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Introduction to PHP

PHP is a widely-used open source general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for web development and can be embedded directly into pristine HTML context.

Why Learn This?

70% of the Web

PHP famously acts as the backbone engine for WordPress. Because WordPress powers massive swaths of the internet, PHP remains immensely relevant.

Server-Side Rendering

PHP executes fully on the server, safely reaching into databases and composing final HTML strings before securely shipping them to the user's browser.

Laravel Framework Magic

Modern PHP utilizes the elite Laravel framework, proving PHP is capable of cutting-edge syntax, robust API systems, and incredibly fast development workflows.

Deploying PHP

Unlike Javascript, your browser cannot read PHP. It must be hosted on a server (like Apache or Nginx) capable of executing the php processor logic first.

Embedding backend logic directly in HTML:
index.php
1<!DOCTYPE html> 2<html> 3<body> 4 5<h1>Welcome to my Homepage!</h1> 6 7<?php 8 // PHP safely calculates the time before sending the UI 9 $hour = date("H"); 10 11 if ($hour < 12) { 12 echo "<p>Good morning, user!</p>"; 13 } else { 14 echo "<p>Good afternoon, user!</p>"; 15 } 16?> 17 18</body> 19</html>

Official Learning Resources