A Beginner-Friendly Guide by Cyber Gita

PHP is one of the most popular programming languages used to build dynamic and interactive websites. The full form of PHP is PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor. It is a server-side scripting language, which means the PHP code runs on the server before the web page is shown to the user.

Over the years, PHP has gained massive popularity because it is easy to learn, powerful, and widely supported. Today, PHP powers millions of websites, including popular platforms like WordPress, Shopify, and many custom business applications.

Because PHP works on multiple operating systems (Windows, Linux, macOS) and supports many web servers, it is an ideal choice for anyone starting a career in web development.

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What You Will Learn in This Guide

This beginner guide will help you understand the core building blocks of PHP, including:

• Basic PHP syntax
• Variables and data types
• Operators
• Conditional statements (if–else)
• Writing and running simple PHP programs

By the end of this guide, you will be able to write simple PHP programs and understand how PHP logic works.

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The Basics of PHP

Let’s start our journey by understanding PHP syntax and how PHP code is executed.

PHP Syntax

In PHP, syntax is very important. PHP code must always be written inside PHP opening and closing tags:

<?php
?>

These tags tell the server where PHP code starts and ends.
You can write PHP code inside an HTML file, but only the code inside PHP tags will be executed.

👉 Important:
Always save PHP files with the .php extension.

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Your First PHP Program: Hello World

Let’s write our first PHP program.

Steps:

1. Open your code editor
2. Create a new file named syntax.php
3. Add the PHP tags:

<?php
?>

4. Now add this code inside the tags:

<?php
echo "Hello World";
?>

5. Open your terminal and run:

php syntax.php

🎉 Output:

Hello World

If you see this output, your PHP setup is working correctly.

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Variables and Data Types in PHP

Variables are used to store data temporarily in a program. Almost every PHP application uses variables.

Variable Syntax in PHP

$variableName = "value";

• Variables always start with a $ symbol
• Variable names cannot start with numbers
• PHP automatically detects the data type

Common Data Types in PHP

Data Type	Example
String	"Hello World"
Integer	123
Float	10.50
Boolean	true or false

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Working with Variables (Real Example)

Let’s create a real-world example using variables.

File: variables.php

<?php
$name = "John Doe";
$age = 25;
$hourlyRate = 10.50;
$hours = 40;

echo $name . " is " . $age . " years old.\n";
echo $name . " makes $" . $hourlyRate . " an hour.\n";
echo $name . " worked " . $hours . " hours this week.\n";
?>

PHP also allows embedding variables inside strings:

echo "My name is $name";

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Operators in PHP

Operators allow us to perform calculations, compare values, and control logic.

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Comparison Operators

Used to compare two values:

Operator	Meaning
==	Equal
===	Identical (value + type)
!=	Not equal
<	Less than
>	Greater than
<=	Less than or equal
>=	Greater than or equal

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Logical Operators

Used to check multiple conditions:

Operator	Meaning
!	NOT
&&	AND
`

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Mathematical Operators

Used for calculations:

Operator	Function
+	Addition
-	Subtraction
*	Multiplication
/	Division
%	Modulus

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Combining Variables and Operators

Let’s calculate a yearly salary using operators.

File: operators.php

<?php
$name = "John Doe";
$hourlyRate = 10.50;
$hours = 40;
$weeks = 52;

$weeklyPay = $hourlyRate * $hours;
$salary = $weeklyPay * $weeks;

echo $name . " will make $" . $salary . " this year.\n";
?>

Run the file using:

php operators.php

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Conditionals in PHP (if Statements)

Conditionals control the flow of execution in a program.

Basic if Statement

if (condition) {
    // code runs if condition is true
}

if–else Statement

if (condition) {
    // true case
} else {
    // false case
}

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Working with Conditionals (Example)

File: conditionals.php

<?php
$animal = "lion";

if ($animal == "cat") {
    echo "meow\n";
} else if ($animal == "dog") {
    echo "woof\n";
} else if ($animal == "lion") {
    echo "roar\n";
} else {
    echo "Unknown animal\n";
}
?>

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Activity: Employee Salary Calculator

This activity helps you practice variables, operators, and conditionals.

Scenario

Employees working on Black Friday:

• Get 1.5x hourly pay
• Get 10% commission
• Bonus of $1000 if sales ≥ $1000

File: index.php

<?php
$hourlyRate = 10;
$hoursWorked = 12;
$rateMultiplier = 1.5;
$commissionRate = 0.10;
$grossSales = 1200;
$bonus = 0;

$holidayRate = $hourlyRate * $rateMultiplier;
$holidayPay = $holidayRate * $hoursWorked;
$commission = $commissionRate * $grossSales;
$salary = $holidayPay + $commission;

if ($grossSales >= 1000) {
    $bonus = 1000;
}

echo "Salary: $" . $salary . "\n";
echo "Bonus: $" . $bonus . "\n";
echo "Total Pay: $" . ($salary + $bonus) . "\n";
?>

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Summary

In this guide, we learned:

• PHP syntax and structure
• Variables and data types
• Operators and calculations
• Conditional logic using if–else
• Writing real-world PHP programs

You now have a strong foundation in PHP basics.
In the next chapter, you’ll learn about arrays and loops, which will help you build more powerful applications.

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🚀 Learn More with Cyber Gita

Visit: https://cybergita.in
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