Introduction to php | getting started with php | php tutorial beginner to advanced

Introduction to PHP
• PHP stands for Preprocessor Hypertext. “Rasmus Lerdorf” created the first version of PHP in 1994.
• It is server side, open source scripting language.
• PHP is loosely typed language. It means we can store any type of value in variables.
• PHP is case insensitive for function names and case sensitive for variable names.
• A php file have .php extension. A php file can contain HTML, CSS, JS code.
• The php file is executed on the server and the result is returned to the browser as plain HTML. Even php allows us to get output in the form of PDF and flash.
• We can generate dynamic page content using php.
• We can write data on files on server and we can also read data from files stored on the server using php.
• PHP allows use to store data in database. It also allows us to read and manipulate data in db.
Software requirements
To write PHP code we can use any text editor, personally i use sublime text editor.
We also require php, web server, database server. I recommend using XAMPP which includes php, apache web server and mysql as a db server.
We can use any browser to send request to execute php file to web server.
You can download XAMPP here: https://www.apachefriends.org/download.html
Basic syntax for PHP
PHP code is always enclosed between ﹤?php ?﹥.
We use echo or print statement to output data to the screen.
﹤?php
echo "﹤p﹥My first php file ﹤/p﹥";
?﹥
Note: PHP statements must be terminated by semicolon.
PHP files must be placed inside the htdocs folder under the xampp folder.