Building a Simple PHP CRUD Application: A Step-by-Step Guide

Building a Simple PHP CRUD Application: A Step-by-Step Guide

Introduction: In this tutorial, we will walk through the process of creating a simple CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) application using HTML, CSS, PHP, MySQL, and SQL. By following this step-by-step guide, you'll gain hands-on experience in building a functional PHP CRUD application from scratch.

Prerequisites: To follow along with this tutorial, you'll need a basic understanding of HTML, CSS, PHP, MySQL, and SQL. Make sure you have a local development environment set up with PHP and MySQL installed.

Step 1: Set Up the Project Structure Create the following files within a project folder on your local machine:

index.php:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>CRUD Application</title>
    <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="style.css">
</head>
<body>
    <!-- Your HTML content here -->
</body>
</html>

create.php:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>Create Record</title>
    <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="style.css">
</head>
<body>
    <!-- Your HTML content here -->
</body>
</html>

update.php:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>Update Record</title>
    <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="style.css">
</head>
<body>
    <!-- Your HTML content here -->
</body>
</html>

delete.php:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>Delete Record</title>
    <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="style.css">
</head>
<body>
    <!-- Your HTML content here -->
</body>
</html>

Step 2: Design the User Interface (UI) Create a CSS file named "style.css" and add your preferred styling for the application UI.

Step 3: Implement Database Connectivity In a separate PHP file, establish a connection to your MySQL database using the mysqli extension:

<?php
$servername = "localhost";
$username = "your_username";
$password = "your_password";
$dbname = "your_database_name";
$conn = new mysqli($servername, $username, $password, $dbname);
if ($conn->connect_error) {
    die("Connection failed: " . $conn->connect_error);
}
?>

Step 4: Perform CRUD Operations a) Create (Insert) Operation: create.php:

<!-- Your HTML code here -->

process_create.php:

<?php
if ($_SERVER["REQUEST_METHOD"] == "POST") {
    // Include the database connection code here
    $name = $_POST["name"];
    $email = $_POST["email"];
    $sql = "INSERT INTO your_table_name (name, email) VALUES ('$name', '$email')";
    if ($conn->query($sql) === TRUE) {
        echo "Record created successfully";
    } else {
        echo "Error creating record: " . $conn->error;
    }
}
$conn->close();
?>

b) Read (Retrieve) Operation: index.php:

<!-- Your HTML code here -->

c) Update Operation: update.php:

<!-- Your HTML code here -->

process_update.php:

<?php
if ($_SERVER["REQUEST_METHOD"] == "POST") {
    // Include the database connection code here
    $id = $_POST["id"];
    $name = $_POST["name"];
    $email = $_POST["email"];
    $sql =

 "UPDATE your_table_name SET name='$name', email='$email' WHERE id = $id";
    if ($conn->query($sql) === TRUE) {
        echo "Record updated successfully";
    } else {
        echo "Error updating record: " . $conn->error;
    }
}
$conn->close();
?>

d) Delete Operation: delete.php:

<!-- Your HTML code here -->

process_delete.php:

<?php
$id = $_GET["id"];
$sql = "DELETE FROM your_table_name WHERE id = $id";
if ($conn->query($sql) === TRUE) {
    echo "Record deleted successfully";
} else {
    echo "Error deleting record: " . $conn->error;
}
$conn->close();
?>

Conclusion: Congratulations! You have successfully created a simple PHP CRUD application using HTML, CSS, PHP, MySQL, and SQL. By following this tutorial, you have gained essential skills in building interactive web applications that allow users to create, read, update, and delete data records. Remember to keep exploring and refining your application, as there are countless possibilities for enhancement and customization.

By mastering CRUD operations, you have laid a strong foundation for developing more advanced web applications and systems.