HTML5 and CSS3 All-in-One For Dummies, 3rd Edition

Chapter 3

Using Control Structures

In This Chapter

Getting used to conditions

Using if, else if, and else

Using switch structures

Working with while and for loops

Using comparison operators

Computer programs are most interesting when they appear to make decisions. PHP has many of the same decision-making structures as JavaScript, so if you've already looked over Chapters 2 and 3 of Book IV, you will find this chapter very familiar. In any case, take a look at conditions to see the key to making the computer branch and loop.

Introducing Conditions (Again)

Computer programs make decisions. That's part of what makes them interesting. But all the decisions a computer seems to make were already determined by the programmer. The computer's decision-making power is all based on an idea called a condition. This little gem is an expression that can be evaluated as true or false. (That sounds profound. I wonder if it will be on the mid-term?)

Conditions can be comparisons of one variable to ...