PHP Tutorial From Beginner To Master
PHP Tutorial From Beginner To Master
PHP Tutorial From Beginner To Master
PHP is a powerful tool for making dynamic and interactive Web pages. PHP is the widely-used, free, and efficient alternative to competitors such as Microsoft's ASP. In our PHP tutorial you will learn about PHP, and how to execute scripts on your server
Pre-requisites
Before you continue you should have a basic understanding of the following:
HTML/XHTML JavaScript
What is PHP?
PHP stands for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor PHP is a server-side scripting language, like ASP PHP scripts are executed on the server PHP supports many databases (MySQL, Informix, Oracle, Sybase, Solid, PostgreSQL, Generic ODBC, etc.) PHP is an open source software PHP is free to download and use
PHP files can contain text, HTML tags and scripts PHP files are returned to the browser as plain HTML PHP files have a file extension of ".php", ".php3", or ".phtml"
What is MySQL?
MySQL is a database server MySQL is ideal for both small and large applications MySQL supports standard SQL MySQL compiles on a number of platforms
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PHP + MySQL
PHP combined with MySQL are cross-platform (you can develop in Windows and serve on a Unix platform)
Why PHP?
PHP runs on different platforms (Windows, Linux, Unix, etc.) PHP is compatible with almost all servers used today (Apache, IIS, etc.) PHP is FREE to download from the official PHP resource: www.php.net PHP is easy to learn and runs efficiently on the server side
Where to Start?
To get access to a web server with PHP support, you can:
Install Apache (or IIS) on your own server, install PHP, and MySQL Or find a web hosting plan with PHP and MySQL support
PHP Installation
What do you need?
Most people would prefer to install a all-in-one solution: WampServer 2.0i [07/11/09] for Windows platform Includes : - Apache 2.2.11 - MySQL 5.1.36 - PHP 5.3.0 http://www.wampserver.com/en/ http://lamphowto.com/ for Linux platform
support PHP, you must install PHP. Here is a link to a good tutorial from PHP.net on how to install PHP5: http://www.php.net/manual/en/install.php Download PHP Download PHP for free here: http://www.php.net/downloads.php Download MySQL Database Download MySQL for free here: http://www.mysql.com/downloads/index.html Download Apache Server
Download Apache for free here: http://httpd.apache.org/download.cgi Download a nice text editor [Not required]
http://www.flos-freeware.ch/notepad2.html
PHP Syntax
PHP code is executed on the server, and the plain HTML result is sent to the browser.
A PHP file normally contains HTML tags, just like an HTML file, and some PHP scripting code. Below, we have an example of a simple PHP script which sends the text "Hello World" to the browser:
Each code line in PHP must end with a semicolon. The semicolon is a separator and is used to distinguish one set of instructions from another. There are two basic statements to output text with PHP: echo and print. In the example above we have used the echo statement to output the text "Hello World". Note: The file must have a .php extension. If the file has a .html extension, the PHP code will not be executed.
Comments in PHP In PHP, we use // to make a single-line comment or /* and */ to make a large comment block. <html> <body> <?php //This is a comment /* This is a comment block */ ?> </body> </html>
PHP Variables
A variable is used to store information.
Variables in PHP
Variables are used for storing a values, like text strings, numbers or arrays. When a variable is declared, it can be used over and over again in your script. All variables in PHP start with a $ sign symbol. The correct way of declaring a variable in PHP:
$var_name = value;
New PHP programmers often forget the $ sign at the beginning of the variable. In that case it will not work. Let's try creating a variable containing a string, and a variable containing a number:
A variable name should not contain spaces. If a variable name is more than one word, it should be separated with an underscore ($my_string), or with capitalization ($myString)
Hello World
Now, lets try to use some different functions and operators to manipulate the string.
<?php $txt1="Hello World!"; $txt2="What a nice day!"; echo $txt1 . " " . $txt2; ?>
If we look at the code above you see that we used the concatenation operator two times. This is because we had to insert a third string (a space character), to separate the two strings.
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The length of a string is often used in loops or other functions, when it is important to know when the string ends. (i.e. in a loop, we would want to stop the loop after the last character in the string).
The position of the string "world" in our string is position 6. The reason that it is 6 (and not 7), is that the first position in the string is 0, and not 1.
PHP Operators
Operators are used to operate on values.
PHP Operators
This section lists the different operators used in PHP. Arithmetic Operators Operator + Description Addition Example x=2 x+2 x=2 5-x x=4 x*5 15/5 5/2 5%2 10%8 10%2 x=5 x++ x=5 x-Result 4
Subtraction
Multiplication
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Division
3 2.5 1 2 0 x=6
++
Increment
--
Decrement
x=4
+= -= *= /= .= %=
Comparison Operators Operator == != > < >= <= Description is equal to is not equal is greater than is less than is greater than or equal to is less than or equal to Example 5==8 returns false 5!=8 returns true 5>8 returns false 5<8 returns true 5>=8 returns false 5<=8 returns true
Logical Operators Operator && Description and Example x=6 y=3 (x < 10 && y > 1) returns true || or x=6 y=3 (x==5 || y==5) returns false ! not x=6 y=3 !(x==y) returns true
Conditional Statements
Very often when you write code, you want to perform different actions for different decisions. You can use conditional statements in your code to do this. In PHP we have the following conditional statements:
if statement - use this statement to execute some code only if a specified condition is true if...else statement - use this statement to execute some code if a condition is true and another code if the condition is false if...elseif....else statement - use this statement to select one of several blocks of code to be executed switch statement - use this statement to select one of many blocks of code to be executed
The if Statement
Use the if statement to execute some code only if a specified condition is true.
Syntax
if (condition) code to be executed if condition is true;
The following example will output "Have a nice weekend!" if the current day is Friday:
<html> <body> <?php $d=date("D"); if ($d=="Fri") echo "Have a nice weekend!"; ?> </body> </html>
Notice that there is no ..else.. in this syntax. You tell the browser to execute some code only if the specified condition is true.
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Syntax
if (condition) code to be executed if condition is true; else code to be executed if condition is false;
Example
The following example will output "Have a nice weekend!" if the current day is Friday, otherwise it will output "Have a nice day!":
<html> <body> <?php $d=date("D"); if ($d=="Fri") echo "Have a nice weekend!"; else echo "Have a nice day!"; ?> </body> </html>
If more than one line should be executed if a condition is true/false, the lines should be enclosed within curly braces:
<html> <body> <?php $d=date("D"); if ($d=="Fri") { echo "Hello!<br />"; echo "Have a nice weekend!"; echo "See you on Monday!"; } ?> </body> </html>
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Use the if....elseif...else statement to select one of several blocks of code to be executed.
if (condition) code to be executed if condition is true; elseif (condition) code to be executed if condition is true; else code to be executed if condition is false;
Example
The following example will 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!":
<html> <body> <?php $d=date("D"); if ($d=="Fri") echo "Have a nice weekend!"; elseif ($d=="Sun") echo "Have a nice Sunday!"; else echo "Have a nice day!"; ?> </body> </html>
Syntax
switch (n) { case label1:
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code to be executed if n=label1; break; case label2: code to be executed if n=label2; break; default: code to be executed if n is different from both label1 and label2; }
This is how it works: First we have a single expression n (most often a variable), that is evaluated once. The value of the expression is then compared with the values for each case in the structure. If there is a match, the block of code associated with that case is executed. Use break to prevent the code from running into the next case automatically. The default statement is used if no match is found.
Example
<html> <body> <?php switch ($x) { case 1: echo "Number 1"; break; case 2: echo "Number 2"; break; case 3: echo "Number 3"; break; default: echo "No number between 1 and 3"; } ?> </body> </html>
PHP Arrays
An array stores multiple values in one single variable.
What is an Array?
A variable is a storage area holding a number or text. The problem is, a variable will hold only one value. An array is a special variable, which can store multiple values in one single variable.
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If you have a list of items (a list of car names, for example), storing the cars in single variables could look like this:
However, what if you want to loop through the cars and find a specific one? And what if you had not 3 cars, but 300? The best solution here is to use an array! An array can hold all your variable values under a single name. And you can access the values by referring to the array name. Each element in the array has its own index so that it can be easily accessed. In PHP, there are three kind of arrays:
Numeric array - An array with a numeric index Associative array - An array where each ID key is associated with a value Multidimensional array - An array containing one or more arrays
Numeric Arrays
A numeric array stores each array element with a numeric index. There are two methods to create a numeric array. 1. In the following example the index are automatically assigned (the index starts at 0):
$cars=array("Saab","Volvo","BMW","Toyota");
Example
In the following example you access the variable values by referring to the array name and index:
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echo $cars[0] . " and " . $cars[1] . " are Swedish cars."; ?>
Associative Arrays
An associative array, each ID key is associated with a value. When storing data about specific named values, a numerical array is not always the best way to do it. With associative arrays we can use the values as keys and assign values to them.
Example 1
In this example we use an array to assign ages to the different persons:
Example 2
This example is the same as example 1, but shows a different way of creating the array:
<?php $ages['Peter'] = "32"; $ages['Quagmire'] = "30"; $ages['Joe'] = "34"; echo "Peter is " . $ages['Peter'] . " years old."; ?>
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Multidimensional Arrays
In a multidimensional array, each element in the main array can also be an array. And each element in the sub-array can be an array, and so on.
Example
In this example we create a multidimensional array, with automatically assigned ID keys:
$families = array ( "Griffin"=>array ( "Peter", "Lois", "Megan" ), "Quagmire"=>array ( "Glenn" ), "Brown"=>array ( "Cleveland", "Loretta", "Junior" ) );
The array above would look like this if written to the output:
Array ( [Griffin] => Array ( [0] => Peter [1] => Lois [2] => Megan ) [Quagmire] => Array ( [0] => Glenn ) [Brown] => Array ( [0] => Cleveland [1] => Loretta [2] => Junior ) )
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Example 2
Lets try displaying a single value from the array above:
PHP Loops
Often when you write code, you want the same block of code to run over and over again in a row. Instead of adding several almost equal lines in a script we can use loops to perform a task like this. In PHP, we have the following looping statements:
while - loops through a block of code while a specified condition is true do...while - loops through a block of code once, and then repeats the loop as long as a 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
Syntax
while (condition) {
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code to be executed; }
Example
The example below defines a loop that starts with i=1. The loop will continue to run as long as i is less than, or equal to 5. i will increase by 1 each time the loop runs:
<html> <body> <?php $i=1; while($i<=5) { echo "The number is " . $i . "<br />"; $i++; } ?> </body> </html>
Output:
is is is is is
1 2 3 4 5
Syntax
do { code to be executed; } while (condition);
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Example
The example below defines a loop that starts with i=1. It will then increment i with 1, and write some output. Then the condition is checked, and the loop will continue to run as long as i is less than, or equal to 5:
<html> <body> <?php $i=1; do { $i++; echo "The number is " . $i . "<br />"; } while ($i<=5); ?> </body> </html>
Output:
is is is is is
2 3 4 5 6
The for loop and the foreach loop will be explained in the next section
Syntax
for (init; condition; increment) { code to be executed; }
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Parameters:
init: Mostly used to set a counter (but can be any code to be executed once at the beginning of the loop) condition: Evaluated for each loop iteration. If it evaluates to TRUE, the loop continues. If it evaluates to FALSE, the loop ends. increment: Mostly used to increment a counter (but can be any code to be executed at the end of the loop)
Note: Each of the parameters above can be empty, or have multiple expressions (separated by commas).
Example
The example below defines a loop that starts with i=1. The loop will continue to run as long as i is less than, or equal to 5. i will increase by 1 each time the loop runs:
<html> <body> <?php for ($i=1; $i<=5; $i++) { echo "The number is " . $i . "<br />"; } ?> </body> </html>
Output:
is is is is is
1 2 3 4 5
Syntax
foreach ($array as $value) { code to be executed; }
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For every loop iteration, the value of the current array element is assigned to $value (and the array pointer is moved by one) - so on the next loop iteration, you'll be looking at the next array value.
Example
The following example demonstrates a loop that will print the values of the given array:
<html> <body> <?php $x=array("one","two","three"); foreach ($x as $value) { echo $value . "<br />"; } ?> </body> </html>
Output:
PHP Functions
The real power of PHP comes from its functions. In PHP, there are more than 700 built-in functions.
PHP Functions
In this chapter we will show you how to create your own functions. To keep the browser from executing a script when the page loads, you can put your script into a function. A function will be executed by a call to the function.
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Syntax
function functionName() { code to be executed; }
Give the function a name that reflects what the function does The function name can start with a letter or underscore (not a number)
Example
A simple function that writes my name when it is called:
<html> <body> <?php function writeName() { echo "Kai Jim Refsnes"; } echo "My name is "; writeName(); ?> </body> </html>
Output:
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Parameters are specified after the function name, inside the parentheses.
Example 1
The following example will write different first names, but equal last name:
<html> <body> <?php function writeName($fname) { echo $fname . " Refsnes.<br />"; } echo "My name is "; writeName("Kai Jim"); echo "My sister's name is "; writeName("Hege"); echo "My brother's name is "; writeName("Stale"); ?> </body> </html>
Output:
My name is Kai Jim Refsnes. My sister's name is Hege Refsnes. My brother's name is Stale Refsnes.
Example 2
The following function has two parameters:
<html> <body> <?php function writeName($fname,$punctuation) { echo $fname . " Refsnes" . $punctuation . "<br />"; } echo "My name is "; writeName("Kai Jim","."); echo "My sister's name is "; writeName("Hege","!"); echo "My brother's name is "; writeName("Stle","?"); ?>
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</body> </html>
Output:
My name is Kai Jim Refsnes. My sister's name is Hege Refsnes! My brother's name is Stle Refsnes?
Example
<html> <body> <?php function add($x,$y) { $total=$x+$y; return $total; } echo "1 + 16 = " . add(1,16); ?> </body> </html>
Output:
1 + 16 = 17
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Example
The example below contains an HTML form with two input fields and a submit button:
<html> <body> <form action="welcome.php" method="post"> Name: <input type="text" name="fname" /> Age: <input type="text" name="age" /> <input type="submit" /> </form> </body> </html>
When a user fills out the form above and click on the submit button, the form data is sent to a PHP file, called "welcome.php": "welcome.php" looks like this:
<html> <body> Welcome <?php echo $_POST["fname"]; ?>!<br /> You are <?php echo $_POST["age"]; ?> years old. </body> </html>
The PHP $_GET and $_POST functions will be explained in the next chapters.
Form Validation
User input should be validated on the browser whenever possible (by client scripts). Browser validation is faster and reduces the server load. You should consider server validation if the user input will be inserted into a database. A good way to validate a form on the server is to post the form to itself, instead of jumping to a different page. The
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user will then get the error messages on the same page as the form. This makes it easier to discover the error.
The built-in $_GET function is used to collect values in a form with method="get".
Example
<form action="welcome.php" method="get"> Name: <input type="text" name="fname" /> Age: <input type="text" name="age" /> <input type="submit" /> </form>
When the user clicks the "Submit" button, the URL sent to the server could look something like this:
http://www.w3schools.com/welcome.php?fname=Peter&age=37
The "welcome.php" file can now use the $_GET function to collect form data (the names of the form fields will automatically be the keys in the $_GET array):
Welcome <?php echo $_GET["fname"]; ?>.<br /> You are <?php echo $_GET["age"]; ?> years old!
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The built-in $_POST function is used to collect values in a form with method="post".
Example
<form action="welcome.php" method="post"> Name: <input type="text" name="fname" /> Age: <input type="text" name="age" /> <input type="submit" /> </form>
When the user clicks the "Submit" button, the URL will look like this:
http://www.w3schools.com/welcome.php
The "welcome.php" file can now use the $_POST function to collect form data (the names of the form fields will automatically be the keys in the $_POST array):
Welcome <?php echo $_POST["fname"]; ?>!<br /> You are <?php echo $_POST["age"]; ?> years old.
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The $_REQUEST function can be used to collect form data sent with both the GET and POST methods.
Example
Welcome <?php echo $_REQUEST["fname"]; ?>!<br /> You are <?php echo $_REQUEST["age"]; ?> years old.
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