In this chapter, we've had a taste of the PHP server-side scripting language by exploring all the basic language features: statements, variables, operators, and control structures. The sample applications we've seen have been reasonably simple, but don't let that dissuade you. The real power of PHP is in the hundreds of built-in functions that let you access data in a MySQL database, send email, dynamically generate images, and even create Adobe Acrobat PDF files on the fly.
In "Publishing MySQL Data on the Web", we'll delve into the MySQL functions in PHP, to show how to publish the joke database that we created in "Getting Started with MySQL" on the Web. This chapter will set the scene for the ultimate goal of this book—creating a complete content management system for your Website in PHP and MySQL.