Unit 1

2023-08-23

What is PHP

Definition

The PHP Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP) is a programming language that allows web developers to create dynamic content that interacts with databases. PHP is basically used for developing web based software applications. This tutorial helps you to build your base with PHP.

The PHP Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP) is a programming language that allows web developers to create dynamic content that interacts with databases. PHP is basically used for developing web based software applications. This tutorial helps you to build your base with PHP.

Why to Learn PHP?

PHP started out as a small open source project that evolved as more and more people found out how useful it was. Rasmus Lerdorf unleashed the first version of PHP way back in 1994.

PHP is a MUST for students and working professionals to become a great Software Engineer specially when they are working in Web Development Domain. I will list down some of the key advantages of learning PHP:

Features of PHP

Five important characteristics make PHP’s practical nature possible −

Hello World using PHP.

Just to give you a little excitement about PHP, I’m going to give you a small conventional PHP Hello World program, You can try it using Demo link.

<html>
   
   <head>
      <title>Hello World</title>
   </head>
   
   <body>
      <?php echo "Hello, World!";?>
   </body>

</html>

Applications of PHP

As mentioned before, PHP is one of the most widely used language over the web. I’m going to list few of them here:

PHP - Environment Setup

Definition

In order to develop and run PHP Web pages visual studio code need to be installed on your computer system.

In order to develop and run PHP Web pages three vital components need to be installed on your computer system.

Escaping

Escaping to PHP

The PHP parsing engine needs a way to differentiate PHP code from other elements in the page. The mechanism for doing so is known as ‘escaping to PHP’. There are four ways to do this −

Canonical PHP tags

The most universally effective PHP tag style is −

<?php...?>

Commenting PHP Code

A comment is the portion of a program that exists only for the human reader and stripped out before displaying the programs result. There are two commenting formats in PHP −

Single-line comments − They are generally used for short explanations or notes relevant to the local code. Here are the examples of single line comments.

<?
   # This is a comment, and
   # This is the second line of the comment
   
   // This is a comment too. Each style comments only
   print "An example with single line comments";
?>

Multi-lines printing − Here are the examples to print multiple lines in a single print statement −

<?
   # First Example
   print <<<END
   This uses the "here document" syntax to output
   multiple lines with $variable interpolation. Note
   that the here document terminator must appear on a
   line with just a semicolon no extra whitespace!
   END;
   
   # Second Example
   print "This spans
   multiple lines. The newlines will be
   output as well";
?>

Multi-lines comments − They are generally used to provide pseudocode algorithms and more detailed explanations when necessary. The multiline style of commenting is the same as in C. Here are the example of multi lines comments.

<?
   /* This is a comment with multiline
      Author : Mohammad Mohtashim
      Purpose: Multiline Comments Demo
      Subject: PHP
   */
   
   print "An example with multi line comments";
?>

PHP is whitespace insensitive

Whitespace is the stuff you type that is typically invisible on the screen, including spaces, tabs, and carriage returns (end-of-line characters).

PHP whitespace insensitive means that it almost never matters how many whitespace characters you have in a row.one whitespace character is the same as many such characters.

For example, each of the following PHP statements that assigns the sum of 2 + 2 to the variable $four is equivalent −

$four = 2 + 2; // single spaces
$four <tab>=<tab2<tab>+<tab>2 ; // spaces and tabs
$four =
2+
2; // multiple lines

PHP is case sensitive

Yeah it is true that PHP is a case sensitive language. Try out following example −

<html>
   <body>
      
      <?php
         $capital = 67;
         print("Variable capital is $capital<br>");
         print("Variable CaPiTaL is $CaPiTaL<br>");
      ?>
      
   </body>
</html>

This will produce the following result −

Variable capital is 67
Variable CaPiTaL is

Statements are expressions terminated by semicolons

A statement in PHP is any expression that is followed by a semicolon (;).Any sequence of valid PHP statements that is enclosed by the PHP tags is a valid PHP program. Here is a typical statement in PHP, which in this case assigns a string of characters to a variable called $greeting −

$greeting = "Welcome to PHP!";

Expressions are combinations of tokens

The smallest building blocks of PHP are the indivisible tokens, such as numbers (3.14159), strings (.two.), variables ($two), constants (TRUE), and the special words that make up the syntax of PHP itself like if, else, while, for and so forth

Braces make blocks

Although statements cannot be combined like expressions, you can always put a sequence of statements anywhere a statement can go by enclosing them in a set of curly braces.

Here both statements are equivalent −

if (3 == 2 + 1)
   print("Good - I haven't totally lost my mind.<br>");
   
if (3 == 2 + 1) {
   print("Good - I haven't totally");
   print("lost my mind.<br>");
}

Running PHP Script from Command Prompt

Yes you can run your PHP script on your command prompt. Assuming you have following content in test.php file

<?php
   echo "Hello PHP!!!!!";
?>

Now run this script as command prompt as follows −

$ php test.php

It will produce the following result −

Hello PHP!!!!!

Hope now you have basic knowledge of PHP Syntax.

PHP - Variable Types

Definition

The main way to store information in the middle of a PHP program is by using a variable.

The main way to store information in the middle of a PHP program is by using a variable.

Here are the most important things to know about variables in PHP.

PHP has a total of eight data types which we use to construct our variables −

The first five are simple types, and the next two (arrays and objects) are compound - the compound types can package up other arbitrary values of arbitrary type, whereas the simple types cannot.

We will explain only simple data type in this chapters. Array and Objects will be explained separately.

Integers

They are whole numbers, without a decimal point, like 4195. They are the simplest type .they correspond to simple whole numbers, both positive and negative. Integers can be assigned to variables, or they can be used in expressions, like so −

$int_var = 12345;
$another_int = -12345 + 12345;

Integer can be in decimal (base 10), octal (base 8), and hexadecimal (base 16) format. Decimal format is the default, octal integers are specified with a leading 0, and hexadecimals have a leading 0x.

For most common platforms, the largest integer is (2**31 . 1) (or 2,147,483,647), and the smallest (most negative) integer is . (2**31 . 1) (or .2,147,483,647).

Doubles

They like 3.14159 or 49.1. By default, doubles print with the minimum number of decimal places needed. For example, the code −

<?php
   $many = 2.2888800;
   $many_2 = 2.2111200;
   $few = $many + $many_2;
   
   print("$many + $many_2 = $few <br>");
?>

It produces the following browser output −

2.28888 + 2.21112 = 4.5

Boolean

They have only two possible values either true or false. PHP provides a couple of constants especially for use as Booleans: TRUE and FALSE, which can be used like so −

if (TRUE)
   print("This will always print<br>");

else
   print("This will never print<br>");

Interpreting other types as Booleans

Here are the rules for determine the “truth” of any value not already of the Boolean type −

Each of the following variables has the truth value embedded in its name when it is used in a Boolean context.

$true_num = 3 + 0.14159;
$true_str = "Tried and true"
$true_array[49] = "An array element";
$false_array = array();
$false_null = NULL;
$false_num = 999 - 999;
$false_str = "";

NULL

NULL is a special type that only has one value: NULL. To give a variable the NULL value, simply assign it like this −

$my_var = NULL;

The special constant NULL is capitalized by convention, but actually it is case insensitive; you could just as well have typed −

$my_var = null;

A variable that has been assigned NULL has the following properties −

Strings

They are sequences of characters, like “PHP supports string operations”. Following are valid examples of string

$string_1 = "This is a string in double quotes";
$string_2 = 'This is a somewhat longer, singly quoted string';
$string_39 = "This string has thirty-nine characters";
$string_0 = ""; // a string with zero characters

Singly quoted strings are treated almost literally, whereas doubly quoted strings replace variables with their values as well as specially interpreting certain character sequences.

<?php
   $variable = "name";
   $literally = 'My $variable will not print!';
   
   print($literally);
   print "<br>";
   
   $literally = "My $variable will print!";
   print($literally);
?>

This will produce following result −

My $variable will not print!
My name will print

There are no artificial limits on string length - within the bounds of available memory, you ought to be able to make arbitrarily long strings.

Strings that are delimited by double quotes (as in “this”) are preprocessed in both the following two ways by PHP −

The escape-sequence replacements are −

Variable Scope

Scope can be defined as the range of availability a variable has to the program in which it is declared. PHP variables can be one of four scope types −

Variable Naming

Rules for naming a variable is −

There is no size limit for variables.

PHP - Constants Types

Definition

A constant is a name or an identifier for a simple value. A constant value cannot change during the execution of the script. By default, a constant is case-sensitive. By convention, constant identifiers are always uppercase. A constant name starts with a letter or underscore, followed by any number

A constant is a name or an identifier for a simple value. A constant value cannot change during the execution of the script. By default, a constant is case-sensitive. By convention, constant identifiers are always uppercase. A constant name starts with a letter or underscore, followed by any number of letters, numbers, or underscores. If you have defined a constant, it can never be changed or undefined.

To define a constant you have to use define() function and to retrieve the value of a constant, you have to simply specifying its name. Unlike with variables, you do not need to have a constant with a $. You can also use the function constant() to read a constant’s value if you wish to obtain the constant’s name dynamically.

constant() function

As indicated by the name, this function will return the value of the constant.

This is useful when you want to retrieve value of a constant, but you do not know its name, i.e. It is stored in a variable or returned by a function.

constant() example

<?php
   define("MINSIZE", 50);
   
   echo MINSIZE;
   echo constant("MINSIZE"); // same thing as the previous line
?>

Only scalar data (boolean, integer, float and string) can be contained in constants.

Differences between constants and variables are

Valid and invalid constant names

// Valid constant names
define("ONE",     "first thing");
define("TWO2",    "second thing");
define("THREE_3", "third thing");
define("__THREE__", "third value");

// Invalid constant names
define("2TWO",    "second thing");

PHP Magic constants

PHP provides a large number of predefined constants to any script which it runs.

There are five magical constants that change depending on where they are used. For example, the value of __LINE__ depends on the line that it’s used on in your script. These special constants are case-insensitive and are as follows −

A few “magical” PHP constants are given below −

Sr.No Name & Description
1

__LINE__

The current line number of the file.

| | 2 |

__FILE__

The full path and filename of the file. If used inside an include,the name of the included file is returned. Since PHP 4.0.2, __FILE__ always contains an absolute path whereas in older versions it contained relative path under some circumstances.

| | 3 |

__FUNCTION__

The function name. (Added in PHP 4.3.0) As of PHP 5 this constant returns the function name as it was declared (case-sensitive). In PHP 4 its value is always lowercased.

| | 4 |

__CLASS__

The class name. (Added in PHP 4.3.0) As of PHP 5 this constant returns the class name as it was declared (case-sensitive). In PHP 4 its value is always lowercased.

| | 5 |

__METHOD__

The class method name. (Added in PHP 5.0.0) The method name is returned as it was declared (case-sensitive).

|

PHP - Operator Types

Definition

What is Operator? Simple answer can be given using expression 4 + 5 is equal to 9. Here 4 and 5 are called operands and + is called operator. PHP language supports following type of operators.

What is Operator? Simple answer can be given using expression 4 + 5 is equal to 9. Here 4 and 5 are called operands and + is called operator. PHP language supports following type of operators.

Lets have a look on all operators one by one.

Arithmetic Operators

There are following arithmetic operators supported by PHP language −

Assume variable A holds 10 and variable B holds 20 then −

Show Examples

Operator Description Example
+ Adds two operands A + B will give 30
- Subtracts second operand from the first A - B will give -10
* Multiply both operands A * B will give 200
/ Divide numerator by de-numerator B / A will give 2
% Modulus Operator and remainder of after an integer division B % A will give 0
++ Increment operator, increases integer value by one A++ will give 11
-- Decrement operator, decreases integer value by one A– will give 9

Comparison Operators

There are following comparison operators supported by PHP language

Assume variable A holds 10 and variable B holds 20 then −

Show Examples

Operator Description Example
== Checks if the value of two operands are equal or not, if yes then condition becomes true. (A == B) is not true.
!= Checks if the value of two operands are equal or not, if values are not equal then condition becomes true. (A != B) is true.
> Checks if the value of left operand is greater than the value of right operand, if yes then condition becomes true. (A > B) is not true.
< Checks if the value of left operand is less than the value of right operand, if yes then condition becomes true. (A < B) is true.
>= Checks if the value of left operand is greater than or equal to the value of right operand, if yes then condition becomes true. (A >= B) is not true.
<= Checks if the value of left operand is less than or equal to the value of right operand, if yes then condition becomes true. (A <= B) is true.

Logical Operators

There are following logical operators supported by PHP language

Assume variable A holds 10 and variable B holds 20 then −

Show Examples

Operator Description Example
and Called Logical AND operator. If both the operands are true then condition becomes true. (A and B) is true.
or Called Logical OR Operator. If any of the two operands are non zero then condition becomes true. (A or B) is true.
&& Called Logical AND operator. If both the operands are non zero then condition becomes true. (A && B) is true.
! Called Logical NOT Operator. Use to reverses the logical state of its operand. If a condition is true then Logical NOT operator will make false. !(A && B) is false.

Assignment Operators

There are following assignment operators supported by PHP language −

Show Examples

Operator Description Example
= Simple assignment operator, Assigns values from right side operands to left side operand C = A + B will assign value of A + B into C
+= Add AND assignment operator, It adds right operand to the left operand and assign the result to left operand C += A is equivalent to C = C + A
-= Subtract AND assignment operator, It subtracts right operand from the left operand and assign the result to left operand C -= A is equivalent to C = C - A
*= Multiply AND assignment operator, It multiplies right operand with the left operand and assign the result to left operand C *= A is equivalent to C = C * A
/= Divide AND assignment operator, It divides left operand with the right operand and assign the result to left operand C /= A is equivalent to C = C / A
%= Modulus AND assignment operator, It takes modulus using two operands and assign the result to left operand C %= A is equivalent to C = C % A

Conditional Operator

There is one more operator called conditional operator. This first evaluates an expression for a true or false value and then execute one of the two given statements depending upon the result of the evaluation. The conditional operator has this syntax −

Show Examples

Operator Description Example
? : Conditional Expression If Condition is true ? Then value X : Otherwise value Y

Operators Categories

All the operators we have discussed above can be categorised into following categories −

Precedence of PHP Operators

Operator precedence determines the grouping of terms in an expression. This affects how an expression is evaluated. Certain operators have higher precedence than others; for example, the multiplication operator has higher precedence than the addition operator −

For example x = 7 + 3 * 2; Here x is assigned 13, not 20 because operator * has higher precedence than + so it first get multiplied with 3*2 and then adds into 7.

Here operators with the highest precedence appear at the top of the table, those with the lowest appear at the bottom. Within an expression, higher precedence operators will be evaluated first.

Category Operator Associativity
Unary ! ++ – Right to left
Multiplicative * / % Left to right
Additive + - Left to right
Relational < <= > >= Left to right
Equality == != Left to right
Logical AND && Left to right
Logical OR
Conditional ?: Right to left
Assignment = += -= *= /= %= Right to left