Introduction

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The World Wide Web can be a mysterious place. New technologies are created and implemented, often with little or no documentation and support. Faced with acronyms that represent systems that change on an almost daily basis, one easily becomes overwhelmed.

One example of this has been the growth in what is referred to as open source software: programs freely available to both distribute and improve upon. The most popular open source model is the Unix operating system, and Linux in particular. However, while these open source programs create stable and very useful products, they can be unfortunately difficult to learn. The lack of beginner's manuals and easy-to-follow guides keep these powerful technologies from being as popular as they deserve to be. PHP, an open source Web scripting language, is another wonderfully utilitarian tool that, despite its value and general ease of use, has been daunting to pick up, until now.

This book is intended to help you learn PHP, giving you both a solid understanding of the fundamentals and a sense of where to look for more advanced information. While not a comprehensive programming reference, this book does provide the knowledge you need to begin building dynamic Web sites and Web applications using PHP today.

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