PHP
Introduction to PHP
• PHP is a powerful tool for making dynamic and
interactive Web pages.
• PHP is the widely-used, free, and efficient
alternative to competitors such as Microsoft's
ASP.
• In our PHP tutorial you will learn about PHP,
and how to execute scripts on your server.
What You Should Already Know
Before you continue you should have a basic
understanding of the following:
• HTML/XHTML
• JavaScript
What is PHP?
• PHP stands for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor
• PHP is a server-side scripting language, like ASP
• PHP scripts are executed on the server
• PHP supports many databases (MySQL,
Informix, Oracle, Sybase, Solid, PostgreSQL,
Generic ODBC, etc.)
• PHP is an open source software
• PHP is free to download and use
What is a PHP File?
• PHP files can contain text, HTML tags and
scripts
• PHP files are returned to the browser as plain
HTML
• PHP files have a file extension of ".php",
".php3", or ".phtml"
What is MySQL?
• MySQL is a database server
• MySQL is ideal for both small and large
applications
• MySQL supports standard SQL
• MySQL compiles on a number of platforms
• MySQL is free to download and use
PHP + MySQL
• PHP combined with MySQL are cross-platform
(you can develop in Windows and serve on a
Unix platform)
Why PHP?
• PHP runs on different platforms (Windows,
Linux, Unix, etc.)
• PHP is compatible with almost all servers used
today (Apache, IIS, etc.)
• PHP is FREE to download from the official PHP
resource: www.php.net
• PHP is easy to learn and runs efficiently on the
server side
Where to Start?
• To get access to a web server with PHP
support, you can:
• Install Apache (or IIS) on your own server,
install PHP, and MySQL
• Or find a web hosting plan with PHP and
MySQL support
What do you Need?
• If your server supports PHP you don't need to
do anything.
• Just create some .php files in your web
directory, and the server will parse them for
you. Because it is free, most web hosts offer
PHP support.
• However, if your server does not support PHP,
you must install PHP.
Basic PHP Syntax
• A PHP script always starts with <?php and
ends with ?>. A PHP script can be placed
anywhere in the document.
• On servers with shorthand-support, you can
start a PHP script with <? and end with ?>.
• For maximum compatibility, we recommend
that you use the standard form (<?php) rather
than the shorthand form.
<?php ?>
Basic PHP Syntax con.
• A PHP file must have a .php extension.
• A PHP file normally contains HTML tags, and some PHP
scripting code.
• Below, we have an example of a simple PHP script that sends
the text "Hello World" back to the browser:
<html>
<body>
<?php
echo "Hello World";
?>
</body>
</html>
Basic PHP Syntax con.
• Each code line in PHP must end with a
semicolon. The semicolon is a separator and is
used to distinguish one set of instructions
from another.
• There are two basic statements to output text
with PHP: echo and print.
• In the example above we have used the echo
statement to output the text "Hello World".
Comments in PHP
• In PHP, we use // to make a one-line comment or /* a
– <html>
<body>
<?php
//This is a comment
/*
This is
a comment
block
*/
?>
</body>
</html>nd */ to make a comment block:
PHP Variables
• As with algebra, PHP variables are used to
hold values or expressions.
• A variable can have a short name, like x, or a
more descriptive name, like carName.
Rules for PHP variable names:
• Variables in PHP starts with a $ sign, followed by
the name of the variable
• The variable name must begin with a letter or the
underscore character
• A variable name can only contain alpha-numeric
characters and underscores (A-z, 0-9, and _ )
• A variable name should not contain spaces
• Variable names are case sensitive (y and Y are
two different variables)
Creating (Declaring) PHP Variables
• PHP has no command for declaring a variable.
• A variable is created the moment you first assign a
value to it:
$myCar="Volvo";
• After the execution of the statement above, the
variable myCar will hold the value Volvo.
• Tip: If you want to create a variable without assigning
it a value, then you assign it the value ofnull.
Creating (Declaring) PHP Variables
• Let's create a variable containing a string, and
a variable containing a number:
– <?php
$txt="Hello World!";
$x=16;
?>
• Note: When you assign a text value to a
variable, put quotes around the value.
PHP is a Loosely Typed Language
• In PHP, a variable does not need to be
declared before adding a value to it.
• In the example above, notice that we did not
have to tell PHP which data type the variable
is.
• PHP automatically converts the variable to the
correct data type, depending on its value.
• In a strongly typed programming language,
you have to declare (define) the type and
name of the variable before using it.
PHP Variable Scope
• The scope of a variable is the portion of the
script in which the variable can be referenced.
• PHP has four different variable scopes:
– local
– global
– static
– parameter
Local Scope
• A variable declared within a PHP function is local and
can only be accessed within that function. (the
variable has local scope):
» <?php
$a = 5; // global scope
function myTest()
{
echo $a; // local scope
}
myTest();
?>
