PHP is a server-side, cross-platform, HTML embedded scripting language that borrows the best ideas from Java, Perl, and C -- while enabling you to get started in minutes, and build significant scripts almost immediately thereafter. Already supported on Apache and many other Web servers, PHP is completely open-source -- and extraordinarily productive. Core PHP Programming is the first complete, readable, and practical guide to PHP, containing all you need to get results -- including PHP source code for several top Web server platforms. Discover how PHP works with a Web server, and why it's superior to other server-side scripting environments. Master PHP syntax, including variables, operators, expressions, control statements, functions, arrays, classes, and more. Review every PHP function, including I/O, data, and math functions; time, date, and configuration functions; and both image and database functions. Understand sorting, searching, parsing, and string evaluation; then walk step-by-step through three Web/database integration applications, including building HTML tables from SQL queries; tracking visitors; and storing content in a database. You'll find chapters on integrating PHP with HTML; program design; optimization and debugging, and much more.