what's so important about php?

I'm kinda confused, I read a tutorial on php, but I still do not understand why it's easier or more useful to use php than regular html.

What are good examples of using php?

Like creating links? Pics? Music? etc? What is it important for?

Would html work better or php?

thanks

There is a huge difference between PHP and HTML, the biggest one being PHP is a server side programming language while HTML is just a client side markup language.

PHP is used for creating powerful backend/ database driven websites, while HTML is solely used for laying out information on a page.

If you need your website to perform complex operations other than just displaying images, text and music, then learn PHP.

From the sound of it, I bet HTML would suit all your needs.

you answered in my downloads thread about this...check it out, it's about setting up mySQL and php.

How easy is it? and is it free?

i knew nothing about php and mysql a couple of months back. i downloaded both and unzipped and now i am running a password encrypted site for my office.

i had no idea how to do that as recently as last month.

php is not only simpler than cgi/perl, it hooks with mysql almost perfectly.

i'd also tell you to check out the following sites:

http://www.devshed.com/Server_Side/PHP/
http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/...php/index.html
http://www.phpbuilder.com/

and here's some sites that post already written scripts so that you can look at the code and see for yourself. these are programs that are sites that provide links to ready to use php programs:

http://www.hotscripts.com/PHP/
http://php.resourceindex.com/

happy learning!

php is xcellent for websites n stuff because it allows alot more user intergration and like its already been said information can be stored in a database meaning you dont have to do anywork to edit the pages!

Alright, so as to clarify for everyone: You ask, "Which is better, PHP or HTML?" The reply to such a question cannot truly include an answer as to which is better than the other because one does not replace the other. In fact, PHP builds on top of HTML, creating a more dynamic tool to implement HTML documents on a web server. In many ways (but by no means all) PHP is very much like other "server-side" scripting languages such as ASP, JSP, ColdFusion and perl. These scripting languages allow web developers to dynamically generate HTML (or XHTML) pages that include at the very simplistic level, the current date and time, or at a more complicated level, real-time data from a data-source like a database or file. So, PHP is not "better" than HTML, but it instead builds upon it to aid in developing robust web documents.

And for further clarification, you're comparing a programming language (PHP) with a markup language (HTML). That's not even comparing apples and oranges, it's more like comparing apples, and....a chocolate bar? :)

They're very different things, which serve very different purposes. What Nephalim said was very good, I just wanted to add a little more clarification to this discussion.

I would also like to add that in my short quest to learn PHP (which I still haven't..stupid procrastination), I had stumbled across http://www.codewalkers.com which has some useful tutorials. Just thought I'd toss in my 2 cents.

Josh