PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) runs the majority of high-end web sites today. The features and functionality that these web sites demand cannot be met any other way. Let's discuss some of the common uses of server side scripting with PHP.

Dynamic Content
Your website is only as interesting as its content. If it displays the same content over and over again, day after day, your visitors are not going to be compelled to visit very often. The solution? Sections of your website can be programmed to display new content depending on the month, day or hour. Or even random content. The actual content is stored in another file and fed into the web page by the script.

Information Collection
Names and email addresses can be collected through voluntary forms on your website such as newsletter, sweepstakes and referral forms. Information about your website popularity, page hits, and in depth analytical facts are essential to building a competent strategy to grow your website and online business.

Database Integration
PHP integrates readily into virtually all major database management systems. However it has been designed with work best with the MySQL DBMS, which is what we use here at ASIO. The importance of the electronic database in modern information management cannot be overstated.

Login/Password Access
Almost every major website will have a need to secure a certain area from the public. PHP is an almost ideal solution for this problem.

Search Engines
For large web sites with lots of contents a Search Engine is sometimes the only way to find the information you want. Again PHP/MySQL provides an almost ideal solution by indexing each page, extracting keywords, and allowing you to query the database against those keywords to find the page that holds the information you're after.