Learn the Basics of Php (works)

in this instructable ill show you how to:
setup a local web server
code some php

Step 1: You Will Need

xampp (more about this in next step)
notepad++(optional,but makes coding allot easer)
a web hosting account here (only needed if you want to publish your php code or use more advanced stuff.)

Step 2: Xampp

folow this tutorial on how to set up xampp
(if you want me to post one in text just comment bellow)

Step 3: Echo and Print

all the php you write will be inbetween this



?>

lets start by saying something to do this we use echo.

ok here we go

echo "this is text";
?>

so whats this mean? ill do a brack down

echo
tells the computer to say something

"
tells the computer the string has started

";
tells the computer the string has ended.

Step 4: Variabels

what are variabals?
there like cut and past but in php
so whats the point of that

say there was some song string that you used alot like
this is a looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong string.
and you dont want to type that every time you want to say it then you would use a variabal. but how? with ease. here:

<?
$long = "this is a looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong string.";
print $long
?>
you can also put strings together with a
.
heres how

<?
$str1 = "this is my first string. this is my";
$str2 = "second string.";

echo " $str1.$str2";
?>

put what if i want to say something with $ or "" in it?
use a \.

heres how

<?
echo "Liam said \"the his name is Liam too \"
echo "we will have to charge him \$10";
?>

Step 5: Php Can Do Math

php can do math!
but how?
just follow along!

say i wanted to add 5 and 5 together then i go

<?
str= 5+5;
print "$str";
?>

this will output

10

so now lets to some more advanced math

<?
str=(5.5+4.5)*500+(2*10);
print "$str";
?>
here is a key

add = +
take away = -
divide = /
multiply = *

Step 6: Resources

here are some useful links
http://php.resourceindex.com/
http://www.php-resources.org/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afgyNp5HueQ
http://w3schools.com

Comments

[NickS21]

codeacademy and treehouse by far is my choice.

[TanveerA]

I suggest Ptutorial for all the world you would like laptop
committal to writing wise, they're sensible. For more infomation visit: http://www.ptutorial.com

[shikaku]

i recommend w3schools for anything you need computer coding wise, they are good

[backcountry]

I have found this to be a great source for learning html, php, javascript, etc.:

http://w3schools.com

[liammk]

sorry i should have included that

[snoyes]

A good starting point, but a few criticisms:

Step 3 - The difference between 'echo' and 'print' has little to do with HTML. See http://www.faqts.com/knowledge_base/view.phtml/aid/1/fid/40

Step 4 - Check your spelling. More importantly, use a backslash to escape characters in a string (you show a forward slash). The example showing concatenation with the "." operator should not use quotes

Step 5 - The 'str' variable is missing its $ in the assignment. You have also put the operation in quotes, so the variable would contain the literal string "5+5", and not the result of the operation. Remove the quotes.

[liammk]

thanks