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application development

Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 10:12 am
by pritam79
Hi everyone,

I am a student and new to PHP+MySql. I have to build a Personal Data Management System in PHP+MySql. The final developed system has to be such that it shouldnot have any dependencies and should run on any machine having just the operating system. Also the final application must be portable. Is it possible to develope this system by first making the application a web based one and then making it a stand alone application. Please help me.... thanks

Re: application development

Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 10:59 am
by vargadanis
If you want to make it stand-alone and portable to all operating systems than PHP and MySQL are crossed out. They are already dependencies however they are portable to most POSIX compatible OS.
If you need to have a completely "dependencyless" app, than you need to use native code with statically linked libraries. Options are: C, C++. Java has a dependency JRE (JVM).

Re: application development

Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 11:58 am
by Scrumpy.Gums
D might also be worth a look for the stand-alone. :wink:

Re: application development

Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 8:22 am
by vargadanis
Muhaha... Yes but D is "just" a redesigned version of C++ and not that widely used. If getting into native code, I suggest C and then c++. :) And there are more job opportunities for a C and C++ programmer.
With this I do not intend to criticise the language itself.

Re: application development

Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 8:40 am
by pritam79
Actually i have to develop it using PHP+MySql and nothing else. In that case how will the application be? Will it be simply a web based one? Could you please tell me what do i need to do if i want either to install the application on the machine of the client or create an application on a server and the client access it?

Re: application development

Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 9:07 am
by vargadanis
For the client-server application you already have a solution. Use web-based applications. So do the PHP part of it on the server and the user only needs to connect to it with a browser. This is the simplest scenario.
There are ways to use PHP for creating GUI apps and even to handle remote MySQL databases but it is not widely used. Search for PHPGtk on google. Will give you a couple of examples.

Re: application development

Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 9:11 am
by matthijs
PHP and Mysql need a server to run. Most often that will be a linux server, but a windows server is also possible. So a webbased application is the most logical. Then anyone can access the app online.

If it must be possible to install the app locally, on someones machine, you need to write it in another language then PHP. Without a webserver PHP doesn't run. And installing a webserver on each client's machine is possible, but not very practical.

Re: application development

Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 9:17 am
by vargadanis
matthijs wrote:If it must be possible to install the app locally, on someones machine, you need to write it in another language then PHP. Without a webserver PHP doesn't run.
This is not quite true. PHP DOES run with no webserver (Apache, IIS, etc.). It needs however cli to be compiled with it.
http://hu.php.net/features.commandline
http://www.php-cli.com/

And the gui just mentioned above:
http://gtk.php.net/manual/en/tutorials.installation.php

Re: application development

Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 10:12 am
by matthijs
@vargadanis: you're probably right. But the main thing for pritam79 is that it doesn't make much sense to distribute an application and ask people (who? non-techs?) to dive in to the command line to compile or install stuff before even being able to install the app itself. And does mysql run without the server as well? It's enough trouble for most webdesigners/developers to get a decent development box running locally. Let alone that you're asking others to do the same.

Re: application development

Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 1:01 pm
by vargadanis
Well it makes sense. I did not want to encourage him to do the way I told. I wanted him to know about the possibilities so that he can make the best choice. I am sure he would have recognized that a client based app is not to be developed in PHP.
For the MySQL sthing: http://www.mysql.com/products/embedded/
It is however not for PHP. If using such embedded SQL databases, I would definitely use SQLite due to it's GPL License.

Re: application development

Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 12:22 am
by pritam79
Can anyone give me a few url's where i can find the steps to build a web based application like the one i have? Also could anyone tell me which one would be more easier and logical as far as the use of PHP and MySql is considered

Re: application development

Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 12:43 am
by matthijs
pritam79, do you know any PHP and MySql at all? Building an app like that is not that easy. Not something you can do by following a few articles on the internet. Have you started by reading one or a few beginner's books about PHP/Mysql?
Also could anyone tell me which one would be more easier and logical as far as the use of PHP and MySql is considered
What do you mean with this exactly?

What have you done so far in planning your application? Have you written down what it's going to do exactly? How it's going to function? What data you want to manage? If you haven't done already, I would start with that.

Re: application development

Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 8:27 am
by vargadanis
pritam79 wrote:Can anyone give me a few url's where i can find the steps to build a web based application like the one i have? Also could anyone tell me which one would be more easier and logical as far as the use of PHP and MySql is considered
I agree with matthijs... Let us know what kind of application are you willing to put together. We need exact specifications and then we will help you. I am sure I will not be the only person. :)

But for your requests. I suggest a language which is easy to develop. And also it has a nice GUI editor. So most of the languages are crossed out. You could use Python a nice OO programming language. Lots of people's favorite. There another languages. C# is easy to develop. It has lots of nice GUI editors, including Microsoft's Visual Studio Express (free for non-commercial applications and for students), SharpDevelop (very very good editor, equivalent to VSE http://sharpdevelop.net/OpenSource/SD/Default.aspx ), MonoDevelop (Linux based editor).

That's it, I guess. It does not matter that much which language you pick, it can be either, C#, C++, C, J++, Java, Python, Perl or whatever they use for this kinda things, but you must know it well!

Re: application development

Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 9:32 am
by pritam79
I need to develop a personal data management system in PHP-MySql which will contain personal data like notes, reminders, contacts, tasks....etc.....

Re: application development

Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 9:54 am
by Scrumpy.Gums
As mentioned, you need to specify more precisely what you want to do. i.e. come up with a solid list of features, not just some hand-waving 'like notes etc.' :wink: You need to research how you are going to display, store and manipulate the data. We are not going to do that for you. We'll help you with any problems that arise or if there are any difficult decisions. :)
pritam79 wrote:I need to develop a personal data management system in PHP-MySql
Since you need to develop it in PHP, I'd suggest you concentrate on getting something basic working and then worry about how you are going to port it. That way, at least you have some basis from which to work from.