PHP Syntax: A Beginner-Friendly Guide

PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) powers a significant portion of websites across the internet. If you’re new to PHP or looking to refresh your knowledge, understanding its syntax is the foundation of becoming proficient in this versatile language.

What is PHP?

PHP is a server-side scripting language designed specifically for web development. Unlike JavaScript, which runs in the browser, PHP code executes on the server and generates HTML that is then sent to the client.

Basic PHP Syntax

PHP Tags

Every PHP script starts and ends with special tags:

<?php
  // Your PHP code goes here
?>

You can also use the short echo tag to quickly output content:

<?= "Hello World" ?>

Statements and Semicolons

In PHP, each statement must end with a semicolon (;). This tells the PHP interpreter that the statement is complete.

<?php
  echo "Hello";
  $name = "Developer";
  echo "Welcome, " . $name;
?>

Comments

Comments help make your code more readable and are ignored by the PHP interpreter:

<?php
  // This is a single-line comment