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PHP Programming Tutorial: Quick and Easy Guide for Beginners

Hello guys, I'm Edwin. I welcome you to this comprehensive PHP tutorial. This tutorial will provide a thorough introduction to PHP, covering everything from syntax and data types to object-oriented programming and database integration. Whether you are a seasoned programmer or a complete novice, this guide will help you get PHP up and running in no time. Therefore, let's start with a brief introduction of PHP.

What is PHP?

PHP is a popular programming language that is especially well-suited to web development. PHP is one of the world's most popular server-side scripting languages.

In other words, PHP is a scripting language with object-oriented capabilities. PHP is a programming language used to create dynamic web pages and web applications.

Who created PHP?

Rasmus Lerdorf created PHP in 1994.

What is PHP used for?

Popular for use in web development, PHP is a server-side scripting language. It is used to create a wide variety of web applications, including complex content management systems and e-commerce platforms as well as straightforward websites. Here are some of the most typical applications for PHP:

What are the PHP filename extensions?

A filename extension, also known as a file extension, is a group of characters that appear after the final dot (.) in a file name and are used to indicate the type or format of the file. It is usually two to four letters or numbers long and is separated from the main file name by a dot. PHP supports the following filename extensions:

including others, which are not advised. As a result, I don't believe it's necessary to list those filename extensions. Some of them were used in older versions of PHP.

PHP was influenced by which languages?

PHP was influenced by HTML, Java, C, C++, Perl, and JavaScript, among others.

What can a PHP file contain?

A PHP file can contain a variety of things, such as:

Characteristics of PHP

The following are some of PHP's salient features:

All of the above characteristics appealed to me, but my favorites were "easy to learn," "server-side scripting," "database integration," and, of course, "large community." The last feature is critical for any programming language. Because, as you know, if we got stuck while coding, we needed some communication to help us out by providing a solution.

Why should we study PHP?

Learn PHP for the following reasons, among others:

What can PHP do?

A wide variety of dynamic web applications and websites can be developed using PHP, a powerful server-side scripting language. Some examples of what PHP can accomplish:

I believe that all of the fundamental introductions and information about the PHP programming language have now been covered. It's time to create the environment needed to practice PHP practically.

PHP environment setup

Setting up a PHP environment is essential because it provides the required tools and resources for developing and executing PHP applications.

There are two approaches that you can follow for the PHP environment setup. The first is to manually install the server, PHP, and database. Or just download a software package like "XAMPP" that includes Apache, MySQL, PHP, and other tools required to run PHP applications. I go with the second approach and also recommend you do so.

Because it becomes too simple to complete the PHP environment setup. So what you need to do is just download "XAMPP" from the internet and install it on your system.

Now launch XAMPP, and the XAMPP window should look something like this:

xampp php environment setup

After successfully installing the XAMPP software on your system, now you have to setup and start your server through XAMPP to run the PHP program. Click on the "Start" button, present on the right side of "Apache", to start your server. After clicking on the "Apache" start button, your XAMPP window will look like this:

php environment setup

What to do After Setting Up XAMPP

Now, open any text editor, such as Notepad or Notepad++, and paste the PHP code below into it.

<?php 
   echo "<p>Environment setup for PHP programming.</p>";
   echo "<p>This is just demo PHP code.</p>";
   echo "<p>Checking how to save and run a PHP program</p>";
?>

Save the above PHP code with the name along with the ".php" extension, let's say "codescracker.php," in the directory C:\xampp\htdocs\.

Now open any browser and type localhost/codescracker.php and press the ENTER key to see your PHP code's output present in the file codescracker.php file. Here is the demo output of the above PHP code:

PHP environment setup example program output

You can, however, use "index.php" instead of "codescracker.php" or any other filename. And, because "index.php" is the default file in any PHP directory, there is no need to type the file name, including the directory. So, simply type "localhost" and you will see the output of the default file (index.php), which is most likely located in the "htdocs" directory of your XAMPP on the "C-Drive."

To find a different default filename, such as default.php, home.php, or something else entirely, some web servers may be set up differently. Finding the default filename for PHP files requires consulting the documentation of the web server you are using.

Basic syntax of PHP codes

The fundamental syntax of PHP includes the following:

Consider the following PHP code as an example that employs some of the concepts discussed in the preceding fundamental syntax description.

PHP Code
<?php
   // This is a single-line comment
   # This is another single-line comment

   /*
      This is a
      multi-line
      comment
   */

   $MyName = "Edwin";
   $myname = "William";
   $MYNAME = "Lucas";
   $my_name = "Mike";

   echo $MyName . "<br>";
   echo $myname . "<br>";
   echo $MYNAME . "<br>";
   echo $my_name . "<br>";
?>
Output
Edwin
William
Lucas
Mike

Audience Message Regarding This PHP Tutorial

This PHP tutorial series is designed and developed by professional PHP programmers and will help all those PHP lovers who are interested in practicing and learning PHP with its tutorials and codes.

Here we have included a lot of PHP codes in each and every chapter where required, along with their output and explanation.

Therefore, you can follow this PHP tutorial to get a deep understanding of PHP.

Prerequisites

Before you start learning PHP, you must have some prior knowledge about basic computer skills and HTML.

If you have some prior knowledge of how to program, then it becomes too easy to learn PHP.

PHP Online Test

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