No one can refute the importance of websites. Companies large and small are rushing to create and sustain a web presence at any cost. Yet the difference between programming languages remains baffling to most.
The day of pure HTML and Flash sites have disappeared, ushering in a new era of languages that allow for greater database management, user interactivity, creative design and of course search engine optimization.
The programming languages of today allow designers to more accurately create what a client wants to communicate visually. They also facilitate the interaction of different web pages, which simultaneously renders information more dynamic and accessible!
Designed to enable the creation of dynamic web pages, PHP is an interpreted language that is interpreted on the server side (Server-side-scripting). This means that only the client sees the results of a search, not the actions that enable the functionality.
The advantage in using PHP over other programming languages is that the majority of web servers have the kind of support required to visualize PHP script, which can be used in almost all operating systems; but its most exciting aspect is that it is free for anyone to use in order to improve existing applications or create new ones. PHP has been installed in more than 20 million websites, and one million web servers, though after 2005, the creation and development of new languages for designing dynamic websites has brought about the need to share space with these.
One of the most recent versions of PHP is the 5.3.0. launched for Windows platform in 2009.
I felt comfortable learning this new language because of the syntax it shares with the language C/C++. This syntax has made it possible for designers who program in the structured C language, or who are oriented to CC to integrate more easily, while allowing development of new applications for the web in a much faster and simple manner.
The dynamism of the PHP language refers not only to the use of conditions to show information, but also to the use of databases to control the information within a website. PHP supports DBMS such as MySQL, Postgres, Oracle, ODBC, DB2, Microsoft SQL server, Firebird and SQLite. Today, it provides a complex variety of tools to facilitate the use of multiple languages, such as XAMP, which includes support for PHP script, MySQL, and Apache server for any platform, and we have WAMP exclusively for Windows, and MAMP, exclusively for Mac.
Today, some of the technologies or languages that are establishing their credibility amongst programmers for dynamic web page development are: Microsoft ASP.NET and JSP from Java Sun Microsystems, which, in my point of view, due to the friendliness of its language and its similarity to the standard syntax J2EE from Java, will give those people who already have contact with the latter, the confidence and ability to immerse themselves in the world of JSP.
With the advances of new interpreted languages, we will be seeing more and more websites that are completely interactive. These will not only catch the attention of consumers due their visual attractiveness, but also the attention of the companies, because it will permit these to obtain greater information about their consumers: what sites they visit, for how long, from what part of the world. In essence, new programming languages are a new breed of marketing tools that will enable business to keep developing their offering for existing clients based on statistics gleaned from site visits to clients and attract new ones.
Irvin Rangel is a web programmer and strategist at Mijo! Brands in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. He enjoys investigating and learning about programming languages to help his clients maintain a competitive edge on-line.
