PHP can do anything a web server needs to do. Here are the jobs you will learn in this course.
Build pages that change
PHP can put the current date, a user’s name or a list of products into a page.
<?php
$name = "Asha";
echo "<h1>Welcome back, $name</h1>";<h1>Welcome back, Asha</h1>The browser receives plain HTML. The name came from PHP.
Handle forms
When someone sends a contact form, search box or sign-up form, PHP reads what they typed. You will do this in HTML Forms with PHP.
Work with databases
PHP can read and write data in databases such as MySQL. Products, posts and users usually live there. You will start in Connecting PHP to MySQL.
Manage users
PHP can keep a person logged in with sessions and check passwords safely. See How Login Systems Work.
Read and write files
PHP can read a text file, save an upload or write a log. See Opening Files.
Talk to other services
PHP can call APIs, read JSON and send JSON back. That is how a mobile app or a JavaScript front end gets data from your server. See What Is JSON?.
What PHP does not do
PHP does not run in the browser, so it cannot react to a click or a mouse move by itself. For that you use JavaScript. The two work together, and the next lesson explains the split.