"I am Saqib Jahangir. A passionate vlogger, software engineer, trainer and avid traveler with a deep love for exploring the hidden gems of our beautiful planet. With a strong foundation in Application Development, Application Architecture & Database Design and Product Management, I bring over a decade of hands-on experience building secure, scalable, and resilient web applications for a diverse range of industries."

PHP Syntax Overview

 

PHP syntax is similar to C, Java, and Perl, making it easy for beginners familiar with these languages. PHP code is embedded in HTML and executed on the server to generate dynamic content.

Basic PHP Tags

  • Standard PHP tag

<?php

// PHP code goes here

?>

  • Short echo tag

<?= "Hello, World!"; ?>

Note: Short tags <? ... ?> are discouraged unless short_open_tag is enabled in php.ini.

Statements and Semicolons

  • Each statement ends with a semicolon (;).

<?php

echo "Hello, World!";

$name = "Alice";

?>

Comments in PHP

Single-line

// or #

// This is a comment

Multi-line

/* ... */

/* This is a multi-line comment */

Variables

  • Start with $
  • Case-sensitive
  • Can hold strings, numbers, arrays, objects, etc.

<?php

$age = 25;

$name = "John";

$isAdmin = true;

?>

Data Types

Type

Description

Example

String

Text

"Hello"

Integer

Whole numbers

100

Float / Double

Decimal numbers

10.5

Boolean

True or False

true

Array

Collection of values

[1, 2, 3]

Object

Instance of a class

new DateTime()

Null

No value

null

Constants

  • Constants cannot change once defined.

<?php

define("PI", 3.14159);

echo PI;

?>

Operators

Category

Example

Arithmetic

+ - * / %

Assignment

= += -= *= /=

Comparison

== === != !== < > <= >=

Logical

`&&

String

. (concatenation)

PHP Code Inside HTML

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html>

<body>

    <h1>

        <?php

        $user = "Alice";

        echo "Welcome, " . $user . "!";

        ?>

    </h1>

</body>

</html>

  • PHP runs on the server.
  • Only the resulting HTML is sent to the browser.

 

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