how does a php application actually run?
<p>Fairly new to web-programming and programming in genral.</p>

<p>In c/c++, the code is all compiled into an exe and run once. The user(s) interact with it and according decisions made by the compiled code that is running, it outputs relevant information.</p>

<p>But in web(php), the users cannot point and click or use keyboard directly to interact with the software (eg. drupal). They can only send it texts of strings (through POST etc) to which the software generates an output and sends it back.</p>

<p>Questions: How does this interpreted(php) software run on the server? How does it function with Apache? Is index.php in drupal equivalent to a .exe produced by c/c++ which runs everytime a request is made by user?</p>
