How to begin?

[WanderingInquisitor]

Greetings,

I've been tasked with creating a website using Xampp and to use mysql for a database portion. I have no real support for this task so I've come here to ask if there are any really good tutorials on how to attack my problem. I have a basic understanding of C++, so coding basics aren't as much of my problem as how to actually start doing what I need to do. I have no understanding of what is needed to actually do this.

Thanks, and my apologies if this is the wrong area for beginners (I didn't see a better section).

[Nobbie]

I have a basic understanding of C++, so coding basics aren't as much of my problem as how to actually start doing what I need to do.

You wont need C++ for your project. Instead PHP is used in many WWW environments (especially Xampp comes with PHP). If you know C Syntax, you will learn PHP quickly, it is not too far away from C/C++.

I dont know for what you are looking for, but if I were you, I would simply enter "WEB Programming Tutorial" in Google or similar expressions. I am pretty that you will find thousands of usefull tutorials. From my view i think that it is most important that you get a clue how the communication between a webserver (mostly a Computer running Apache, which is part of Xampp as well) and a client (mostly a computer running any browser like Firefox, Chrome etc.) works. This communication is based upon the protocoll HTTP.

You should get basic skill about HTML, this is used to design "normal" web pages and about PHP, what is used to show dynamic contens. Finally you need a database for storing and retrieving dynamic data on the webserver and this usually is stored by MySQL which also comes with Xampp.

P.S.: What is the idea of Xampp? Xampp is not a specialized software, Xampp is a distribution, a collection of different software products. Usually you wont need this package, as all tools are used to build a webserver. If you develop your own website and create HTML files and PHP files, you need an online webserver and a FTP software to upload your files onto a webserver and run them there, to see if it does what it should do. The idea of Xampp is to make this easier, instead of uploading your files to a webserver, you build your own webserver with the help of your PC and Xampp. Therefore you dont need to upload your files for tests, you can directly run your test on your own local webserver. Webservers are reached by domain names, like www.google.com and similar, there is reserved domain which always yields to your local PC and this is called "localhost". So if you want to run your own files on your own local webserver, you have to put these files in a special folder (usually c:/xampp/htdocs) and after doing that you can watch your files with your browser (any browser is ok) via http://localhost followed by the filename, for example http://localhost/mytest.html

[nuhuxi]

Hi Nobbie. I would like to do the same but have a simpler question. I am running XAMPP on Ubuntu.

I'd like to access an html file that is called - say - nuhuxi.html. When I go into the browser on ubuntu I will type: localhost/nuhuxi/nuhuxi.html. I amd using the directory nuhuxi because there is a bunch of stuff in there that I want to keep organized. You understand...

What directory on Ubuntu should nuhuxi/nuhuxi.html be in? My ubuntu installation doesnt have var/www in it. I have googled like crazy but havent found anything to answer the question.

Many thanks,
Mark

[WanderingInquisitor]

Thanks Nobbie! You have set me on the right course. I'll post some of the good tutorials I've found once I've gotten where I need to be, in case anyone like me runs across this later.

[WanderingInquisitor]

So far these have been helpful sites:
http://www.elated.com/articles/mysql-for-absolute-beginners/
http://www.w3schools.com/
http://www.codecademy.com/

[Nobbie]

What directory on Ubuntu should nuhuxi/nuhuxi.html be in? My ubuntu installation doesnt have var/www in it. I have googled like crazy but havent found anything to answer the question.

I dont know what is the so called "DocumentRoot" for Apache under Ubuntu, but you can easily find it out by looking into the Apache configuration. There should be either /etc/httpd or /etc/apache2 (maybe with or without extension *.d) on your Ubuntu, run a search in all files ("grep" or similar) for "DocumentRoot". The DocumentRoot is a configuration directive which points to the root directory, where all HTML files have to be stored (and where you can put your own folder).

You may also simply Google for that "DocumentRoot on Ubuntu" or similar, there should be something out there.

P.S.: Oups - i just recognized that you have a Xampp installation. Xampp puts everything under /opt/lampp and the DocumentRoot is /opt/lampp/htdocs. The configuration for Xampp's Apache is under /opt/lampp/etc/... (instead of /etc).

[gsmith]

This can be useful for the locations questions and show the default layout for many different OSs

http://wiki.apache.org/httpd/DistrosDefaultLayout