UNIT 1 - WFS - PHP fundamentals
UNIT 1 - WFS - PHP fundamentals
Characteristics of PHP
Five important characteristics make PHP's practical nature possible −
Simplicity
Efficiency
Security
Flexibility
Familiarity
"Hello World" Script in PHP
To get a feel for PHP, first start with simple PHP scripts. Since "Hello, World!" is an essential
example, first we will create a friendly little "Hello, World!" script.
As mentioned earlier, PHP is embedded in HTML. That means that in amongst your normal HTML
(or XHTML if you're cutting-edge) you'll have PHP statements like this −
Live Demo
<html>
<head>
<title>Hello World</title>
</head>
<body>
<?php echo "Hello, World!";?>
</body>
</html>
Output:
Hello, World!
Variables
variable starts with the $ sign, followed by the name of the variable:
<?php
$txt = "Hello world!";
$x = 5;
$y = 10.5;
?>
Rules for PHP variables:
A variable starts with the $ sign, followed by the name of the variable
A variable name must start with a letter or the underscore character
A variable name cannot start with a number
A variable name can only contain alpha-numeric characters and underscores (A-z, 0-9, and
_)
Variable names are case-sensitive ($age and $AGE are two different variables)
Note: Remember that PHP variable names are case-sensitive!
Variable Scope
PHP has three types of variable scopes:
1. Local variable
2. Global variable
3. Static variable
Global
A variable declared outside a function has a GLOBAL SCOPE and can only be accessed outside a
function:
Example
Variable with global scope:
<?php
$name = "Sanaya Sharma"; //Global Variable
function global_var()
{
global $name;
echo "Variable inside the function: ". $name;
echo "</br>";
}
global_var();
echo "Variable outside the function: ". $name;
?>
Another way to use the global variable inside the function is predefined $GLOBALS array.
<?php
$num1 = 5; //global variable
$num2 = 13; //global variable
function global_var()
{
$sum = $GLOBALS['num1'] + $GLOBALS['num2'];
echo "Sum of global variables is: " .$sum;
}
global_var();
?>
Local
A variable declared within a function has a LOCAL SCOPE and can only be accessed within that
function:
Example
Variable with local scope:
<?php
function myTest() {
$x = 5; // local scope
echo "<p>Variable x inside function is: $x</p>";
}
myTest();
Static
It is a feature of PHP to delete the variable, once it completes its execution and memory is freed.
Sometimes we need to store a variable even after completion of function execution. Therefore,
another important feature of variable scoping is static variable. We use the static keyword before
the variable to define a variable, and this variable is called as static variable.
Static variables exist only in a local function, but it does not free its memory after the program
execution leaves the scope. Understand it with the help of an example:
Example:
<?php
function static_var()
{
static $num1 = 3; //static variable
$num2 = 6; //Non-static variable
//increment in static variable
$num1++;
//increment in non-static variable
$num2++;
echo "Static: " .$num1 ."</br>";
echo "Non-static: " .$num2 ."</br>";
}
echo $x."<br/>";
echo $$x."<br/>";
echo $abc;
?>
Output
abc
200
200
Constants
PHP constants are name or identifier that can't be changed during the execution of the script
except .
1. Using define() function
2. Using const keyword
Syntax
define(name, value)
Example
<?php
define("MSG1","Hello JavaTpoint PHP");
echo MSG1;
const MSG2="Hello const by JavaTpoint PHP";
echo MSG2;
?>
echo
The echo statement can be used with or without parentheses: echo or echo().
Display Text
The following example shows how to output text with the echo command
Example:
<?php
echo "<h2>PHP is Fun!</h2>";
echo "Hello world!<br>";
$txt1 = "Learn PHP";
$txt2 = "W3Schools.com";
$x = 5;
$y = 4;
?>
Print Statement
The print statement can be used with or without parentheses: print or print().
Display Text
The following example shows how to output text with the print command (notice that the text can
contain HTML markup):
Example
<?php
print "<h2>PHP is Fun!</h2>";
print "Hello world!<br>";
print ("Hello by PHP print()");
?>
Echo VS Print
Echo Print
1. echo does not return any value. 1. print always returns an integer value,
2. We can pass multiple strings separated which is 1.
by comma (,) in echo. 2. Using print, we cannot pass multiple
3. echo is faster than print statement. arguments.
3. print is slower than echo statement.
Data types
A type specifies the amount of memory that allocates to a value associated with it.
Scalar type:
It hold single value only:
1. Boolean: Booleans are the simplest data type works like switch. It holds only two
values: TRUE (1) or FALSE (0)
2. Integer: Integer means numeric data with a negative or positive sign. It holds only
whole numbers, i.e., numbers without fractional part or decimal points. The range
of an integer must be lie between 2,147,483,648 and 2,147,483,647 i.e., -2^31 to
2^31.
3. Float: A floating-point number is a number with a decimal point.
4. String: A string is a non-numeric data type. It holds letters or any alphabets,
numbers, and even special characters. String values must be enclosed either
within single quotes or in double quotes. But both are treated differently.
Example: $name = "Raman";
//both single and double quote statements will treat different
echo "Hello $name";
echo "</br>";
echo 'Hello $name';
Output:
Hello Javatpoint
Hello $company
Compound Type:
2. Objects are the instances of user-defined classes that can store both values and functions.
Special type
1.Resource: Resources are not the exact data type in PHP. Basically, these are used to store some
function calls or references to external PHP resources. For example - a database call.
2. Null: Null is a special data type that has only one value: NULL
Operators
PHP divides the operators in the following groups:
Arithmetic operators: The PHP arithmetic operators are used to perform common
arithmetic operations such as addition, subtraction, etc. with numeric values.
Assignment operators: The assignment operators are used to assign value to different
variables. The basic assignment operator is "=".
& And $a & $b Bits that are 1 in both $a and $b are set to 1, otherwise
0.
~ Not ~$a Bits that are 1 set to 0 and bits that are 0 are set to 1
<< Shift left $a << $b Left shift the bits of operand $a $b steps
>> Shift right $a >> $b Right shift the bits of $a operand by $b number of places
Comparison Operators
Comparison operators allow comparing two values, such as number or string. Below the list
of comparison operators are given:
=== Identical $a === $b Return TRUE if $a is equal to $b, and they are of same
data type
!== Not identical $a !== $b Return TRUE if $a is not equal to $b, and they are not
of same data type
<= Less than or equal $a <= $b Return TRUE if $a is less than or equal $b
to
Incrementing/Decrementing Operators
The increment and decrement operators are used to increase and decrease the value of a
variable.
Logical Operators
The logical operators are used to perform bit-level operations on operands. These
operators allow the evaluation and manipulation of specific bits within the integer.
Xor Xor $a xor $b Return TRUE if either $ or $b is true but not both
String Operators
The string operators are used to perform the operation on strings. There are two string operators
in PHP, which are given below:
Array Operators
The array operators are used in case of array. Basically, these operators are used to compare the
values of arrays.
=== Identity $a === $b Return TRUE if $a and $b have same key/value pair of
same type in same order
Conditional Statements
To write code that perform different actions based on the results of a logical or comparative test
conditions at run time.
The if statement
The if...else statement
The if...elseif....else statement
The switch...case statement
The if Statement
The if statement is used to execute a block of code only if the specified condition evaluates to true.
Syntax:
if(condition){
// Code to be executed
}
Example:
output "Have a nice weekend!" if the current day is Friday:
<?php
$d = date("D");
if($d == "Fri"){
echo "Have a nice weekend!";
}
?>
The if...else Statement
You can enhance the decision making process by providing an alternative choice through adding
an else statement to the if statement. The if...else statement allows you to execute one block of
code if the specified condition is evaluates to true and another block of code if it is evaluates to
false. It can be written, like this:
Syntax:
if(condition){
// Code to be executed if condition is true
} else{
// Code to be executed if condition is false
}
Example: Output "Have a nice weekend!" if the current day is Friday, otherwise it will output "Have
a nice day!"
<?php
$d = date("D");
if($d == "Fri"){
Syntax:
if(condition1){
// Code to be executed if condition1 is true
} elseif(condition2){
// Code to be executed if the condition1 is false and condition2 is true
} else{
// Code to be executed if both condition1 and condition2 are false
}
Example:
output "Have a nice weekend!" if the current day is Friday, and "Have a nice Sunday!" if the
current day is Sunday, otherwise it will output "Have a nice day!"
<?php
$d = date("D");
if($d == "Fri"){
echo "Have a nice weekend!";
} elseif($d == "Sun"){
echo "Have a nice Sunday!";
} else{
echo "Have a nice day!";
}
?>
The switch-case statement is an alternative to the if-elseif-else statement, which does almost the
same thing. The switch-case statement tests a variable against a series of values until it finds a
match, and then executes the block of code corresponding to that match.
switch(n){
case label1:
// Code to be executed if n=label1
break;
case label2:
// Code to be executed if n=label2
break;
...
default:
Arrays
It is used to hold multiple values of similar type in a single variable.
2. Associative Array
3. Multidimensional Array
Indexed Array
PHP index is represented by number which starts from 0. We can store number, string and object
in the PHP array. All PHP array elements are assigned to an index number by default.
OR
$season[0]="summer";
$season[1]="winter";
$season[2]="spring";
$season[3]="autumn";
echo "Season are: $season[0], $season[1], $season[2] and $season[3]";
Associative Array
We can associate name with each array elements in PHP using => symbol.
$salary=array("Sonoo"=>"350000","John"=>"450000","Kartik"=>"200000");
echo "Sonoo salary: ".$salary["Sonoo"]."<br/>";
echo "John salary: ".$salary["John"]."<br/>";
echo "Kartik salary: ".$salary["Kartik"]."<br/>";
OR
$salary["Sonoo"]="350000";
$salary["John"]="450000";
$salary["Kartik"]="200000";
echo "Sonoo salary: ".$salary["Sonoo"]."<br/>";
echo "John salary: ".$salary["John"]."<br/>";
echo "Kartik salary: ".$salary["Kartik"]."<br/>";
Multidimensional Array
PHP multidimensional array is also known as array of arrays. It allows you to store tabular data in
an array. PHP multidimensional array can be represented in the form of matrix which is
represented by row * column.
Definition
$emp = array
(
array(1,"sonoo",400000),
array(2,"john",500000),
array(3,"rahul",300000)
);
for ($row = 0; $row < 3; $row++) {
for ($col = 0; $col < 3; $col++) {
echo $emp[$row][$col]." ";
}
echo "<br/>";
}
Php Loops
while - loops through a block of code as long as the specified condition is true
do...while - loops through a block of code once, and then repeats the loop as long as the
specified condition is true
for - loops through a block of code a specified number of times
foreach - loops through a block of code for each element in an array
while Loop
The while loop executes a block of code as long as the specified condition is true.
Syntax
Example
<?php
$x = 1;
Akansha Srivastav Page 16
504 – PHP Fundamentals Unit-1 SDJ International College
while($x <= 5) {
echo "The number is: $x <br>";
$x++;
}
?>
do...while Loop
The do...while loop will always execute the block of code once, it will then check the condition, and
repeat the loop while the specified condition is true.
Syntax
do {
code to be executed;
} while (condition is true);
Examples
The example below first sets a variable $x to 1 ($x = 1). Then, the do while loop will write some
output, and then increment the variable $x with 1. Then the condition is checked (is $x less than,
or equal to 5?), and the loop will continue to run as long as $x is less than, or equal to 5:
Example
<?php
$x = 1;
do {
echo "The number is: $x <br>";
$x++;
} while ($x <= 5);
?>
for Loop
The for loop is used when you know in advance how many times the script should run.
Syntax
Parameters:
Examples
Example
<?php
for ($x = 0; $x <= 10; $x++) {
echo "The number is: $x <br>";
}
?>
foreach Loop
The foreach loop works only on arrays, and is used to loop through each key/value pair in an array.
Syntax
For every loop iteration, the value of the current array element is assigned to $value and the array
pointer is moved by one, until it reaches the last array element.
Examples
The following example will output the values of the given array ($colors):
Example
<?php
$colors = array("red", "green", "blue", "yellow");
Break
You have already seen the break statement used in an earlier chapter of this tutorial. It was used
to "jump out" of a switch statement.
Example
<?php
for ($x = 0; $x < 10; $x++) {
if ($x == 4) {
break;
}
echo "The number is: $x <br>";
}
?>
Continue
The continue statement breaks one iteration (in the loop), if a specified condition occurs, and
continues with the next iteration in the loop.
Example
<?php
for ($x = 0; $x < 10; $x++) {
if ($x == 4) {
continue;
}
echo "The number is: $x <br>";
}
?>