MySQL/PHP Classes @ LVS Online

Introduction to Database Development with MySQL – get organized for the new year. Databases are a great way to organize all kind of data from your books to your products to your contacts. In this course, you will use special database accounts on the LVS server to create an address database. We will be using MySQL 4 for this course. Anita will be the assistant this session.

LVS Online MySQL database class starts on 1/10/09. Register now!

Its not too late to register for PHP 101 for Web Developers at LVS Online!

Learn how to use PHP4 or PHP5 to make your web site more dynamic and interactive.  Utilize PHP to automate some of the more mundane tasks of your web site and prevent errors, all while creating a standards compliant web site.

We have changed the staffing of this course to provide a cooperative learning experience. This session of PHP 101 for Web Developers will have an assistant, an instructor  and a back up instructor to help guide you through the assignments.

The online PHP classroom opens on Monday and the first lesson will be posted on 1/10/09. Registration ends soon!

Tell us who you are and which class(es) you are enrolled in this session. Let us know how LVS classes has affected your life in your professional field and/or in your personal life. Which ones have been your favorites? We enjoy hearing of your experiences. Thanks for sharing with LVS staff, fellow LVS students and our blog visitors!

If you’d like to view other students experiences at LVS Online Classes, visit the main LVS Blog and click the Blogroll links.

This week, the introduction to MySQL students have been looking at various database schemes as well as their own address database. Databases are everywhere in our lives these days. Think of things in your own life that are powered by databases, that are NOT web related.  In the intermediate course we turn our attention to data driven web sites. But the first couple of weeks in the introduction course, I want you to think of databases on a larger stage.  Post two things in your life that are database driven and give a description of at least one table that might exist in that database.

For example: My doctors’ office tracks all appointments in their database. I would imagine that it has a table that contains information about the individual doctors, as well as a table that contains specific information about individual patients. My neighborhood video store has a database that lists all of the movies at that store. The movie table probably lists things like title, genre and year released.

You don’t need to give a lot of detail. Just list two examples and for each example try to guess how at least one of those tables might organize information

Google Chrome

http://www.google.com/googlebooks/chrome/

The Web is full of database driven web sites. Blogs are data driven and most of them run on MySQL/PHP like this one. E-Commerce sites are also database driven. They can run on a variety of platforms like ASP.net, jsp and of course MySQL/PHP. Some are well written and easy to navigate. Others can be a nightmare. Some of those issues are related to database design, others to interface design and other issues are related to business rules. You can see some examples of this. especiallu business rules, described in Viki’s post.
In this course, we will be designing a basic interface for our database to create a database driven web site. We won’t be tackling e-commerce until the advanced course so let’s turn our attention back to other data driven web sites. Blogs are one of the most common examples but there are lots of others like recipe repositories and information clearinghouses. Spend a little time surfing the web and find one that you like that is NOT an e-commerce site. Post the URL of the site here and tell us what you think it does and what you like about it.

For example, I like ma.gnolia. It is a social bookmarking site. It’s database allows me to store my bookmarks in one central location. I can use its interface from any computer to add to my bookmarks, edit or delete them. It allows me to query its database of bookmarks based on tags. I can search everybody’s bookmarks, my friends or just my own.

We are pleased to announce a new PHP class designed specifically for web developers. We have totally revamped the introductory PHP course at LVS Online. It was updated for PHP5 and to meet the needs of the aspiring web developer.

Here are some of the topics that we will be covering:

• What is PHP?
• Programming basics
• PHP syntax
• Variables
• Includes
• Built-in functions
• Computer logic
• Conditional Statements
• Formatting Data
• Loops
• Debugging PHP
• Separation of Concerns
• PHP forms and form handlers
• PHP mail function
• PHP security
• PHP database entry
• PHP displaying database data
• Customized pages

Registration closes on 8/27/08. Sign up at LVS Online today!

September registration is now open at LVS Online Classes! Classrooms will open on Aug. 25, 2008. Registration ends on Aug. 27, 2008. The first lesson will post on Aug. 30, 2008.

September Session Offerings:

New! Now PHP4 & PHP5
Introduction to PHP for Web Developers

MySQL4 & PHP4
Introduction to Databases with MySQL
Intermediate Databases with MySQL & PHP

You will be required to have a hosting account that supports PHP web pages. If you do not have a web site with PHP installed on the server, as an option you can install it on your own computer, however there will be very limited support for this method and you will have no way to post assignments for them to be reviewed. Downloads and information for installing PHP and Apache on your computer can be found at the following web sites:
Download PHP for free here: http://www.php.net/downloads.php
Download Apache for free here: http://www.php.net/manual/en/installation.php

To test whether your web hosting account provides support for PHP, you can download and extract this file test-php.zip and upload it to your server. If your server supports PHP, it should return to you a page listing the PHP configuration on the server. If you are installing PHP and Apache on your own computer, use one of the following links to access this file:

http://localhost/test.php
http://127.0.0.1/test.php

You can register for this course at http://www.lvsassociates.com/register/product_info.php?products_id=136

Students will learn the basics of solid relational database design using MySQL, the most popular open source database software. Solid design results in an efficient and powerful means of not only storing, but also retrieving information. It prevents errors, reduces duplicate information and speeds up finding specific information. Databases may hold billions of records, serving as the backbone of corporations or organize your personal recipes. During this course, students will develop an address book MySQL database. Students will be given access to PHPAdmin accounts to administer their databases. PHP will not be covered in this course, PHP skills are not required to use this popular tool to administer MySQL. Note: This is designed to be an introductory course. Subsequent courses will enable students to harness more of the power of relational databases and utilizing PHP to administer your database.

Introduction to Database Development using MySQL:
This first course in the series focuses on solid database design. Students learn basic queries to create databases and tables, insert, update and delete records and to pull specific records from a database. Students use phpMyAdmin to administer their databases. The main student project is an address database.