Course: PHP and MySQL

Lecture Three

Presented by:
Abdalle Muhumed Geele.
 Chapter 2

How to code
a PHP application

Chapter 2 Slide 2
Objectives
Applied
Given the specifications for a PHP application that
requires only the skills and language elements presented in
this chapter, code, test, and debug the application.
That includes these skills:
Creating variables with valid names and assigning values
to them.
Using echo statements to display data on a page
Coding string and numeric expressions

Chapter 2 Slide 3
Objectives (continued)
Knowledge
 Explain how PHP is embedded within an HTML document.
 Distinguish between PHP statements and comments.
 Describe these PHP data types: integer, double, Boolean, and string.
 List the rules for creating a PHP variable name.
 Describe the code for declaring a variable and assigning a value to it.
 Describe the use of the echo statement.

Chapter 2 Slide 4
 Comments in PHP
Comments are nonprinting lines placed in code such as:
•The name of the script
•Your name and the date you created the program
•Notes to yourself
•Instructions to future programmers who might need to modify your
work
•Line comments: hide a single line of code
•Add // or # before the text
•Block comments: hide multiple lines of code
•Add /* to the first line of code
•And */ after the last character in the code
Chapter 1 Slide 5
 Comments in PHP
Standard C, C++, and shell comment symbols
Two types of comment during PHP
1)One line comment
2)Two or more line comment

// C++ and Java-style comment

# Shell-style comments

/* C-style comments
These can span multiple lines */

Chapter 2 Slide 6
PHP code: comments and statements
<?php
/*
This program calculates the discount for a
price that's entered by the user
*/
?>
Another way to code single-line comments
// get the data from the form

Chapter 2 Slide 7
 Syntax rules
 PHP statements end with a semicolon.
 PHP ignores extra whitespace in statements.

Chapter 2 Slide 8
Data types
A data type is the specific category of information that a variable
contains
Data types that can be assigned only a single value are called
primitive types

Chapter 2 Slide 9
Data types cont…..
The PHP language supports:
•A resource data type – a special variable that holds a reference
to an external resource such as a database or XML file
•Reference or composite data types, which contain multiple
values or complex types of information
•Two reference data types: arrays and objects

Chapter 1 Slide 10
 Numeric Data Types

PHP supports two numeric data types:

•An integer is a positive or negative number with no decimal places
(-250, 2, 100, 10,000)
•A floating-point number is a number that contains decimal places

Chapter 1 Slide 11
 Boolean Values

•A Boolean value is a value of true or false

•It decides which part of a program should execute and which part
should compare data
•In PHP programming, you can only use true or false
•In other programming languages, you can use integers such as
1 = true, 0 = false

Chapter 1 Slide 12
 Integer values (whole numbers)
15 // an integer
-21 // a negative integer

Double values (numbers with decimal positions)

21.5 // a floating-point value
-124.82 // a negative floating-point value

The two Boolean values

true // equivalent to true, yes, or on
false // equivalent to false, no, or off

String values
'Ray Harris' // a string with single quotes
"Ray Harris" // a string with double quotes
'' // an empty string
null // a NULL value

Chapter 2 Slide 13
 Variables in PHP
The values stored in computer memory are called variables
The name you assign to a variable is called an identifier and it:
•Must begin with a dollar sign ($)
•Cannot begin with an underscore (_) or a number
•Cannot include spaces
•Is case sensitive

Chapter 1 Slide 14
 Rules for creating variable names
 PHP variables must begin with a dollar sign "$"
 Variable names are case-sensitive.
 Variable names can contain letters, numbers, and underscores.
 Variable names can’t contain special characters.
 Variable names can’t begin with a digit or two underscores.
 Variable names can’t use names that are reserved by PHP such as
the variable named $this that’s reserved for use with objects.

Chapter 2 Slide 15
 Declaring and Initializing Variables

Specifying and creating a variable name is called declaring the

variable
Assigning a first value to a variable is called initializing the
variable
In PHP, you must declare and initialize a variable in the same
statement:
$variable_name = value;

Chapter 1 Slide 16
 How to declare variables and constants
Example of positive integer number
<?php
$x=5;
Echo $x;
?>
Example of negative integer number
<?php
$x=-5;
Echo $x;
?>
Chapter 2 Slide 17
Example of positive double number
<?php
$x=5.7;
Echo $x;
?>
Example of negative double number
<?php
$x=-5.7;
Echo $x;
?>
Chapter 2 Slide 18
 Example of Boolean
<?php
$x=true;
Echo $x;
?>
Example of Boolean
<?php
$x=false;
Echo $x;
?>
Chapter 2 Slide 19
 Example of String
<?php
$name="Mohamed";
Echo $name;
?>
Example of String
<?php
$NAME="MOHAMED";
$name="Ahmed";
Echo $name;
?>
Chapter 2 Slide 20
 Example of String (single or double)

<?php
$x='Ali';
echo " x is equal to $x </br>"; //Value is output
echo ' x is equal to $x'; // Variable is output
?>

Chapter 2 Slide 21
 Example of Array
<?php
$x[0]="Mohamed";
$x[1]="Ahmed";
$x[2]="Ali";
$x[3]="Ibrahim";
echo $x[2];
?>

Chapter 2 Slide 22
Chapter 2 Slide 23
 Embedded file that includes HTML and PHP code
<html>
<head>
<title> Integration </title>
</head>
<body>
<?php
$x=5;
$y=6;
$z=$x+$y;
?>
</body>
</html>
<?php
echo $z;
?>

Chapter 2 Slide 24
 Constant
 A constant contains information that does not change during the

course of program execution

 Constant names do not begin with a dollar sign

 Constant names use all uppercase letters

 Use the define() function to create a constant

define("CONSTANT_NAME", value);

define("VOTING_AGE",18);

define("VOTING_AGE",18,TRUE);

 The value you pass to the define() function can be a text string,

number, or Boolean value

Chapter 1 Slide 25
 How to declare a constant
define('MAX', 100); // an integer constant
define('PI', 3.14); // a double constant
define('MALE', 'm'); // a string constant
Examples:
<?php
define('MAX', 100);
define('PI', 3.14);
define('MALE', 'm');
echo MAX; echo"</br>";
echo PI; echo"</br>";
echo MALE;
?>

Chapter 2 Slide 26
Chapter 2 Slide 27
 The syntax for the echo statement
echo string_expression;

How to use an echo statement within HTML

<p>Name: <?php echo $name; ?></p>

How to use an echo statement to output HTML

tags and data
<?php
echo '<p>Name: ' . $name . '</p>';
?>

Chapter 2 Slide 28
How to work with data How assign string expressions
Use single quotes to improve PHP efficiency
$first_name = 'Bob';
$last_name = 'Roberts';

Assign NULL values and empty strings

$address2 = ''; // an empty string
$address2 = null; // a NULL value

Use double quotes for variable substitution (interpolation)

$name = "Name: $first_name"; // Name: Bob
$name = "$first_name $last_name"; // Bob Roberts

Mix single and double quotes for special purposes

$last_name = "O'Brien"; // O'Brien
$line = 'She said, "Hi."'; // She said, "Hi."

Chapter 2 Slide 29
Chapter 2 Slide 30
Any Question??
Thanks