PART ONE: INTRODUCTION TO PHP

Chap1--PHP 5 Introduction
PHP scripts are executed on the server.

Prerequisite
Before you continue you should have a basic understanding of the following:

 HTML
 CSS
 JavaScript

Introduction and Background

PHP is an open source server-side scripting language designed for
Web development to produce dynamic Web pages. It is one of the first
developed server-side scripting languages to be embedded into an HTML
source document rather than calling an external file to process data. The
code is interpreted by a Web server with a PHP processor module which
generates the resulting Web page.PHP can be deployed on most Web
servers and also as a standalone shell on almost every operating system
and platform, free of charge. PHP was a competitor to Microsoft's Active
Server Pages (ASP) server-side script engine and similar languages, but
gradually received better acceptance than ASP and by now PHP is installed
on more than 20 million Web sites and 1 million Web servers. Notable
software that uses PHP includes Joomla, MediaWiki, and WordPress.
PHP was originally created by RasmusLerdorf in 1995. The main
implementation of PHP is now produced by The PHP Group and serves as
the formal reference to the PHP language. PHP is free software released
under the PHP License, which is incompatible with the GNU General Public
License (GPL) due to restrictions on the usage of the term PHP.
While PHP originally stood for Personal Home Page, it is now said to
stand for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor, a recursive acronym.

P a g e 1 | 33
Dynamic web sites
The static model of the web interaction is based on a set of pre-developed
static web pages stored on a host server, and in 3 basic steps: .
1. A client sends a request for a web page to the host.
2. The host sends a copy of the requested page to the client.
3. If desired, points 2 and 3 are repeated for new pages.
A node in the web which manages the host tasks is called a web server. In
the static model, Figure 2.1, the host has no ability to analyze the request
and adjust the response accordingly. The response is a requested pre-
designed web page. The request-response exchange is therefore called
static. However, the exchange protocol used, HTTP, provides possibilities
for some additional items of information to be sent to the host with the
request without any instructions from the client. In the same way, the
responding host can include additional information with the response,
usually hidden for the receiver. The host has also capabilities to forward
messages to other programs beyond the web server for additional
processing. These possibilities for information processing behind the scene
make it possible to create the additional functionality.

P a g e 2 | 33
We shall use the term dynamic web site to emphasize that we are not
concerned with a simple set of web pages with HTML tags, but with
applications in which the pages returned to the client can be dynamically
adjusted to fit the individual requests of the client.

Important characteristics of a dynamic web site are the ability to

authenticate you, i.e. to verify your identity, to record your performance
history, to react on the time for the request, to keep track of your
interactions from you start a session and to its end, and sometimes even
from session to session. The dynamic web site can be summarized by Figure
2.2.

CGI and PERL

The first step toward dynamic web pages is the possibility for a remote client to request
the execution of a process at the host. Use of the FORM tags of HTML requires, for example,
that the server can perform a processing of the data submitted on the form. A program must
P a g e 3 | 33
exist for this purpose at the host site, and the web server must be able to communicate with
this. We shall refer to such a program which supplements the HTML pages as a script.
The Common Gateway Interface, CGI, is a protocol specifying how certain scripts can
communicate with web servers. One of the most frequently used tools for creating such scripts
is the script language PERL. A PERL script stored in the host computer can be supplied with
data from a request, for example sent by a HTML FORM page. The script can be designed to
perform a variety of tasks such as save and retrieve data from a database, update a log, keep
track of visitors, run a course, etc. It can also be designed to perform its task and then leave
the result to the web server, which returns a web page generated by means of the script to
the requesting client. Programming languages such as C, C++, C# and JAVA can also be used
for creating scripts. One reason for the popularity of PERL is that scripts programmed in PERL
can be ported from one operating system to another with no or little modification.

Applications Program Interfaces

A PERL-CGI application is time-consuming because PERL scripts must be loaded,

executed and unloaded each time they are used like interpretive programs, and do not offer
the flexibility which may be required.
To improve this situation, Application Servers were developed. An application server is
a service operating behind the web server. It processes script code, which the web server does
not understand, and returns the results to the web server for returning to the requesting client.
The applications server is a resource of permanently loaded executable programs, and is
referred to as an Applications Program Interface, API. The advantages of using an API compared
with the earlier interpretative programs are increased speed and flexibility because no loading
and interpretation is needed. The disadvantage is that the API programs must be implemented
and compiled separately for each type of operating system, and requires more memory space.

What is PHP?
 PHP is an acronym for "PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor"
 PHP is a widely-used, open source scripting language
 PHP scripts are executed on the server
 PHP is free to download and use

PHP is an amazing and popular language!

It is powerful enough to be at the core of the biggest blogging system on the

web (WordPress)!
It is deep enough to run the largest social network (Facebook)!
It is also easy enough to be a beginner's first server side language!

P a g e 4 | 33
What is a PHP File?
 PHP files can contain text, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and PHP code
 PHP code are executed on the server, and the result is returned to the
browser as plain HTML
 PHP files have extension ".php"

What Can PHP Do?

 PHP can generate dynamic page content
 PHP can create, open, read, write, delete, and close files on the server
 PHP can collect form data
 PHP can send and receive cookies
 PHP can add, delete, modify data in your database
 PHP can be used to control user-access
 PHP can encrypt data

With PHP you are not limited to output HTML. You can output images, PDF
files, and even Flash movies. You can also output any text, such as XHTML
and XML.

Why PHP?
 PHP runs on various platforms (Windows, Linux, Unix, Mac OS X, etc.)
 PHP is compatible with almost all servers used today (Apache, IIS,
etc.)
 PHP supports a wide range of databases
 PHP is free. Download it from the official PHP resource: www.php.net
 PHP is easy to learn and runs efficiently on the server side

Chap2--PHP 5 Installation
What Do I Need?
To start using PHP, you can:

 Find a web host with PHP and MySQL support

 Install a web server on your own PC, and then install PHP and MySQL

Use a Web Host With PHP Support

P a g e 5 | 33
If your server has activated support for PHP you do not need to do anything.

Just create some .php files, place them in your web directory, and the server
will automatically parse them for you.

You do not need to compile anything or install any extra tools.

Because PHP is free, most web hosts offer PHP support.

Set Up PHP on Your Own PC

However, if your server does not support PHP, you must:

 install a web server

 install PHP
 install a database, such as MySQL

The official PHP website (PHP.net) has installation instructions for

PHP: http://php.net/manual/en/install.php

Chap3--PHP 5 Syntax
A PHP script is executed on the server, and the plain HTML result is sent
back to the browser.

Basic PHP Syntax

A PHP script can be placed anywhere in the document.

A PHP script starts with <?php and ends with ?>:

<?php
// PHP code goes here
?>

The default file extension for PHP files is ".php".

A PHP file normally contains HTML tags, and some PHP scripting code.

Below, we have an example of a simple PHP file, with a PHP script that uses
a built-in PHP function "echo" to output the text "Hello World!" on a web
page:

Example

P a g e 6 | 33
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>
<h1>My first PHP page</h1>
<?php
echo "Hello World!";
?>
</body>
</html>

Note: PHP statements end with a semicolon (;).

Comments in PHP
A comment in PHP code is a line that is not read/executed as part of the
program. Its only purpose is to be read by someone who is looking at the code.

Comments can be used to:

 Let others understand what you are doing

 Remind yourself of what you did - Most programmers have experienced
coming back to their own work a year or two later and having to re-figure
out what they did. Comments can remind you of what you were thinking
when you wrote the code

PHP supports several ways of commenting:

Example
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>
<?php
// This is a single-line comment
# This is also a single-line comment
/*
This is a multiple-lines comment block
that spans over multiple
lines
*/
// You can also use comments to leave out parts of a code line
$x = 5 /* + 15 */ + 5;
echo $x;
?>

</body>
</html>

P a g e 7 | 33
PHP Case Sensitivity
In PHP, NO keywords (e.g. if, else, while, echo, etc.), classes, functions, and
user-defined functions are case-sensitive.

In the example below, all three echo statements below are legal (and equal):

Example
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>
<?php
ECHO "Hello World!<br>";
echo "Hello World!<br>";
EcHo "Hello World!<br>";
?>
</body>
</html>

However; all variable names are case-sensitive.

In the example below, only the first statement will display the value of the
$color variable (this is because $color, $COLOR, and $coLOR are treated as
three different variables):

Example
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>
<?php
$color = "red";
echo "My car is " . $color . "<br>";
echo "My house is " . $COLOR . "<br>";
echo "My boat is " . $coLOR . "<br>";
?>
</body>
</html>

Chap4--PHP 5 Variables
Variables are "containers" for storing information.

Creating (Declaring) PHP Variables

P a g e 8 | 33
In PHP, a variable starts with the $ sign, followed by the name of the
variable:

Example
<?php
$txt = "Hello world!";
$x = 5;
$y = 10.5;
?>

After the execution of the statements above, the variable $txt will hold the
value Hello world!, the variable $x will hold the value 5, and the
variable $y will hold the value 10.5.

Note: When you assign a text value to a variable, put quotes around the
value.

Note: Unlike other programming languages, PHP has no command for

declaring a variable. It is created the moment you first assign a value to it.

Think of variables as containers for storing data.

Chap4--PHP Variables
A variable can have a short name (like x and y) or a more descriptive name
(age, carname, total_volume).

Rules for PHP variables:

 A variable starts with the $ sign, followed by the name of the variable
 A variable name must start with a letter or the underscore character
 A variable name cannot start with a number
 A variable name can only contain alpha-numeric characters and
underscores (A-z, 0-9, and _ )
 Variable names are case-sensitive ($age and $AGE are two different
variables)

Remember that PHP variable names are case-sensitive!

Output Variables
The PHP echo statement is often used to output data to the screen.

The following example will show how to output text and a variable:
P a g e 9 | 33
Example
<?php
$txt = "W3Schools.com";
echo "I love $txt!";
?>

The following example will produce the same output as the example above:

Example
<?php
$txt = "W3Schools.com";
echo "I love " . $txt . "!";
?>

The following example will output the sum of two variables:

Example
<?php
$x = 5;
$y = 4;
echo $x + $y;
?>

PHP is a Loosely Typed Language

In the example above, notice that we did not have to tell PHP which data
type the variable is.

PHP automatically converts the variable to the correct data type, depending
on its value.

In other languages such as C, C++, and Java, the programmer must declare
the name and type of the variable before using it

PHP Variables Scope

In PHP, variables can be declared anywhere in the script.

The scope of a variable is the part of the script where the variable can be
referenced/used.

PHP has three different variable scopes:

P a g e 10 | 33
  local
 global
 static

Global and Local Scope

A variable declared outside a function has a GLOBAL SCOPE and can only be
accessed outside a function:

Example
<?php
$x = 5; // global scope
function myTest() {
// using x inside this function will generate an error
echo "<p>Variable x inside function is: $x</p>";
}
myTest();
echo "<p>Variable x outside function is: $x</p>";
?>

A variable declared within a function has a LOCAL SCOPE and can only be
accessed within that function:

Example
<?php
function myTest() {
$x = 5; // local scope
echo "<p>Variable x inside function is: $x</p>";
}
myTest();

// using x outside the function will generate an error

echo "<p>Variable x outside function is: $x</p>";
?>

You can have local variables with the same name in different functions,
because local variables are only recognized by the function in which they are
declared.

PHP The global Keyword

The global keyword is used to access a global variable from within a
function.

To do this, use the global keyword before the variables (inside the
function):
P a g e 11 | 33
Example
<?php
$x = 5;
$y = 10;

function myTest() {
global $x, $y;
$y = $x + $y;
}

myTest();
echo $y; // outputs 15
?>

PHP also stores all global variables in an array called $GLOBALS[index].

The index holds the name of the variable. This array is also accessible from
within functions and can be used to update global variables directly.

The example above can be rewritten like this:

Example
<?php
$x = 5;
$y = 10;

function myTest() {
$GLOBALS['y'] = $GLOBALS['x'] + $GLOBALS['y'];
}

myTest();
echo $y; // outputs 15
?>

PHP The static Keyword

Normally, when a function is completed/executed, all of its variables are
deleted. However, sometimes we want a local variable NOT to be deleted. We
need it for a further job.

To do this, use the static keyword when you first declare the variable:

Example
<?php
function myTest() {
static $x = 0;
P a g e 12 | 33
 echo $x;
$x++;
}
myTest();
myTest();
myTest();
?>

Then, each time the function is called, that variable will still have the
information it contained from the last time the function was called.

Note: The variable is still local to the function.

Chap5--PHP 5 echo and print Statement

In PHP there are two basic ways to get output: echo and print.

In this tutorial we use echo (and print) in almost every example. So, this
chapter contains a little more info about those two output statements.

PHP echo and print Statements

echo and print are more or less the same. They are both used to output
data to the screen.

The differences are small: echo has no return value while print has a return
value of 1 so it can be used in expressions. echo can take multiple
parameters (although such usage is rare) while print can take one
argument. echo is marginally faster than print.

The PHP echo Statement

The echo statement can be used with or without
parentheses: echo or echo().

Display Text

The following example shows how to output text with the echo command
(notice that the text can contain HTML markup):

Example
<?php
echo "<h2>PHP is Fun!</h2>";
echo "Hello world!<br>";

P a g e 13 | 33
echo "I'm about to learn PHP!<br>";
echo "This ", "string ", "was ", "made ", "with multiple parameters.";
?>

Display Variables

The following example shows how to output text and variables with
the echo statement:

Example
<?php
$txt1 = "Learn PHP";
$txt2 = "W3Schools.com";
$x = 5;
$y = 4;

echo "<h2>" . $txt1 . "</h2>";

echo "Study PHP at " . $txt2 . "<br>";
echo $x + $y;
?>

The PHP print Statement

The print statement can be used with or without
parentheses: print or print().

Display Text

The following example shows how to output text with the print command
(notice that the text can contain HTML markup):

Example
<?php
print "<h2>PHP is Fun!</h2>";
print "Hello world!<br>";
print "I'm about to learn PHP!";
?>

Display Variables

The following example shows how to output text and variables with
the print statement:

Example
<?php
$txt1 = "Learn PHP";
P a g e 14 | 33
$txt2 = "W3Schools.com";
$x = 5;
$y = 4;

print "<h2>" . $txt1 . "</h2>";

print "Study PHP at " . $txt2 . "<br>";
print $x + $y;
?>

Chap6--PHP 5 Data Type

PHP Data Types
Variables can store data of different types, and different data types can do
different things.

PHP supports the following data types:

 String
 Integer
 Float (floating point numbers - also called double)
 Boolean
 Array
 Object
 NULL
 Resource

PHP String
A string is a sequence of characters, like "Hello world!".

A string can be any text inside quotes. You can use single or double quotes:

Example
<?php
$x = "Hello world!";
$y = 'Hello world!';
echo $x;
echo "<br>";
echo $y;
?>

PHP Integer

P a g e 15 | 33
An integer data type is a non-decimal number between -2,147,483,648 and
2,147,483,647.

Rules for integers:

 An integer must have at least one digit

 An integer must not have a decimal point
 An integer can be either positive or negative
 Integers can be specified in three formats: decimal (10-based),
hexadecimal (16-based - prefixed with 0x) or octal (8-based - prefixed
with 0)

In the following example $x is an integer. The PHP var_dump() function

returns the data type and value:

Example
<?php
$x = 5985;
var_dump($x);
?>

PHP Float
A float (floating point number) is a number with a decimal point or a number
in exponential form.

In the following example $x is a float. The PHP var_dump() function returns

the data type and value:

Example
<?php
$x = 10.365;
var_dump($x);
?>

PHP Boolean
A Boolean represents two possible states: TRUE or FALSE.

$x = true;
$y = false;

Booleans are often used in conditional testing. You will learn more about
conditional testing in a later chapter of this tutorial.

P a g e 16 | 33
PHP Array
An array stores multiple values in one single variable.

In the following example $cars is an array. The PHP var_dump() function

returns the data type and value:

Example
<?php
$cars = array("Volvo","BMW","Toyota");
var_dump($cars);
?>

You will learn a lot more about arrays in later chapters of this tutorial.

PHP Object
An object is a data type which stores data and information on how to process
that data.

In PHP, an object must be explicitly declared.

First we must declare a class of object. For this, we use the class keyword. A
class is a structure that can contain properties and methods:

Example
<?php
class Car {
function Car() {
$this->model = "VW";
}
}

// create an object
$herbie = new Car();

// show object properties

echo $herbie->model;
?>

PHP NULL Value

Null is a special data type which can have only one value: NULL.

P a g e 17 | 33
A variable of data type NULL is a variable that has no value assigned to it.

Tip: If a variable is created without a value, it is automatically assigned a

value of NULL.

Variables can also be emptied by setting the value to NULL:

Example
<?php
$x = "Hello world!";
$x = null;
var_dump($x);
?>

PHP Resource
The special resource type is not an actual data type. It is the storing of a
reference to functions and resources external to PHP.

A common example of using the resource data type is a database call.

We will not talk about the resource type here, since it is an advanced topic.

Chap7--PHP 5 Strings
A string is a sequence of characters, like "Hello world!".

PHP String Functions

In this chapter we will look at some commonly used functions to manipulate
strings.

Get The Length of a String

The PHP strlen() function returns the length of a string.

The example below returns the length of the string "Hello world!":

Example
<?php
echo strlen("Hello world!"); // outputs 12
?>

P a g e 18 | 33
The output of the code above will be: 12.

Count The Number of Words in a String

The PHP str_word_count() function counts the number of words in a string:

Example
<?php
echo str_word_count("Hello world!"); // outputs 2
?>

The output of the code above will be: 2.

Reverse a String
The PHP strrev() function reverses a string:

Example
<?php
echo strrev("Hello world!"); // outputs !dlrow olleH
?>

The output of the code above will be: !dlrow olleH.

Search For a Specific Text Within a String

The PHP strpos() function searches for a specific text within a string.

If a match is found, the function returns the character position of the first
match. If no match is found, it will return FALSE.

The example below searches for the text "world" in the string "Hello world!":

Example
<?php
echo strpos("Hello world!", "world"); // outputs 6
?>

The output of the code above will be: 6.

Tip: The first character position in a string is 0 (not 1).

P a g e 19 | 33
Replace Text Within a String
The PHP str_replace() function replaces some characters with some other
characters in a string.

The example below replaces the text "world" with "Dolly":

Example
<?php
echo str_replace("world", "Dolly", "Hello world!"); // outputs Hello
Dolly!
?>

The output of the code above will be: Hello Dolly!

Chap8--PHP 5 Constants
Constants are like variables except that once they are defined they cannot
be changed or undefined.

PHP Constants
A constant is an identifier (name) for a simple value. The value cannot be
changed during the script.

A valid constant name starts with a letter or underscore (no $ sign before the
constant name).

Note: Unlike variables, constants are automatically global across the entire
script.

Create a PHP Constant

To create a constant, use the define() function.

Syntax
define(name, value, case-insensitive)

Parameters:

P a g e 20 | 33
  name: Specifies the name of the constant
 value: Specifies the value of the constant
 case-insensitive: Specifies whether the constant name should be case-
insensitive. Default is false

The example below creates a constant with a case-sensitive name:

Example
<?php
define("GREETING", "Welcome to W3Schools.com!");
echo GREETING;
?>

The example below creates a constant with a case-insensitive name:

Example
<?php
define("GREETING", "Welcome to W3Schools.com!", true);
echo greeting;
?>

Constants are Global

Constants are automatically global and can be used across the entire script.

The example below uses a constant inside a function, even if it is defined

outside the function:

Example
<?php
define("GREETING", "Welcome to W3Schools.com!");

function myTest() {
echo GREETING;
}

myTest();
?>

Chap9--PHP 5 Operators
PHP Operators
Operators are used to perform operations on variables and values.

P a g e 21 | 33
PHP divides the operators in the following groups:

 Arithmetic operators
 Assignment operators
 Comparison operators
 Increment/Decrement operators
 Logical operators
 String operators
 Array operators

PHP Arithmetic Operators

The PHP arithmetic operators are used with numeric values to perform
common arithmetical operations, such as addition, subtraction, multiplication
etc.

Operator Name Example Result

+ Addition $x + $y Sum of $x and $y

- Subtraction $x - $y Difference of $x and $y

* Multiplication $x * $y Product of $x and $y

/ Division $x / $y Quotient of $x and $y

% Modulus $x % $y Remainder of $x divided by $y

** Exponentiation $x ** $y Result of raising $x to the $y'th

power (Introduced in PHP 5.6)

PHP Assignment Operators

The PHP assignment operators are used with numeric values to write a value
to a variable.
P a g e 22 | 33
The basic assignment operator in PHP is "=". It means that the left operand
gets set to the value of the assignment expression on the right.

Assignment Same as... Description

x=y x=y The left operand gets set to the value

of the expression on the right

x += y x=x+y Addition

x -= y x=x-y Subtraction

x *= y x=x*y Multiplication

x /= y x=x/y Division

x %= y x=x%y Modulus

PHP Comparison Operators

The PHP comparison operators are used to compare two values (number or
string):

P a g e 23 | 33
Operator Name Example Result

== Equal $x == $y Returns true if $x is equal to $y

=== Identical $x === Returns true if $x is equal to $y, and

$y they are of the same type

!= Not $x != $y Returns true if $x is not equal to $y

equal

<> Not $x <> $y Returns true if $x is not equal to $y

equal

!== Not $x !== Returns true if $x is not equal to $y,

identical $y or they are not of the same type

> Greater $x > $y Returns true if $x is greater than $y

than

< Less $x < $y Returns true if $x is less than $y

than

>= Greater $x >= $y Returns true if $x is greater than or

than or equal to $y
equal to

<= Less $x <= $y Returns true if $x is less than or

than or equal to $y
equal to

PHP Increment / Decrement Operators

The PHP increment operators are used to increment a variable's value.

P a g e 24 | 33
The PHP decrement operators are used to decrement a variable's value.

Operator Name Description

++$x Pre-increment Increments $x by one, then returns $x

$x++ Post-increment Returns $x, then increments $x by one

--$x Pre-decrement Decrements $x by one, then returns $x

$x-- Post-decrement Returns $x, then decrements $x by one

PHP Logical Operators

The PHP logical operators are used to combine conditional statements.

Operator Name Example Result

and And $x and $y True if both $x and $y are true

or Or $x or $y True if either $x or $y is true

xor Xor $x xor $y True if either $x or $y is true, but not both

&& And $x && $y True if both $x and $y are true

|| Or $x || $y True if either $x or $y is true

! Not !$x True if $x is not true

P a g e 25 | 33
PHP String Operators
PHP has two operators that are specially designed for strings.

Operator Name Example Result

. Concatenation $txt1 . $txt2 Concatenation of $txt1 and $txt2

.= Concatenation $txt1 .= $txt2 Appends $txt2 to $txt1

assignment

PHP Array Operators

The PHP array operators are used to compare arrays.

Operator Name Example Result

+ Union $x + $y Union of $x and $y

== Equality $x == $y Returns true if $x and $y have the

same key/value pairs

=== Identity $x === $y Returns true if $x and $y have the

same key/value pairs in the same
order and of the same types

!= Inequality $x != $y Returns true if $x is not equal to $y

<> Inequality $x <> $y Returns true if $x is not equal to $y

P a g e 26 | 33
!== Non- $x !== $y Returns true if $x is not identical to $y
identity

Chap10--PHP 5 if...else...elseif Statements

Conditional statements are used to perform different actions based on
different conditions.

PHP Conditional Statements

Very often when you write code, you want to perform different actions for
different conditions. You can use conditional statements in your code to do
this.

In PHP we have the following conditional statements:

 if statement - executes some code if one condition is true

 if...else statement - executes some code if a condition is true and
another code if that condition is false
 if...elseif....else statement - executes different codes for more
than two conditions
 switch statement - selects one of many blocks of code to be executed

PHP - The if Statement

The if statement executes some code if one condition is true.

Syntax
if (condition) {
code to be executed if condition is true;
}

The example below will output "Have a good day!" if the current time (HOUR)
is less than 20:

Example

P a g e 27 | 33
<?php
$t = date("H");

if ($t < "20") {

echo "Have a good day!";
}
?>

PHP - The if...else Statement

The if....else statement executes some code if a condition is true and
another code if that condition is false.

Syntax
if (condition) {
code to be executed if condition is true;
} else {
code to be executed if condition is false;
}

The example below will output "Have a good day!" if the current time is less
than 20, and "Have a good night!" otherwise:

Example
<?php
$t = date("H");

if ($t < "20") {

echo "Have a good day!";
} else {
echo "Have a good night!";
}
?>

PHP - The if...elseif....else Statement

The if....elseif...else statement executes different codes for more than
two conditions.

Syntax
if (condition) {
code to be executed if this condition is true;
} elseif (condition) {

P a g e 28 | 33
 code to be executed if this condition is true;
} else {
code to be executed if all conditions are false;
}

The example below will output "Have a good morning!" if the current time is
less than 10, and "Have a good day!" if the current time is less than 20.
Otherwise it will output "Have a good night!":

Example
<?php
$t = date("H");

if ($t < "10") {

echo "Have a good morning!";
} elseif ($t < "20") {
echo "Have a good day!";
} else {
echo "Have a good night!";
}
?>

Chap11--PHP 5 switch Statement

The switch statement is used to perform different actions based on
different conditions.

The PHP switch Statement

Use the switch statement to select one of many blocks of code to be
executed.

Syntax
switch (n) {
case label1:
code to be executed if n=label1;
break;
case label2:
code to be executed if n=label2;
break;
case label3:
code to be executed if n=label3;
break;
...
default:
P a g e 29 | 33
 code to be executed if n is different from all labels;
}

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
<?php
$favcolor = "red";
switch ($favcolor) {
case "red":
echo "Your favorite color is red!";
break;
case "blue":
echo "Your favorite color is blue!";
break;
case "green":
echo "Your favorite color is green!";
break;
default:
echo "Your favorite color is neither red, blue, nor green!";
}
?>

Chap12--PHP 5 while Loops

PHP while loops execute a block of code while the specified condition is
true.

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 code-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 as long as the specified condition

is true
 do...while - loops through a block of code once, and then repeats the
loop as long as the specified condition is true
 for - loops through a block of code a specified number of times
P a g e 30 | 33
  foreach - loops through a block of code for each element in an array

The PHP while Loop

The while loop executes a block of code as long as the specified condition is
true.

Syntax
while (condition is true) {
code to be executed;
}

The example below first sets a variable $x to 1 ($x = 1). Then, the while loop
will continue to run as long as $x is less than, or equal to 5 ($x <= 5). $x
will increase by 1 each time the loop runs ($x++):

Example
<?php
$x = 1;
while($x <= 5) {
echo "The number is: $x <br>";
$x++;
}
?>

The PHP do...while Loop

The do...while loop will always execute the block of code once, it will then
check the condition, and repeat the loop while the specified condition is true.

Syntax
do {
code to be executed;
} while (condition is true);

The example below first sets a variable $x to 1 ($x = 1). Then, the do while
loop will write some output, and then increment the variable $x with 1. Then
the condition is checked (is $x less than, or equal to 5?), and the loop will
continue to run as long as $x is less than, or equal to 5:

Example

P a g e 31 | 33
<?php
$x = 1;
do {
echo "The number is: $x <br>";
$x++;
} while ($x <= 5);
?>

Notice that in a do while loop the condition is tested AFTER executing the
statements within the loop. This means that the do while loop would
execute its statements at least once, even if the condition is false the first
time.

The example below sets the $x variable to 6, then it runs the loop, and then
the condition is checked:

Example
<?php
$x = 6;

do {
echo "The number is: $x <br>";
$x++;
} while ($x <= 5);
?>

The for loop and the foreach loop will be explained in the next chapter.

Chap13--PHP 5 for Loops

PHP for loops execute a block of code a specified number of times.

The PHP for Loop

The for loop is used when you know in advance how many times the script
should run.

Syntax
for (init counter; test counter; increment counter) {
code to be executed;
}

Parameters:

P a g e 32 | 33
  init counter: Initialize the loop counter value
 test counter: Evaluated for each loop iteration. If it evaluates to TRUE,
the loop continues. If it evaluates to FALSE, the loop ends.
 increment counter: Increases the loop counter value

The example below displays the numbers from 0 to 10:

Example
<?php
for ($x = 0; $x <= 10; $x++) {
echo "The number is: $x <br>";
}
?>

The PHP foreach Loop

The foreach loop works only on arrays, and is used to loop through each
key/value pair in an array.

Syntax
foreach ($array as $value) {
code to be executed;
}

For every loop iteration, the value of the current array element is assigned to
$value and the array pointer is moved by one, until it reaches the last array
element.

The following example demonstrates a loop that will output the values of the
given array ($colors):

Example
<?php
$colors = array("red", "green", "blue", "yellow");

foreach ($colors as $value) {

echo "$value <br>";
}
?>

P a g e 33 | 33