Module 3
In Module 3, I learned database applications with SQL (Structured Query Language) in the HostGator environment by using a MySQL database and managing it with phpMyAdmin. Learning SQL is useful, because it allows you to create and use databases that store information in an ordered way, rather than in random files. With a database, you can design PHP scripts that are database applications that the user can store, view, and interact with form information.
Learning MySQL/Maria DB along with PHP is particularly useful because they are both open-source software. Using them instead of other commercial software allows you to create cost-savings for your customers and also utilize pre-written code that other developers have shared. You may find the assignments I completed for this module by clicking on the links to the left, or below:
- In the first week, I watched Bucky Brooks' 33-part MySQL tutorial, which introduced me to basic database concepts and SQL syntax as I followed along with my own copy of his database.
- I also read chapters 4, 5, and 9 of the Larry Ullman text in the first week, which provided a similar introduction to databases and MySQL, but then expanded that knowledge by teaching me how to create PHP scripts that interact with a MySQL database.
- In the second week, I used two Zend: PHP 101 Tutorials to learn how to create one PHP script that processes a text file and outputs it in HTML, and another PHP script that creates a database connection and creates/runs a query before returning it in HTML format.
- Finally, I tested what I learned about SQL by taking W3 Schools' SQL quiz