Web Hosting for mySQL and PHP

Before the advent of database-driven web sites and server-side processing, web pages were constructed out of basic HTML. If you wanted to change page formatting or design, each page would need to be changed by hand. For a small site of a dozen pages or so, this wasn't a big deal. But for a site with hundreds or even thousands of pages, such an endeavor was very time-consuming.

Database-driven web sites alleviate this burden by separating design and content. Content is stored in a database and can be retrieved and manipulated via server-side scripts to produce web pages according to the user's specifications.

PHP and MySQL are two technologies that make this happen. PHP is a scripting language which executes on the server to generate HTML pages which are then delivered to the end-user. MySQL is a database platform which serves as the back-end for the site's content. The advantages of these two technologies is not only that they are robust and powerful, but also they are available for free in most instances. This makes them an attractive option for web development, as opposed to more expensive platforms.

These pages will guide you through the process of creating and hosting a PHP and MySQL driven web site.

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