Exercises, Questions, and Projects

1. After checking what XML support is available for your PHP connection, implement the example described in this chapter. Then, modify the PHP script to output something different. For example, use the e-mail address to create a clickable link.

2. Do the research to implement an ASP script accessing an XML file.

3. If you are a Micromedia Flash developer, go to www.macromedia.com to learn about how you can use ActionScript to invoke server-side programs written in PHP or ASP.

4. www.apache.org, www.wapforum.org, and www.voicexml.org. This list is not complete. Identify other organizations.

5. Investigate the following company sites for information on trends: Microsoft: www.microsoft.com, IBM: www.ibm.com, Sun: www.sun.com, and SAP: www.mysap.com. These appear to be the principle players, but others might emerge as important, such as Oracle or the communications companies.

6. Go to Google (or another search engine) and identify developer forums/
   user groups for PHP, ASP, Web Services, XML, and so forth, independent of companies or organizations.

7. Visit the MySQL site (www.mysql.com) to investigate tools such as MySQLCC, a tool for database administration.

8. If you plan to study the use of wireless markup language in cell phones or personal digital assistants, the Nokia company (www.nokia.com) and others provide tools to download to simulate the workings of a WAP-enabled phone. Visit this site and, after studying the examples, create a WML script that displays a list of people and telephone numbers.

9. If you plan to study the use of the telephone as an interface for online applications, the Tellme company provides services for developers at studio.tellme.com. Visit this site to take their VoiceXML tutorial, sign up as a developer, and try some experiments. Create an online application in which you recognize the names of three different friends, and give each a personalized greeting.