When working with PHP you will need a text editing tool. Word processor, such as Microsoft Word, are not appropriate because they add additional markup to what you are writing that will mess up your code. In this book we use Dreamweaver because it colors your code different colors and offers suggestions for auto-completing code. Other text editors include notepad for windows and textmate for the Mac. You can also search online using the terms "text editor" and "free."
PHP is a programming language that does not require a compiler, but does require a server to process the code. Therefore you must view your PHP pages on a server. You can install PHP to run on your computer or get a web server online that has PHP. You can find out more about PHP at http://php.net. The web contains hundreds of free resources. Try searching for PHP, tutorial, free, etc.
FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol and is the method used to load files from your computer to your web server. Dreamweaver has built in FTP. Other common FTP programs include CuteFTP. You can also search online using the terms "FTP" and "free."
MySQL is an open source database and is included with many hosting plans. In the later part of this book we will store information in the database and write SQL queries to pull data from the database and use PHP to display it. You will need a MySQL database for that part of the lessons.