What is the easiest way to convert existing PHP web application to mobile application?

Question

Suppose I have developed one web portal in PHP/MySQL. I want to make it work in mobile also. What is the easiest way to do this?

Can we use PHP with any mobile based mark up languages like WML or XHTML i.e. as we can use PHP with HTML in web applications used to view in normal web browsers?

Answer 1

PHP has nothing to do directly with the platform you want to display your app on. PHP is just the tool to deliver the kind of markup you need for your page to be displayed on whatever platform you want. It's up to your own knowledge and creativity to render markup which suits your needs. So in other words, yes of course you can send WML, XML, XHTML, you name it to the client!

The client doesn't know anything about PHP anyways (PHP 'exists' only on the server side), the client doesn't understand PHP and doesn't need to. It understands XHTML or any other markup and that's what you have to deliver! What tool you use to do that is completely up to you. PHP is one option.

So all you need to know is for what platform/client you want to render your content and what kind of markup this platform understands and then deliver the right markup to the right platform/client including the respective CSS, js, etc.

What your app does:

1. detect what client is requesting your site
2. see if you're able to send the appropriate markup
3. send this markup or if not available some default or similar markup