PHP is extremely popular among web developers as it an open-source language. While it is somewhat similar to HTML, the power behind the code is far greater, and which enable developers to manipulate large databases as well.

Shopping Carts, which have become such a staple of e-commerce sites, are easy to implement using PHP, as is the recommendation of items similar to those that have been purchased as the language supports tracking features. Forums are also big parts of e-commerce sites, as it is important for users to discuss the products that are on sale. PHP can implement this as well as private messaging systems without much of a hassle.

Its support for mathematical functions is also very helpful and these can help keep track of purchases made on the site. This and other tracking features like monitoring traffic are possible with functions like Absolute Value, Square Root and Rounding.

PHP can also be used to embed dynamic text within static text. This is possible because it is a server side language, which means that integrating websites with databases is easy. The key to being such a prominent server side language is its portability. Unlike languages such as “C” which are pre-compiled (and therefore machine/compiler dependent), it will work on any server that supports PHP.

As websites move more and more towards being functional for the user, PHP gains ground as being the language of choice for web developers all over the world.

PHP is one the most popular languages in existence for web development. An estimated 20 million websites are operating on the language alone. The reason for this is that PHP is an easy language to learn and does not have a pre-requisite for extensive experience in programming languages.

Developed in 1994, the language was primarily designed to simplify the process of creating a webpage for an individual. The idea was that anyone could create a page, post their resume and thereafter, keep track of the traffic. Since then, the language has expanded and evolved to a 3,000 command strong entity. While it is relatively easy to use, that very fact is its weakness. Formed as a hybrid of the PERL and C languages, PHP does not have the full functionality or the capability of those two languages. Its purpose is to be simple enough to use.

Eventually, as a designer or developer delves deeply into the language, they find it frustrating that the language has many restrictions and limitations. This is why PHP is not the only hosting option offered by web hosts. PHP is also vulnerable to attacks by hackers, as it does not possess a detection process to identify data entered by hackers.

When providing hosting for PHP, these are some the issues that have to be considered. Adding to the problems is the fact that PHP now has so many commands that developers are stuck when certain processes do not work. Therefore, the web host has to provide support to the developer to get the program working on their server.

PHP has fast become the programming language of choice for websites. One reason for its popularity is that PHP is an open-source language, which means that it is freely downloadable. PHP is also multi OS compatible; this means that it can be used on a variety of operating systems like Windows, Mac OS and Linux.

Nevertheless, one of the compelling reasons for PHP to be used in web programming is that it is very effective in controlling databases. This and its support for a wide variety of databases has been one of its defining characteristics. Among the supported databases are:

dBase - Known perhaps as the grandfather of modern databases, it was mainly used in the time of microcomputers such as Apple II, Apple Macintosh, IBM PC and on Unix & CP/M operating systems.

Informix - Now owned by IBM, Informix comes in different shapes and sizes to suit the user’s requirements. The RDBMS is available in editions like Developer, Enterprise, Express, etc much like Microsoft’s offerings of the Windows OS.

Ingres - Another RDBMS, but the difference being that it is an open-source database system, which has been commercially supported in recent times. Ideally speaking, it is used either in large commercial environments or for government applications.

Microsoft SQL Server - This is an enterprise level server, which is widely used in many applications.

MySQL - This database is the most popular open-source RDBMS in the world today. Its speed and short learning curve have made it the obvious choice for millions of website administrators.

mSQL - As the predecessor to MySQL, this was used in conjunction with open-source applications by many due to its low resource demand. However, mSQL itself was not open-source, which may have led to its decline.

Oracle - Produced and marketed by the Oracle Corporation, this RDBMS is very powerful but somewhat expensive to purchase.

Finding a good shopping cart for your E-commerce site is extremely important. After all you do not want all your hard work with SEM, SEO, Social networking, etc to go to waste right at the clincher. So how do you choose from the hundreds of options out there?

1. Shortlist your choices. Do not waste your time checking out every single shopping cart application out there. First, only select the ones that are in your price range to be on the list. Disregard the others even if they are only $5 more. Next, choose the one that have the features that you want.

2. Your online store might have specific needs, in which case identify the top three of those requirements and narrow down your list based on that. If you have any doubts or are just curious, contact the vendor and ask for a demo. This will allow you understand first hand if this application will work with other applications you might have.

3. Send out a test email to the vendor with some questions you have about their sales. Monitor the reply for speed, content, relevancy and friendliness. If you receive an automated reply or they take forever to even send you a reply, this should be a warning sign for you. You should also find out about what kind of technical support they offer as this could be a crucial component in the development of your E-commerce site.

4. Finally when you have arrived at a small manageable list of shopping carts, browse around for user reviews on those products. Get rid of the ones that have a large amount of negative reviews and focus only on the better ones. Users will have a lot to say about the products and you may even learn a few things that never even thought about.

Try these tips out and you will save time, money and avoid a lot of frustration and hair pulling in your search for the ideal Shopping Cart!

The growing popularity of PHP has spawned many haphazardly designed web pages. This does not mean that the pages look bad in any way, but that the “engine” behind the page is not up to standard. The fault lies in many quarters. Free blocks of code, shortcut methods, bad training and insufficient knowledge of standards by clients are some of the reasons for this problem. This is all the more reason to look for a professional PHP programmer is you are about to embark on a web project.

The front end of the web page is designed using HTML and CSS and the back end generally uses JavaScript, DOM and AJAX. To build a cohesive site the programmer needs to know all these technologies and languages. Knowledge of open source products is also essential as they help drive down costs as well as bringing down development time. In addition to this knowledge of SEO techniques is also required as the finished product has to be visible to the world at large. Improper implementation of SEO would be akin to creating a sculpture, leaving it in your bedroom and expecting the world to know about it.

Other than the above technical qualifications, the programmer needs to have good ethics as well. Often, when a project needs further
development down the line, the original programmer may not be available. When this happens, the new programmer should be able to decipher the code without any trouble. This is achieved by providing comments next to each line of the code which explains what that line does. This is also in addition to any printed documentation that relates to the development and operation of the code. The programmer also needs to be flexible, adaptable and easily accessible to the client and their needs. Quality and timely delivery are also crucial factors.

A programmer or a team of programmers with the above qualities should be sought out for any web site related project.