A variable is used to store any value that you like.
You can reuse variable in any block of code in your PHP script.
PHP variables must start with a dollar ($) sign.
PHP Variable Syntax
$variable_name = value;Below is an example of how to use variables in PHP:
<?php $firstname = "John"; $lastname = "Smith"; echo $firstname . ' ' . $lastname; echo "The above code will output the following on your web browser:
If you came from other programming languages like c/c++ and or Java, you will not have difficulty understanding PHP syntax as they have the same thing in common.
But unlike c/c++ or Java, PHP script is executed on the server and can be inserted within any HTML code and must start scripting block with <?php and end with ?>.
Below is an example of PHP file:
Before we start working with PHP/MySQL, you need to install WampServer first in your local computer. WampServer will allow you to run PHP script in your local computer without accessing live server.
Running PHP script locally will also speed up your development.
First download WampServer from http://www.wampserver.com/.
In step # 3 select 32bit or 64bit.
Download PHP from: http://www.php.net/downloads.php
Download MySQL from: http://www.mysql.com/downloads/
Download Apache from: http://httpd.apache.org/download.cgi
If you don’t like to install each application separately, you can install WampServer from http://www.wampserver.com/.
PHP is one of the best scripting language alternatives to Microsoft’s ASP. PHP is known as the language used by popular Content Management System or CMS like WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla.
PHP is used along with MySQL as the database backend. Both software are free and is licensed under GNU.
In this tutorial you will learn how to make PHP script using step-by-step procedure.