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Hands On PHP Basics

This document discusses the PHP programming language. It covers PHP introduction and features, PHP scripts, data types including strings, integers, floats, booleans and arrays. It also discusses variables, operators, control structures, functions, working with files and databases.

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20 views

Hands On PHP Basics

This document discusses the PHP programming language. It covers PHP introduction and features, PHP scripts, data types including strings, integers, floats, booleans and arrays. It also discusses variables, operators, control structures, functions, working with files and databases.

Uploaded by

oskie
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 43

SATHYABAMA INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLGOY

DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

COURSE MATERIAL

SUBJECT NAME: INTERNET PROGRAMMING UNIT – IV SUBJECT CODE : SIT1302

PHP
4.1 Introduction to PHP & Features
4.2 PHP Scripts
4.3 Data Types
4.4 Variables
4.5 Operators
4.6 Control Structures
4.7 Working with Arrays
4.8 Functions
4.9 Working with Files
4.10 Working with Databases

4.1 Introduction to PHP & Features

PHP is a server scripting language, and a powerful tool for making dynamic and interactive
Web pages.

PHP is a widely-used, free, and efficient alternative to competitors such as Microsoft's ASP.

Example
<html>
<body>
<?php
echo "My first PHP
script!"; ?>
</body>
</html>

What You Should Already Know

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

• HTML
• CSS
• JavaScript

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

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

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

• 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

4.2 PHP Scripts

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 ?>

Example
<html>
<body>

<h1>My first PHP page</h1>

<?php
echo "Hello World!";
?>

</body>
</html>
• 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
Example
<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>

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

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
<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>

4.3 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
<html>
<body>
<?php
$x = "Hello world!";
$y = 'Hello world!';
echo $x;
echo "<br>";
echo $y;
?>
</body>
</html>

OUTPUT:

Hello world!
Hello world!
String Functions

• 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
<html>
<body>
<?php
echo strlen("Hello
world!"); ?>
</body>
</html>

OUPUT:

12

Count The Number of Words in a String

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

Example

<html>
<body>
<?php
echo str_word_count("Hello world!");
?>
</body>
</html>

OUPUT:

Reverse a String

• The PHP strrev() function reverses a string:

Example

<html>
<body>
<?php
echo strrev("Hello world!");
?>
</body>
</html>

OUTPUT:

!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
<html>
<body>
<?php
echo strpos("Hello world!", "world");
?>
</body>
</html>

OUPUT:

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
<html>
<body>
<?php
echo str_replace("world", "Dolly", "Hello world!");
?>
</body>
</html>
OUPUT:

Hello Dolly!

PHP Integer

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
<html>
<body>
<?php
$x = 5985;
var_dump($x);
?>
</body>
</html>

OUTPUT:

int(5985)

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
<html>
<body>
<?php
$x = 10.365;
var_dump($x);
?>
</body>
</html>

OUTPUT:

float(10.365)

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.

PHP Array

• An array stores multiple values in one single variable:


• An array is a special variable, which can hold more than one value at a time.
• If you have a list of items (a list of car names, for example), storing the cars
in single variables could look like this:

$cars1 = "Volvo";
$cars2 = "BMW";
$cars3 = "Toyota";

• However, what if you want to loop through the cars and find a specific one?
And what if you had not 3 cars, but 300?
• The solution is to create an array!
• An array can hold many values under a single name, and you can access the
values by referring to an index number.

Example
<html>
<body>
<?php
$cars = array("Volvo", "BMW", "Toyota");
echo "I like " . $cars[0] . ", " . $cars[1] . " and " . $cars[2] . ".";
?>
</body>
</html>
OUTPUT:

I like Volvo, BMW and Toyota.


Create an Array in PHP

• In PHP, the array() function is used to create an array:

array();

In PHP, there are three types of arrays:

• Indexed arrays - Arrays with a numeric index


• Associative arrays - Arrays with named keys
• Multidimensional arrays - Arrays containing one or more arrays

4.4 Variables

• Variables are "containers" for storing information.


• Creating (Declaring) PHP Variables

• In PHP, a variable starts with the $ sign, followed by the name of the variable:

Example
<html>
<body>
<?php
$txt = "Hello world!";
$x = 5; Output:
$y = 10.5;
Hello world!
echo $txt; 5
echo "<br>"; 10.5
echo $x;
echo "<br>";
echo $y;
?>

</body>
</html>
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.

Rules for PHP variables:

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

• 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)

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:

Example

<html> Output:
<body>
<?php I love W3Schools.com!
$txt = "W3Schools.com";
echo "I love $txt!";
?>
</body>
</html>

Example
<html>
<body>
<?php
Output:
$txt = "W3Schools.com";
echo "I love " . $txt . "!"; I love W3Schools.com!
?>
</body>
</html>
Example
<html>
<body>
<?php
$x = 5; Output:
$y = 4;
echo $x + $y; 9
?>
</body>
</html>

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:

• 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

<html>
<body>
<?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>"; ?>
</body>
</html>
OUTPUT:

Variable x inside function is:

Variable x outside function is: 5

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

Example
<html>
<body>
<?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>"; ?>
</body>
</html>

OUTPUT:

Variable x inside function is: 5


Variable x outside function is:

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):

Example

<html>
<body> Output:
<?php
$x = 5; 15
$y = 10;
function myTest() {
global $x, $y; $y
= $x + $y;
}
myTest(); // run function
echo $y; // output the new value for variable
$y ?>
</body>
</html>
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
<html>
<body>
<?php
Output:
function myTest() {
static $x = 0;
echo $x;
0
$x++; 1
}
myTest(); 2
echo "<br>";
myTest();
echo "<br>";
myTest();
?>
</body>
</html>
echo and print Statements

• 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.
• 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.
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
<html>
<body>
<?php
echo "<h2>PHP is Fun!</h2>";
echo "Hello world!<br>";
echo "I'm about to learn PHP!<br>";
echo "This ", "string ", "was ", "made ", "with multiple
parameters."; ?>
</body>
</html>

OUTPUT:

PHP is Fun!
Hello world!
I'm about to learn PHP!
This string was made with multiple parameters.

Display Variables

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

Example

<html>
<body>
<?php
$txt1 = "Learn PHP"; $txt2
= "W3Schools.com"; $x =
5;
$y = 4;
echo "<h2>" . $txt1 . "</h2>";
echo "Study PHP at " . $txt2 . "<br>";
echo $x + $y;
?>
</body>
</html>

OUTPUT:
Learn PHP
Study PHP at
W3Schools.com 9

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

OUTPUT:

PHP is Fun!
Hello world!
I'm about to learn PHP!

Display Variables

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

Example
<html>
<body>
<?php
$txt1 = "Learn PHP";
$txt2= "W3Schools.com";
$x = 5;
$y = 4;
print "<h2>" . $txt1 . "</h2>";
print "Study PHP at " . $txt2 . "<br>";
print $x +
$y; ?>
</body>
</html>

OUTPUT:

Learn PHP
Study PHP at
W3Schools.com 9

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
<html>
<body>
<?php
class Car {
function Car() { $this-
>model = "VW";
}
}
// create an object
$herbie = new Car();
// show object
properties echo
$herbie->model; ?>
</body>
</html>
OUPUT:

VW

PHP NULL Value

• Null is a special data type which can have only one value: NULL.
• A variable of data type NULL is a variable that has no value assigned to it.
• 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
<html>
<body>
<?php
$x = "Hello world!";
$x = null;
var_dump($x);
?>
</body>
</html>

OUTPUT:

NULL

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:

• 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
<html>
<body>
<?php
// case-sensitive constant name
define("GREETING", "Welcome to
W3Schools.com!"); echo GREETING;
?>
</body>
</html>

OUTPUT:

Welcome to W3Schools.com!

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

Example

<html>
<body>
<?php
// case-insensitive constant name
define("GREETING", "Welcome to W3Schools.com!", true);
echo greeting;
?>
</body>
</html>

OUPUT:

Welcome to W3Schools.com!
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
<html>
<body>
<?php
define("GREETING", "Welcome to
W3Schools.com!"); function myTest() {
echo GREETING;
}
myTest();
?>
</body>
</html>

OUPUT:

Welcome to W3Schools.com!

4.5 PHP Operators

Operators are used to perform operations on variables and values.

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.
• 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):

Operator Name Example Result

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


=== Identical $x === $y Returns true if $x is equal to $y, and they are of
the same type

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

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

!== Not identical $x !== $y Returns true if $x is not equal to $y, or they are
not of the same type

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

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

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


equal to

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

PHP Increment / Decrement Operators

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


• 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

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 === Returns true if $x and $y have the same key/value
$y 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

!== Non- $x !== $y Returns true if $x is not identical to $y


identity

4.6 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

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

<html>
<body>
<?php
$t = date("H");
if ($t < "20") {
echo "Have a good day!";
}
?>
</body>
</html>

OUTPUT:

Have a good day!

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
<html>
<body>
<?php
$t = date("H");
if ($t < "20") {
echo "Have a good day!";
} else {
echo "Have a good night!";
}
?>
</body>
</html>

OUTPUT:

Have a good day!

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) {
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
<html>
<body>
<?php
$t = date("H");
echo "<p>The hour (of the server) is " . $t;
echo ", and will give the following message:</p>";
if ($t < "10") {
echo "Have a good morning!";
} elseif ($t < "20") {
echo "Have a good day!";
} else {
echo "Have a good night!";
}
?>
</body>
</html>

OUTPUT:

The hour (of the server) is 01, and will give the following message:

Have a good morning!

The switch Statement

• The switch statement is used to perform different actions based on


different conditions.

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:
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
<html>
<body>
<?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!";
}
?>
</body>
</html>

OUTPUT:

Your favorite color is red!

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

OUTPUT:

The number is: 1


The number is: 2
The number is: 3
The number is: 4
The number is: 5

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

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

OUTPUT:

The number is: 1


The number is: 2
The number is: 3
The number is: 4
The number is: 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
<html>
<body>
<?php
$x = 6;
do {
echo "The number is: $x <br>";
$x++;
} while ($x <=
5); ?>
</body>
</html>

OUTPUT:

The number is: 6

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:

• 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

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

OUTPUT:

The number is: 0


The number is: 1
The number is: 2
The number is: 3
The number is: 4
The number is: 5
The number is: 6
The number is: 7
The number is: 8
The number is: 9
The number is: 10

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

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

foreach ($colors as $value)


{ echo "$value <br>";
}
?>
</body>
</html>

OUTPUT:

red
green
blue
yellow

4.7 Working with Arrays

PHP Indexed Arrays

• There are two ways to create indexed arrays:


• The index can be assigned automatically (index always starts at 0), like this:
• $cars = array("Volvo", "BMW", "Toyota");
• or the index can be assigned manually:
• $cars[0] = "Volvo";
$cars[1] = "BMW";
$cars[2] = "Toyota";
• The following example creates an indexed array named $cars, assigns
three elements to it, and then prints a text containing the array values:

Example

<html>
<body>
<?php
$cars = array("Volvo", "BMW", "Toyota");
echo "I like " . $cars[0] . ", " . $cars[1] . " and " . $cars[2] . ".";
?>
</body>
</html>

OUTPUT:

I like Volvo, BMW and Toyota.


Get The Length of an Array - The count() Function

The count() function is used to return the length (the number of elements) of an array:
Example

<html>
<body>
<?php
$cars = array("Volvo", "BMW", "Toyota");
echo count($cars);
?>
</body>
</html>

OUTPUT:

3
Loop Through an Indexed Array

To loop through and print all the values of an indexed array, you could use a for loop,
like this:

Example

<html>
<body>
<?php
$cars = array("Volvo", "BMW", "Toyota");
$arrlength = count($cars);

for($x = 0; $x < $arrlength; $x++) {


echo $cars[$x];
echo "<br>";
}
?>
</body>
</html>

OUTPUT:

Volvo
BMW
Toyota
PHP Associative Arrays

• Associative arrays are arrays that use named keys that you assign to them.
• There are two ways to create an associative array:

$age = array("Peter"=>"35", "Ben"=>"37", "Joe"=>"43");

or
$age['Peter'] = "35";
$age['Ben'] = "37";
$age['Joe'] = "43";

• The named keys can then be used in a script:

Example

<html>
<body>
<?php
$age = array("Peter"=>"35", "Ben"=>"37", "Joe"=>"43");
echo "Peter is " . $age['Peter'] . " years old.";
?>
</body>
</html>

OUTPUT:

Peter is 35 years old.


Loop Through an Associative Array

To loop through and print all the values of an associative array, you could use a foreach
loop, like this:
Example

<?php
$age = array("Peter"=>"35", "Ben"=>"37", "Joe"=>"43");
foreach($age as $x => $x_value) {
echo "Key=" . $x . ", Value=" . $x_value;

echo "<br>";
}
?>
Sorting Arrays

The elements in an array can be sorted in alphabetical or numerical order,


descending or ascending.

• sort() - sort arrays in ascending order


• rsort() - sort arrays in descending order
• asort() - sort associative arrays in ascending order, according to the value
• ksort() - sort associative arrays in ascending order, according to the key
• arsort() - sort associative arrays in descending order, according to the value
• krsort() - sort associative arrays in descending order, according to the key
Sort Array in Ascending Order - sort()

The following example sorts the elements of the $cars array in ascending
alphabetical order:

Example

<html>
<body>
<?php
$cars = array("Volvo", "BMW", "Toyota");
sort($cars);

$clength = count($cars);
for($x = 0; $x < $clength; $x++) {
echo $cars[$x];
echo "<br>";
}
?>
</body>
</html>

OUTPUT:
BMW
Toyota
Volvo

The following example sorts the elements of the $numbers array in ascending
numerical order:

Example
<?php
$numbers = array(4, 6, 2, 22,
11); sort($numbers);
?>
OUTPUT:

2
4
6
11
22
Sort Array (Ascending Order), According to Value - asort()

The following example sorts an associative array in ascending order, according to the
value:
Example

<?php
$age = array("Peter"=>"35", "Ben"=>"37", "Joe"=>"43");

asort($age);
?>
OUTPUT:

Key=Peter, Value=35
Key=Ben, Value=37
Key=Joe, Value=43
Sort Array (Ascending Order), According to Key - ksort()

The following example sorts an associative array in ascending order, according to the
key:

Example
<?php
$age = array("Peter"=>"35", "Ben"=>"37", "Joe"=>"43");
ksort($age);
?>
OUTPUT:

Key=Ben, Value=37
Key=Joe, Value=43
Key=Peter, Value=35
Sort Array (Descending Order), According to Value - arsort()

The following example sorts an associative array in descending order, according to the
value:

Example
<?php
$age = array("Peter"=>"35", "Ben"=>"37", "Joe"=>"43");
arsort($age);
?>

OUTPUT:

Key=Joe, Value=43
Key=Ben, Value=37
Key=Peter, Value=35
Sort Array (Descending Order), According to Key - krsort()

The following example sorts an associative array in descending order, according to the
key:

Example
<?php
$age = array("Peter"=>"35", "Ben"=>"37", "Joe"=>"43");
krsort($age);
?>
OUTPUT:

Key=Peter, Value=35
Key=Joe, Value=43
Key=Ben, Value=37

• 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
<html>
<body>
<?php
$cars = array("Volvo","BMW","Toyota");
var_dump($cars);
?>
</body>
</html>

OUTPUT:

array(3) { [0]=> string(5) "Volvo" [1]=> string(3) "BMW" [2]=> string(6) "Toyota" }

4.8 Functions

• The real power of PHP comes from its functions; it has more than 1000 built-in
functions.

PHP User Defined Functions

• Besides the built-in PHP functions, we can create our own functions.
• A function is a block of statements that can be used repeatedly in a program.
• A function will not execute immediately when a page loads.
• A function will be executed by a call to the function.
Create a User Defined Function in PHP

A user-defined function declaration starts with the word function:

Syntax
function functionName() {
code to be executed;
}

• Function names are NOT case-sensitive.

In the example below, we create a function named "writeMsg()". The opening curly
brace ( { ) indicates the beginning of the function code and the closing curly brace ( } )
indicates the end of the function. The function outputs "Hello world!". To call the
function, just write its name:
Example
<html>
<body>
<?php
function writeMsg()
echo "Hello world!";
}
writeMsg();
?>
</body>
</html>

OUTPUT:

Hello world!

PHP Function Arguments

• Information can be passed to functions through arguments. An argument is just


like a variable.
• Arguments are specified after the function name, inside the parentheses. You
can add as many arguments as you want, just separate them with a comma.
• The following example has a function with one argument ($fname). When the
familyName() function is called, we also pass along a name (e.g. Jani), and the
name is used inside the function, which outputs several different first names, but
an equal last name:

Example
<html>
<body>
<?php
function familyName($fname) {
echo "$fname Refsnes.<br>";
}
familyName("Jani");
familyName("Hege");
familyName("Stale");
familyName("Kai Jim");
familyName("Borge");
?>
</body>
</html>

OUTPUT:

Jani Refsnes.
HegeRefsnes.
Stale Refsnes.
Kai Jim Refsnes.
Borge Refsnes.

The following example has a function with two arguments ($fname and $year):

Example
<html>
<body>
<?php
function familyName($fname, $year) {
echo "$fname Refsnes. Born in $year <br>";
}
familyName("Hege","1975");
familyName("Stale","1978");
familyName("Kai
Jim","1983"); ?>
</body>
</html>

OUTPUT:

Hege Refsnes. Born in 1975


Stale Refsnes. Born in 1978
Kai Jim Refsnes. Born in 1983
PHP Default Argument Value

• The following example shows how to use a default parameter. If we call the
function setHeight() without arguments it takes the default value as argument:

Example
<html>
<body>
<?php
function setHeight($minheight = 50) {
echo "The height is : $minheight <br>";
}
setHeight(350);
setHeight();
setHeight(135);
setHeight(80);
?>
</body>
</html>
OUTPUT:

The height is : 350


The height is : 50
The height is : 135
The height is : 80

PHP Functions - Returning values

• To let a function return a value, use the return statement:

Example
<html>
<body>
<?php
function sum($x, $y) {
$z = $x + $y;
return $z;
}
echo "5 + 10 = " . sum(5,10) . "<br>";
echo "7 + 13 = " . sum(7,13) . "<br>";
echo "2 + 4 = " . sum(2,4);
?>
</body>
</html>

OUTPUT:

5 + 10 = 15

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