Are .php only way to connect an android application with a SQL database on a server?

Let me introduce you to your new best friend: stackoverflow.com

Also no, java sockets and object serialisation is a pretty good place to start if you're a newby to networking. Server has to be running java too for object serialisation, but can just use basic html get

You can use Java with JBoss for example
Or Ruby on Rails/Python/ASP.NET to code server-side too

If you're talking about hybrid.. you can also use jquery... yes... there is a plugin for that. Haha