PHP for Absolute Beginners

"Hello, World!" and Beyond

Follow along: 

http://bit.ly/1JsOgJC

Created by Juan Manuel Torres / @onema

Juan Manuel Torres

Born and raised in Bogotá Colombia

Software Engineer

MS Computer Science SDSU, 6+ years of experience 

Started using PHP in 2000

Started programming in 1999

How this presentation works

  • Use the link to follow the presentation http://bit.ly/1JsOgJC
  • Use the orange links to access resources
  • Follow my instructions!
  • If you see this icon, you can see working code example

Overview

  • Create a GitHub Account
  • Create a Cloud 9 Account
  • What is a computer program?
  • What is PHP?
  • Writing your first script "Hello, World!"
  • Variables in PHP
  • Data types in PHP
  • Operators in PHP

Create a GitHub Account

What is GitHub?

 

  • GitHub is a hosted Git service (version control system)
  • It is very popular for hosting Open Source projects
  • It is used to "Sign in with GitHub" to a lot of development Tools 

Create a GitHub Account

Pick a Username / Password & SELECT A FREE ACCOUNT

Fork the Repository

Create a Cloud 9 Account

Create a Cloud 9 Account

Create a Cloud 9 Project

Create a Cloud 9 Project

Create a Cloud 9 Project

What is a Computer Program?

Computer programs are collections of instructions that tell a computer how to interact with the user, the computer hardware or process data [1]

What is PHP?

PHP (recursive acronym for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor) is a widely-used open source general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for web development [2]

Unlike other scripting languages that run directly in your computer, PHP will almost always run on a server.

Writing our first program

"Hello, World!"

The "Hello, World!" program is the simplest program you can write in any programming language. All it does is output "Hello, World!" [3]

Writing our first program

"Hello, World!"

<?php

// THESE ARE COMMENTS AND 
// WILL BE IGNORED BY PHP
/* 
   USE THE "/*" FOR 
   MULTILINE COMMENTS
*/


print 'Hello, world!';


?>

With our "php-intro-workshop" project there is a sample hello-world.php file

PHP Open tag: tells the computer where the php program starts

  • "echo" or "print" to the screen
  • Anything in the quotes is a "string"
  • the ';' tells php the end of the command

PHP only files do not require a closing php tag

Variables

A variable is a storage location associated with a name.  Variables contain an unknown quantity or information called value [4]

<?php
// 01.simple_variable.php

$name = 'Juan';
$x = 30;
$y = 1.123;

// print the values below
print "";

Rules for PHP Variables [5]

  • 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 _ )

Using PHP Variables [5]

<?php
// 02.hello_name.php

$name = 'Juan';
print "Hello, $name!";
/** 
 * This will output:
 * Hello, Juan!
 */

Data Types

A Data Type Is classification identifying one of various types of data [6]

Data Types

PHP Defines eight data types [7]

 

  • Four scalar types:
    • boolean (true or false)
    • integer (negative & positive non factional numbers & zero)
    • float (floating-point number, aka double)
    • string  (a series of characters)
  • Two compound types:
    • array (we'll try to cover arrays later)
    • object (we won't get to objects)
  • And finally two special types:
    • resource (we won't get to resource)
    • NULL (variable with no value)

Data Types

<?php
// 03.data_types.php

print gettype(true)      . PHP_EOL;      // bolean
print gettype(12345)     . PHP_EOL;      // integer
print gettype(1.2345)    . PHP_EOL;      // double
print gettype("Hello")   . PHP_EOL;      // string
print gettype([1, 2, 3]) . PHP_EOL;      // array
print gettype(new stdClass()) . PHP_EOL; // object
print gettype(null)      . PHP_EOL;      // NULL

PHP_EOL is a constant that represents the "End Of Line" symbol.

Operators

An operator in a programming language is a symbol that tells the [computer] to perform specific mathematical, relational or logical operation and produce final result. [8]

An operator is something that takes one or more values (or expressions, in programming jargon) and yields another value. [9]

Arithmetic Operators

-$a Negation Opposite of $a.
$a + $b Addition Sum of $a and $b.
$a - $b Subtraction Difference of $a and $b.
$a * $b Multiplication Product of $a and $b.
$a / $b Division Quotient of $a and $b.
$a % $b Modulus Remainder of $a divided by $b.
$a ** $b Exponentiation Result of raising $a to the $b'th power.

Assignment Operator

<?php
// 04.assignment_operator.php
$a = 1;
$b = 2;
$three = $a + $b;

print $three;

The assignment operator "=" is used to assign a value to a variable. It is not used to compare!

Comparison Operators


 

$a == $b Equal TRUE if $a is equal to $b
$a === $b Identical TRUE if $a is equal to $b
$a != $b Not equal TRUE if $a is not equal to $b
$a !== $b Not identical TRUE if $a is not equal to $b 
$a < $b Less than TRUE if $a is strictly less than $b .
$a > $b Greater than TRUE if $a is strictly greater than $b .
$a <= $b Less than or equal to TRUE if $a is less than or equal to $b .
$a >= $b Greater than or equal to TRUE if $a is greater than or equal to $b .

 

Comparison Operator

<?php
// 05.comparison_operators.php

var_dump(1 == 2);       // FALSE
var_dump(1 < 2);        // TRUE
var_dump(1 <= 2);       // TRUE
var_dump(2 > 2);        // FALSE
var_dump(2 >= 2);       // TRUE
var_dump(1 == true);    // TRUE - same as (bool)1 == TRUE
var_dump(1 === true);   // FALSE - same as (int)1 === FALSE
var_dump(0 == false);   // TRUE - same as (bool)0 == FALSE
var_dump(0 === false);  // FALSE - same as (int)0 === FALSE

The assignment operator "=" is used to assign a value to a variable. It is not used to compare!

Let's write some code!

Write a program that does the following:

  • Choose a number between 1 and 10 
  • Assign that number to the variable $x
  • Add five to $x
  • Double the result
  • Subtract 4
  • Divide by 2
  • Subtract the original number

Conclusion

  • While you learn do not waste time setting up dev environments, use C9
  • PHP is a general purpose scripting language often used for the web
  • Variables are used to store data
  • Operators (assignment and arithmetic) are used to make transformations to the data
  • Comparison operators along with flow control statements are used to add logic to your programs

practical Advice [10]

  • Plan your code before you write it
  • Write a lot of code
  • Ask others to review your code
  • Learning how to program takes time; take the time to learn
  • There are a lot of free resources, but don't be afraid to invest in your education (books, trainings, conferences, subscriptions )

RESOURCES

questions?

THE END

Juan Manuel Torres | @onema

References

PHP for Absolute Beginners

By Juan Manuel Torres

PHP for Absolute Beginners

  • 2,252