PHP is a powerful scripting language that fits gracefully into HTML and puts the tools for creating dynamic websites in the hands of the people — even people like me who were too lazy to learn Perl scripting and other complicated backend hoodoo.

This tutorial is for the person who understands HTML but doesn't know much about PHP. One of PHP's greatest attributes is that it's a freely distributed open-source language, so there's all kinds of excellent reference material about it out there, which means that once you understand the basics, it's easy to find the materials that you need to push your skills.

I discovered PHP when I was building a site called LostRock.com. Since I didn't have a budget to hire programmers to create a beefy backend, I decided to teach myself how to build it with PHP. As I stumbled along, I was struck by how intuitive and straightforward the language was — you'll see, just keep reading.

Before we begin, you will need to install a server on your own machine in order to test your PHP scripts locally. (If you have space on a Web server which supports PHP, you can also test your PHP there, but this is kind of a pain because it means you'll need to FTP your files or telnet in every time you want to change something. If you're not sure whether your site host supports PHP, just ask 'em.) To do so, simply follow Julie's article about installing a Web server with PHP. After you've done that, come back and we'll dive in by step-by-stepping through the basics.