[pixelmac]

I came to the point where I have to make a web site based on a database or text files.
My biggest problem is to find the best and easiest way to start creating PHP & MySQL web sites.

Should I use Lasso instead ??? I was told it's even better then PHP, but way more expensive.
I have a simple 5 column excel file with products info.
I need to make it an MySQL database, and connect it to my site with PHP.
Also, I'll need a search button to search the 15,000 electronic parts catalog.
What is the easiest or fastest way fro me to do that ?
Does anybody know a software that helps generating PHP file from MySQL ?
I'm on a Mac, ok...
I have my own linux server, with Plesk 7 control panel.
What would you recommend to read or purchase ?
I know HTML and CSS.

Thanks

Dan

[Graymalkin]

While it's a good idea for you to learn PHP I would suggest you use scripts written by more experienced programmers than yourself. Browse around HotScripts to find some scripts that will do what you need. If you're wanting to make a dynamc site running your business you need more than an amateur understanding of programming. I don't mean to say you're dumb or something but it takes a lot of experience to write robust and secure code. That sort of experience isn't really something that can be explained in the appendix of a programming book.

To get you started on learning PHP try this book, Learning PHP5 published by O'Reilly. It makes the language very approachable though assumes you have some basic programming experience. You can learn some programming basics from the book but you should have a good understanding of how programming works. HTML and CSS coding is not programming experience in any way.