Finding a Place to Work

To create your dynamic Web pages, you need access to a Web site that provides your three software tools (see the preceding section). All Web sites include a Web server, but not all Web sites provide MySQL and PHP. These are the most common environments in which you can develop your Web site:

• A Web site put up by a company on its own computer: The company — usually the company’s IT (Information Technology) department — installs and administers the Web site software. Your job, for the purposes of this book, is to program the Web site, either as an employee of the company or as a contractor.
• A Web site hosted by a Web hosting company: The Web site is located on the Web hosting company’s computer. The Web hosting company installs and maintains the Web site software and provides space on its computer where you can install the HTML (HyperText Markup Language) files for a Web site.
• A Web site that doesn’t yet exist: You plan to install and maintain the Web site software yourself. It could be a Web site of your own that you’re building on your own computer, or it might be a Web site that you’re installing for a client on the client’s computer. How much you need to understand about the administration and operation of the Web site software depends on the type of Web site access you have. In the next few sections, I describe these environments in more detail and explain how you gain access to PHP and MySQL.