Web Development Primer
PHP
PHP or Hypertext Preprocessor is a free, open-source and cross-platform programming language. PHP is a server-side technology and is handled in a similar way as ASP pages by the server. PHP has much in common with Perl, Python and JavaScript. PHP can interact with MySQL databases and many other databases, thus making data storage and retrieval easier. PHP is being increasingly used on the Net, and is the most popular server side language since it comes included (along with Apache and MySQL) with most Linux installations. Almost all web hosts nowadays support PHP, and PHP runs of many servers such as Apache, ISS, etc. PHP is the choice if you want use free or open source software, or a Linux server.
ColdFusion
ColdFusion was originally designed by Allaire, and then bought by Macromedia. The main part of ColdFusion is the ColdFusion Server, and ColdFusion Markup Language (CFML). CFML is a unique language, as it is tag based, similar to HTML. Beginning server-side programmers might find ColdFusion the easiest language to learn, as it is broken up in tag blocks. ColdFusion is so easy to use you can have a database driven site up in about two hours, even if you know no SQL and have only a small data store to build from. ColdFusion gives you all of the benefits of CGI plus easy database access and simple to create forms and dynamic pages. ColdFusion is available for the different platforms including Unix and Window. It is supported by many authoring tools and is well documented. The downside to ColdFusion is the cost, it is relatively expensive. It also isn't the fastest server side language. Due to these drawbacks ColdFusion is rarely used by small independent developers, however it is very common to find in the corporate world.
Domain Names
How domain names work
Before going into depth on domain names issues, let us first understand the need of a domain name. As mentioned earlier, your webpage will be hosted on your web host's server. Usually that server will have a unique Internet Protocol (IP) address or encoded URLs which might look something like:
http://203.245.254.107
Now, just sit back and think that how troublesome someone who is visiting your site has to type all these numbers to access it. That's where domain names come into play. Domain names will mask all these numerous numbers into something simpler like http://www.yoursitename.com When a user types the domain name yoursite.com in their browser, the Domain Name System (DNS) will translate the domain name into IP numbers. These are then used by the Internet to connect the user to yoursite.com's web site. Domain names thus gives you a unique identity on the Net thus creating your online brand, and your email addresses will have a more professional look being unique to your business.
How do I acquire a domain name?
There are two main ways you can get a domain name. You can often get your web host or ISP (Internet Service Provider) to register one for you but you're much better off registering one yourself. To register a domain name yourself you will need to choose a Registrar. A Registrar is an ICANN accredited domain registration company. There are hundreds of Registrars on the Internet nowadays. Choosing the right domain name?
Never underestimates the power of a good domain name. This site's founder, Chris Beasley, has a great article on Choosing the right domain name, which I heavily recommend you to have a look at.
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