Building a Database-Driven Web Site Using PHP and MySQL

by Kevin Yank of SitePoint.com

Part 1: Installation

Welcome to the Show

Hi there, and welcome to the first in SitePoint.com's ten-part series on building a database-driven Web site! For the next few months, it will be my job to guide you as you take your first steps beyond the HTML-and-JavaScript world of client-side site design. Together we'll learn everything that's needed to build the kind of large, content-driven sites that are so successful today, but which can be a real headache to maintain if they aren't done right.

Before we get started, we need to gather together the tools we'll need for the job. In this first article, we'll download and set up the two software packages we'll be using: PHP and MySQL.

PHP is a server-side scripting language. You can think of it as a "plug-in" for your Web server that will allow it to do more than just send plain Web pages when browsers request them. With PHP installed, your Web server will be able to read a new kind of file (called a "PHP script") that can do things like retrieve up-to-the-minute information from a database and insert it into a Web page before sending it to the browser that requested it. PHP is completely free to download and use.

To retrieve information from a database, you first need to have a database. That's where MySQL comes in. MySQL is a relational database management system, or RDBMS. Exactly what role it plays and how it works we'll get into later, but basically it's a software package that is very good at organizing and managing large amounts of information. MySQL also makes that information really easy to get at using server-side scripting languages like PHP. MySQL is free for non-commercial use on most Unix-based platforms, like Linux. MySQL for Windows 9x/NT/2000 costs about US$200 to buy, but you can download an older version for free if you just want to try it out. For our purposes, the older version will serve just fine, but if you find MySQL for Windows useful and you decide to use it on one of your own sites, you should pay for it.

If you're lucky, your current Web host may already have installed MySQL and PHP on your Web server for you. If that's the case, much of this article will not apply to you, and you can skip straight to If Your Web Host Provides PHP and MySQL to make sure everything is ship shape.

Everything we'll discuss in this article series may be done on a Windows- or Unix-based server. Depending on which type of server you'll be using, the installation procedure will be different. The next section deals with installation on a Windows-based Web server. The section after that deals with installation under Linux (and other Unix-based platforms). Unless you're especially curious, you should only need to read the section that applies to you.

Article Index Introduction and Contents Part 1: Installation Part 2: Getting Started with MySQL Part 3: Getting Started with PHP Part 4: Publishing MySQL Data on the Web   Challenge Solution Buy this book in print format now

Installing under Windows

SitePoint.com is a fast growing Web Developer Community. Kevin Yank is the Editor of the SitePoint TechTimes, a fresh, technically oriented newsletter for the serious Webmaster.