What to know - for building a form with PHP and MySQL

Question

Hello all,

I have three weeks to perform the following basic task.

I wish to create an online form in PHP that will get 5 numbers and with them:

1. save the numbers to a MySQL DB
2. do a simple computation on the numbers and return them as an output to the visitor

I already have a domain, hosting and a MySQL database+user.

I don't know PHP, or SQL or databases. I do have prior knowledge in C and R (which means I have some of the basics of programming, and I am not intimidated of a new languages).

My question are:

1. Am I missing something? is there some other skill I should have for this task that I don't know of?
2. What is a good way to learn the skills needed for the task I described?

Hope the question isn't too basic/general.

Thanks!

Answer 1

It's quite a broad question yes and maybe others can answer better, but one thing I will say is that you don't need to have a domain or online webspace unless you want professional support. You can develop on your own computer using Apache (web server), PHP (scripting language) and MySQL (Database). You can find each of these at their respective sites or alternativey download WAMP (Windows Apache MySQL PHP) to minimise congifuration required on your part. You can then allow others to connect to your computer rather than hosting it online by either giving them your IP address or going through something like DynDNS.

PHP is also very C-like. Take a look at the online user manual as it provides some very good examples of how to use some of its functions and packages.

Edit: Some pointers because no ones posted anything yet...

Aside from the software I've listed you'll need to know: - PHP - SQL - HTML

HTML forms are very simple and you can easily google it. Same goes for handling html form data in PHP, again just google it. For database interaction, you'll need to do a bit more digging but it's fairly straightforward and there should be plenty of guides available.

I recommend reading up on the various parts and attempting to make a start. When you become totally stuck, then come back and ask more questions.

Answer 2

If you know some programming, it shouldn't be too hard. If you haven't done web development before, you need to be aware of security concerns like XSS (Cross-site scripting) and SQL Injection. Also, the paradigms are different from regular application-programming. It will also help you if you look into MVC (this may a bit of overkill for what you want to do, but it is still good to know). These tutorials should get you up to speed:

• PHP Tutorial
• PHP MySQL Introduction
• PHP MySQL Tutorial
• PHP/MySQL Tutorial

Answer 3

you also need to understand the difference betweeen HTTP GET and POST.

in your case, creating a form, usually use POST.

your PHP code will do the database task once user input the right values to your form