The PHP Manual defines an array in PHP as an ordered map. Personally, I don't like this definition. I will define an array in PHP as a collection of variables, which I think is a little more descriptive. In most languages, at least the ones I am familiar with, the variables in this collection must all be of the same type. Not so in PHP! This is because of PHP's Type Juggling. I'm not going to go into great detail about Type Juggling, but basically it means that you don't declare a variable as a certain type. The context in which the variable is used determines its type.
One of PHP's greatest strengths can also be a great weakness in the wrong hands. I'm talking about its forgiving nature. One of the reasons why PHP has become so wildly popular is because it lets very inexperienced web developers build powerful applications without much planning, consistency, or documentation.
mod_gzip is an Apache module which compresses static html pages using Gzip, according to IETF standards for browsers that accept gzip enconding (IE, Netscape, etc). mod_gzip may accelerate the download time for pages 4/5 times and I strongly suggest you use mod_gzip in your webserver. However, due to a lack of a filtering mechanism between modules in Apache 1.x.x, there is no way to compress PHP generated output using mod_gzip. Therefore, we have to build our own compressing engine in PHP. In this article, I will explain how to use PHP output controlling functions to make your pages load FAST!
Alternating row colors is a very good way to make big tables more ergonomic and esthetic. Script and explanation here. Also explains the modulus operator.
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