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

1. Introduction to PHP

In This Chapter

Basic Syntax

Sending Data to the Browser

Writing Comments

What Are Variables?

Introducing Strings

Concatenating Strings

Introducing Numbers

Introducing Constants

Single vs. Double Quotation Marks

Basic Debugging Steps

Review and Pursue

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

This introductory chapter will cruise through most of the basics ...