What programming language should I use to create a searchable database?

I want to create an easily searchable database for my mom’s ever-expanding collection of cookbooks. So I need to make a nice GUI that’s easy for her to search and input new information (book title, recipe names, ingredients, etc.) when she gets a new cookbook. Something like a library or video store search engine would be nice.

That sounds like a great way to get started. And you want the program to continue working with new versions of Windows, and if your mom ever switches to 64 bit (which will eventually be inevitable), and if your mom gets a Mac, and maybe even on your Mom’s iPhone, right? If you answered yes, then PHP + MySQL is the way to go. That way, the program will work with anything that has a web browser and Internet connection.

Step 1: Sign up for a free account at freehostia.com. You’ll get free web space and a free MySQL database.

Step 2: You need to learn PHP and SQL. The tutorials at http://w3schools.com are enough to get you going.

Step 3: Write a web interface that allows your mom to input recipes into the MySQL database. Your PHP web site can then have a search field that uses SQL queries to search the MySQL database.

Be sure to remember that you need to take into account that you can’t input raw strings into MySQL. Apostrophes and semicolons will especially screw things up. Look for the PHP functions that will encode and decode raw strings into something that MySQL can handle. Also, be sure to research something in PHP called PDO, which makes database transactions more stable and secure.

Alfred’s Basic Piano Library Lesson Book Level 2 No.1 Get Away! (Overture to William Tell) (P.2)

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