you haven't already checked there, go look, maybe there will be a book or two hidden somewhere. :)

laine

January 28th, 2001, 20:20

Yep i am going to the bookstore near my school to see if there is. if yes i'm going to buy it---not going to wait anymore... :)

laine

January 29th, 2001, 23:45

i have finally found php books in another bookstore
but they are very expensive and it seems that there are tutorials online which is similar to the ones in the book

..... so....
i'm still thinking whether i should buy one.. geeeeeeez