PHP and MySQL for Dynamic Web Sites: Visual QuickPro Guide, Fourth Edition

1. Introduction to PHP

In This Chapter

Basic Syntax 2

Sending Data to the Web Browser 6

Writing Comments 10

What Are Variables? 14

Introducing Strings 18

Concatenating Strings 21

Introducing Numbers 23

Introducing Constants 26

Single vs. Double Quotation Marks 29

Basic Debugging Steps 33

Review and Pursue 34

Although this book focuses on using MySQL and PHP in combination, you’ll do a vast majority of your legwork using PHP alone. In this and the following chapter, you’ll learn its basics, from syntax to variables, operators, and language constructs (conditionals, loops, and whatnot). At the same time you are picking up these fundamentals, you’ll also begin developing usable code that you’ll integrate into larger applications later in the book. ...