PHP Introduction

PHP Tutorial

PHP Introduction

What is PHP?

PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) is a popular open-source server-side scripting language used to create dynamic and interactive web pages. It runs on the server, executes the code, and sends the result (HTML) to the browser.

Why PHP?

  • Easy to learn and use

  • Works on all major operating systems (Windows, Linux, macOS)

  • Supports all major web servers (Apache, Nginx, IIS)

  • Can be embedded directly in HTML

  • Supports databases (MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, etc.)

  • Huge community and millions of ready-to-use scripts

PHP is used for

  • Creating dynamic websites

  • Login/Signup systems

  • Admin dashboards

  • E-commerce websites

  • Content management systems (WordPress, Joomla, Drupal)

  • API development

  • Form handling

Basic PHP Syntax

PHP code is written inside special tags:


How it works?

  • PHP code runs on the server.

  • The server processes the code.

  • Browser receives plain HTML output.

Embedding PHP in HTML


 

PHP Comments


 

PHP Variables

Variables start with a $ sign:


 

PHP Data Types

  • String

  • Integer

  • Float

  • Boolean

  • Array

  • Object

  • NULL

Example:

PHP echo and print

Both are used to output:

PHP Operators

  • Arithmetic (+, -, *, /, %)

  • Assignment (=, +=, -=)

  • Comparison (==, ===, !=, >, <)

  • Logical (&&, ||, !)

Example:


 

PHP Conditional Statements


 

PHP Loops

For Loop

While Loop

PHP Functions


 

Connecting PHP to MySQL


 

PHP Popular Frameworks

  • Laravel (most popular)

  • CodeIgniter

  • Symfony

  • CakePHP

Final Summary

PHP is a simple and powerful language for building dynamic web applications. If you’re learning web development, PHP is one of the best languages to start with because it powers almost 70% of websites including major systems like WordPress.

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