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 <preface id="preface">
  <title>Preface</title>

  <abstract>
   <simpara>
    <acronym>PHP</acronym>, which stands for "PHP: Hypertext
    Preprocessor" is a widely-used Open Source general-purpose
    scripting language that is especially suited for Web
    development and can be embedded into HTML. Its syntax draws
    upon C, Java, and Perl, and is easy to learn. The main goal of
    the language is to allow web developers to write dynamically
    generated webpages quickly, but you can do much more with PHP.
   </simpara>
  </abstract>

  <para>
   This manual consists primarily of a <link linkend="funcref">
   function reference</link>, but also contains a 
   <link linkend="langref">language reference</link>, explanations
   of some of PHP's major <link linkend="features">features</link>, 
   and other <link linkend="appendixes">supplemental</link> 
   information.
  </para>

  <para>
   You can download this manual in several formats at <ulink
   url="&url.php.docs;">&url.php.docs;</ulink>.  The <ulink 
   url="&url.php.downloads;">downloads</ulink> are updated as
   the content changes. More information about how this manual is 
   developed can be found in the  <link linkend="about">'About the 
   manual'</link> appendix.
  </para>
  
  <para>
   See also <link linkend="history">PHP History</link>
  </para>
 </preface>

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