|
Post by mopsy on Feb 23, 2006 14:57:21 GMT
We can all get rid of the ads. It's there before you signin/up.
And now I'm randomly curious. What language are these things written in?
|
|
|
Post by earlofqb on Feb 23, 2006 22:01:45 GMT
Same as really anything else:
HTML, PHP, Javascript, and some other languages.
|
|
|
Post by Homeloaf on Feb 24, 2006 1:17:25 GMT
I don't know PHP. Never even heard of it. Please enlighten me?
|
|
|
Post by mopsy on Feb 24, 2006 5:29:23 GMT
I don't know what PHP is either. The first thing that pops into my head is CSS but I have no clue if that's right or not. I would assume it's a language though (I'm such a good cap. obvious!)
|
|
|
Post by Homeloaf on Feb 25, 2006 0:55:42 GMT
Gee, nobody's replied to us, mopsy. Perhaps the master of the universe (Earl) is mad at us? He probably knows PHP. I h8 it when people don't share their knowledge. Gee, mister master. Why so cold?
Please disregard the previous literary badness. Yes, it was a badness, not a paragraph.
|
|
|
Post by Mikrondel on Feb 25, 2006 1:13:24 GMT
PHP stands for (look away!): "PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor"
Yes, it's another recursive acronym. Anyway, it's a great language aimed mainly at generating HTML. I use it extensively; I've even made my own message board with it. (So I really do know what I'm talking about here ^_^)
If you view the source to this, you'll notice that it's UNIXy. Or maybe you won't, but I'll tell you why it is: UNIX uses a "linefeed" character for a new line, while DOS and Windows use a "Carriage Return" followed by a "linefeed" for the same purpose. Which is why the source looks all run together - because there aren't any Windows-style new lines in it.
That's beside the point. PHP is a language, somewhat like BASIC, that is interpreted by the *SERVER* whenever a web page is requested. (Javascript is executed by the *client*.) If you have a simple understanding of C, PHP will be very easy to learn. And even if you don't, PHP is pretty easy. The hard part is finding servers that support PHP. Freewebs doesn't. I have my own webserver which obviously does.
One terrific thing about PHP (but not unique to PHP) is that you can intersperse it within ordinary HTML, and the server will process it then remove it.
Anyway, CSS is connected to PHP mostly through HTML. PHP actually creates any kind of output you like (it can even output JPGs, Flash, or PDF), but is mainly used for HTML, and where there's professional HTML, there's CSS.
CSS, quite simply, set up a "look" for your site. This means rather than specifying what font or formatting you want, you specify which "style" you want, having defined all your styles in a CSS.
|
|
|
Post by earlofqb on Feb 25, 2006 1:17:26 GMT
This is a topic best described by our resident PHP expert, Ildurest. Failing this, I'll give some slight background to make his job easier: PHP is PHP Hypertext Preprocessor {recursive acronym }. It is used to complile massive amounts of HTML code before leaving the server to ensure maximum efficiency. It is used mostly to extract data from a database for presentation on a web page (instead of seeing the entire DB, you'd see only what you cared about). PHP is an itegral part of modern web sites, as it greatly increases the dynamic-ness of the Internet. I'll let Ildurest do the rest, as I've an extremely basic understanding of it.
|
|
|
Post by Mikrondel on Feb 25, 2006 1:53:56 GMT
Funnily enough, your "extremely basic understanding" resulted in a better summary than mine. I know too much to fit in one post, and I'm not very good at the kind of filtration->selection->ejection process that lets you go from lots of detailed information down to personal comment and short descriptions fit for the layman. Just another reason why I wish English wasn't compulsory. And sorry I beat you to it
|
|
|
Post by Homeloaf on Feb 25, 2006 6:40:29 GMT
Cootelage! How wouldst I go about learning this? Any good tutorials? Books? Sites?
It sounds really cool.
|
|
|
Post by Ildûrest on Feb 25, 2006 9:41:24 GMT
Well, I reckon the best way to learn it is by using it.
So, just install Apache on any computer you like (it runs on Windows and Linux and other UNIXes) and then start making web pages at home! And use all the PHP you like, just use .php instead of .html. It may be a trick to get other people to access the webserver, but you should be able to access it yourself by typing 'http://localhost/' in the address bar.
If you have a network, even more cool, as you can access it from the other computers.
Once you get that far, (or alternatively find a web host that supports PHP) then get back to me if you want some, um, tutoring on this.
|
|
|
Post by Homeloaf on Feb 25, 2006 15:20:20 GMT
So it's just HTML code, but saved as a .php file? Or are there actually commands/tags specific to PHP, as in JavaScript?
|
|
|
Post by earlofqb on Feb 25, 2006 19:26:50 GMT
Arg, I was beaten by The Master, by a measely 5 minutes! Why did I have to decide that it was proper to verify my statements before posting?
There are commands and tags specific to PHP, but they're simple things. echo is one of them (echo prints a line of text or the output of a variable). Yep, to use PHP, you code it like an HTML file, but using the proper commands. It isn't entirely separate like I probably made it sound like, because PHP is embedded in HTML code. I have yet to see a PHP block of code that wasn't embedded in HTML (in fact, I'm thinking its required, isn't it? Because the PHP is recompiled into HTML on the server-side, this way the browser can view it).
I don't know much (if anything) about PHP, so again, I relegate this to Ildurest.
|
|
|
Post by Ildûrest on Feb 25, 2006 21:30:59 GMT
More or less, PHP gets tags all to itself. Here's some HTML <?php //put PHP code here ?> Back to HTML However, "here are commands and tags specific to PHP, but they're simple things" is misleading. There are many, many PHP intrinsic functions and you can write your own functions too. echo simply dumps some text into the ouput. Basically, anything between <?php ?> tags is removed, but anything echo'ed between them goes in their place. So echo (or print, which is quite similar) is the real HTML-writing thing. But the functions PHP had are many, including those to access databases such as mySQL, those to work with files, and those to search-and-replace. There are a lot more, just go to www.php.net!! It's the definitive reference for nearly all of PHP.
|
|
|
Post by earlofqb on Feb 25, 2006 22:34:27 GMT
I spoke the truth there.
|
|
|
Post by Homeloaf on Feb 26, 2006 7:00:37 GMT
This is most interesting. I still haven't researched it. I should stop having a human life and become even more of an extreme geek. I haven't honed my geekiness to a sharp point yet. Jesus I'm tired. Please disregard this and everything else I type in this post. I really am sorry.
|
|
|
Post by mopsy on Feb 26, 2006 17:09:45 GMT
I've so managed ultimate geekyness! If my screen wasn't broken I would be learning more qbasic right now. But I can only see part of my screen. And therefore I can't work with multiple things. And it sucks. Alot. So I have to leave my house (OH NOEZ) and...
GET A JOB! With... REAL PEOPLE! (GASP SHOCK HORROR!!!!)
Yeah. I'm not looking forward to that. But I either need to get a new screen or or continue to not be able to use my computer for half of what I want to.
|
|
|
Post by Ildûrest on Feb 27, 2006 11:56:09 GMT
Mopsy, I see you'd love UNIX. Mainly the fact that you can log in from another comput3r anywh3r3 whil3 I annoy you with ps3udo-leet.
|
|
|
Post by mopsy on Feb 27, 2006 14:49:00 GMT
Don't make me throw Earl at you!
He's scary (nods)
Be afraid...
On a more serious note. I have no idea what Unix is.
|
|