Cheatsheets / Learn PHP

Learn PHP Variables

Parsing Variables within PHP Strings
In PHP, variables can be parsed within strings specified with
double quotes ( " ). $my_var = "cat";
This means that within the string, the computer will replace
an occurence of a variable with that variable’s value. echo "There is one $my_var on the mat";
When additional valid identifier characters (ie. characters that
could be included in a variable name) are intended to appear
/* If there were three cats, then you can
adjacent to the variable’s value, the variable name can be
type: */
wrapped in curly braces {} , thus avoiding confusion as to
echo "There are three {$my_var}s on the mat
the variable’s name.
";
/* The curly braces help to avoid confusion
between the variable name and the letter s,
so PHP does not consider the variable name as
my_vars */

Reassignment of PHP Variables

In PHP, variables are assigned values with the assignment
operator ( = ). The same variable can later be reassigned a $var1 = "Bob";
new value using the same operator. echo $var1;
This process is known as reassignment. // var1 holds the value "Bob"

$var1 = "John";
echo $var1;
// var1 now holds the value "John"

Concatenating Strings in PHP

In PHP, if you want to join two strings together, you need to
use the . operator. echo "Hello,"." welcome to Codecademy!";
This process is called concatenation. Put the . operator // prints - Hello, welcome to Codecademy!
between the two strings in order to join them.
Note that strings are joined as-is, without inserting a
whitespace character. So if you need to put spaces, you need
to incorporate the whitespace manually within the string.

Appending a String in PHP

In PHP, there is a shortcut for appending a new string to the
end of another string. This can be easily done with the string $str = "Hello, ";
concatenation assignment operator ( .= ). $str .= "World!";
This operator will append the value on its right to the value on
its left and then reassign the result to the variable on its left. echo $str;
// Output: Hello, World!
PHP Strings
In PHP, a string is a sequence of characters surrounded by
double quotation marks. It can be as long as you want and echo "Hello 123"; // prints Hello 123
contain any letters, numbers, symbols, and spaces.

PHP copying variables

In PHP, one variable’s value can be assigned to another
variable. $original = "Ice T";
This creates a copy of that variable’s value and assigns the $copy = $original;
new variable name to it. $orginal = "Iced Tea";
Changes to the original variable will not affect the copy and echo $copy; // "Ice T";
changes to the copy will not affect the original. These
variables are entirely separate entities.

PHP String Escape Sequences

In PHP, sometimes special characters must be escaped in
order to include them in a string. Escape sequences start echo "Hello, World!\nThis is a String!";
with a backslash character ( \ ). /* prints-
There are a variety of escape sequences that can be used to Hello, World!
accomplish different tasks. For example, to include a new line This is a String!
within a string, the sequence \n can be used. To include
*/
double quotation marks, the sequence \" can be used.
Similarly, to include single quotes, the sequence \' can be
used.

PHP Evaluation Order during Assignment

In PHP, when an assignment takes place, operations to the
right of the assignment operator ( = ) will be evaluated to a $var1 = 5 + 6 / 2;
single value first. The result of these operations will then be /* Here, the operations to the right of the
assigned to the variable. assignment operator will be carried out
first. So first 6 will be divided by 2 (6 / 2
= 3). Then 3 will be added to 5 (5 + 3 = 8).
Finally, the value 8 will be assigned to
$var1. */

echo $var1;
// Output: 8

PHP Variables
In PHP, variables are assigned values with the assignment
operator ( = ). $my_variable = "Hello";
Variable names can contain numbers, letters, and
underscores ( _ ). A sigil ( $ ) must always precede a variable $another_cool_variable = 25;
name. They cannot start with a number and they cannot have
spaces or any special characters.
The convention in PHP is to use snake case for variable
naming; this means that lowercase words are delimited with
an underscore character ( _ ). Variable names are case-
sensitive.
PHP Reference Assignment Operator
In PHP, the reference assignment operator ( =& ) is used to
create a new variable as an alias to an existing spot in $var1 = 5;
memory. $var2 =& $var1;
In other words, the reference assignment operator ( =& )
creates two variable names which point to the same value. So, $var1 = 6;
changes to one variable will affect the other, without having to
echo $var2;
copy the existing data.
// Output: 6

Integer Values in PHP

PHP supports integer values for numbers.
Integers are the set of all whole numbers, their negative
counterparts, and zero. In other words, an integer is a
number of the set ℤ = {…, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, …}.

Exponentiation Operator in PHP

PHP supports an arithmetic operator for exponentiation
( ** ). $n = 4;
This operator gives the result of raising the value on the left echo 2 ** 4;
to the power of the value on the right. // Output: 16

Arithmetic Operators in PHP

PHP supports arithmetic operators for addition ( + ),
subtraction ( - ), multiplication ( * ), and division ( / ). $a = 6 / 3;
PHP operators will return integers whenever the result of an // The variable $a will hold an integer
operation evaluates to a whole number. If the result evaluates value, since the operation evaluates to
to a fraction or decimal, then it will return a floating point a whole number.
number.

$b = 7 / 3;
// The variable $b will hold a floating point
value, since the operation evaluates to
a decimal number.
The Modulo Operator
PHP supports a modulo operator ( % ). The modulo operator
returns the remainder of the left operand divided by the right $a = 9 % 2.3;
operand. Operands of a modulo operation are converted to //2.3 is converted to the integer, 2. The
integers prior to performing the operation. The operation remainder of 9 % 2 is 1. So the variable $a
returns an integer with the same sign as the dividend. will hold the integer value 1.

$b = -19 % 4;
//The remainder of this operation is -3. So
the variable $b will hold the integer value
-3.

$c = 20 % 2;
//The remainder of this operation is 0. So
the variable $c will hold the integer value
0.

Floating Point Numbers in PHP

PHP supports floating-point (decimal) numbers. They can be
used to represent fractional quantities as well as precise
measurements. Some examples of floating point numbers are
1.5 , 4.231 , 2.0 , etc.