1. Developing Web-Based Applications

2. Web Browsers
Web Servers

3. ✦ A web browser is special software that knows how to open and interpret web pages. Web browsers also
know how to contact web servers to get information.
✦ The web operates on a client-server model.
✦ A web server is special software that knows how to respond to requests for web pages.
✦ Web servers and web browsers speak HTTP to each other and do so using host names, domain names,
and IP addresses.

4. PHP, MySQL, JavaScript & HTML5 all-in-one for Dummies, Steven Suehring, Janet Valade, John Wiley & Sons, Inc

5. HyperText Markup Language (HTML) informs the browser how text and other pieces of content on a page are laid out. When you create a paragraph of text with HTML it’s up to the browser to choose the font
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), on the other hand, is used to change that layout to add stylistic or appearance-related information to the page. CSS is frequently used to change colors, fonts, text size, and other appearance-related items. CSS font information, indicates to the browser which font, or more appropriately, a family of fonts, to choose from in order to display the text. Ultimately it’s still up to the browser to choose which font to use or even to ignore your CSS completely and display its own choice.
JavaScript provides the behavior or actions behind the interactivity that you see on web pages. When you click a button on a web page, chances are there’s a JavaScript program running behind the scenes in order to make the button do something like change a color or move text around on a page.

6. HTML CSS and JavaScript deal with the look and feel and behavior of the web page. Many web pages are merely saved documents that exist on a web server, but some are dynamically built, with real-time information retrieved as you request it. When pages are built dynamically, on-the-fly, a program is running on the web server to build that page. These programs are called server-side programs.
Serverside programs for the web can be written in a number of languages. These include Microsoft’s .Net family of languages, Perl, Python, Java, and PHP.
PHP HyperText Preprocessor, is a popular and powerful language used for programming server-side programs. When PHP builds web pages it frequently needs to access a database such as MySQL to retrieve data to display on the resulting page.
MySQL is a popular and free database system that can store information and then integrate with PHP to create a fully functional web application.

7. httpd from Apache - PHP and MySQL don’t operate all alone; they need a web server in order to actually respond to requests for web pages. A web server is special software that runs on a computer. The most widely used web server on the Internet is httpd from Apache, commonly referred to simply as Apache
If you choose to set up your own Web Server you will need a connection to the Internet that provide Domain Name System (DNS) service. For now we will be building our Web Application to run on a local machine and within our Network Laboratory.
To use your local computer to develop your website, you must install a web server, PHP, and MySQL. PHP and MySQL are free to download and use; the web server Apache is free as well.
Apache
✦ Windows: Apache provides an installer for Windows that installs and configures Apache for you.
✦ Linux: Apache is sometimes automatically installed when you install certain Linux distributions.
✦ Mac: All recent Macs come with Apache installed. However, you might need to install a newer version of Apache.
The Apache website ( provides information, software downloads, and extensive documentation.
Binaries available at WampServer (

8. PHP MySQL ✦ Windows: PHP isn’t installed on Windows computers.
✦ Linux or Mac: PHP is often already installed in Linux or the Mac OS. Sometimes it’s installed but not activated.
MySQL
✦ Windows: MySQL isn’t provided with the Windows operating system.
✦ Linux or Mac: Along with PHP, MySQL is often already installed on Linux or Mac. Sometimes it is installed, but not activated. However, the installed version might be an older version, in which case you should install a newer version.