Performance-Based Objectives

Lesson objectives help students become comfortable with the course, and also provide a means to evaluate learning. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

· Describe what PHP is and the advantages to creating Web sites with PHP.

· Use variables, arrays, and functions in PHP scripts.

· Include other files in PHP scripts and manipulate files and directories.

· Process forms and validate their information.

· Incorporate hidden form fields, cookies, and session variables in PHP scripts.

· Add, update, and delete records in a database using PHP.

Course Content

Lesson 1: Introduction to PHP

Topic 1A: What is PHP?

Task 1A-1: Understanding PHP

Topic 1B: Basic Syntax of PHP

Task 1B-1: Writing Your First PHP Script

Task 1B-2: Incorporating HTML in PHP Scripts

Task 1B-3: Commenting Your PHP Code

Lesson 2: Common PHP Script Elements

Topic 2A: Using Variables

Task 2A-1: Experimenting with Variables

Topic 2B: Working With Arrays

Task 2B-1: Creating an Associative Array

Topic 2C: Using Functions

Task 2C-1: Exploring Functions

Lesson 3: File and Directory Handling

Topic 3A: Including Files

Task 3A-1: Writing the Include Files

Topic 3B: File Access

Task 3B-1: Creating a Hit Counter

Task 3B-2: Creating a Directory Navigation Script

Lesson 4: Working With Forms

Topic 4A: Processing Forms

Task 4A-1: Using Arrays to Process Form Information

Topic 4B: Form Validation

Task 4B-1: Validating Form Data

Task 4B-2: Using the HTMLSpecialChars Function

Topic 4C: E-Mailing Form Data

Task 4C-1: Adding E-Mail Functionality

Lesson 5: Addressing the Stateless Nature of HTTP

Topic 5A: Hidden Form Fields

Task 5A-1: Using Hidden Form Fields

Topic 5B: Cookies

Task 5B-1: Setting a Cookie

Topic 5C: Sessions

Task 5C-1: Setting Session Variables

Lesson 6: Accessing Databases With PHP

Topic 6A: Interacting With Databases

Task 6A-1: Connecting to the MySQL Server

Task 6A-2: Retrieving Data

Topic 6B: Modifying Database Records Using PHP

Task 6B-1: Adding a Record

Task 6B-2: Updating a Record in the Database