The key to the first step in learning PHP is to practice hands-on rather than get stuck in the details. First, you need to install the environment, use XAMPP, Laragon or MAMP to quickly build the server, put index.php into the directory and run it directly; secondly, start with the basic code, master echo output, variables, conditional statements and loops, and avoid mixing HTML and PHP from the beginning; then use MySQLi to familiarize yourself with SQL operations when connecting to the database, and then gradually transition to PDO; finally, when debugging, enable error prompts, troubleshoot problems through logs and var_dump(), and only when writing and searching for information can you truly master PHP.
The first step to learning PHP is actually not that difficult. The key is to find the right direction and don’t get stuck in the grammatical details from the beginning.
Installation environment: Run first
Many people want to understand what each configuration file does as soon as they come up, but they get stuck. In fact, you can first use ready-made toolkits, such as XAMPP or Laragon, and install Apache, MySQL and PHP environments with one click. After installing, put index.php in the specified directory, and you can see the effect as soon as the browser opens. In this way, you can write code immediately, instead of just looking at the document and dazed.
- It is recommended to use Laragon on Windows, which is light and easy to configure
- Mac users can try MAMP, and the operation is also very simple
- If you want to practice the command line, you can also manually install PHP using the built-in server
php -S localhost:8000
After you get familiar with it, it is not too late to learn about php.ini or virtual host configuration.
Write some basic code: start with the output
The easiest output of PHP is echo , such as:
<?php echo "Hello, World!"; ?>
Put it into a .php file and access it in the server directory. If you can see the page output, it means you are already getting started. Next, you can try variables, conditional statements and loops. Don't rush to remember all functions. First master the process control and understand how to "translate" logic into code.
Common misunderstandings:
- Mix HTML and PHP together to write, the structure is messy
- Forgot the end tag
?>or the beginning tag<?php - Output Chinese garbled code, remember to add
header('Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8');
Connect to the database: Make the data move
PHP is often used as a backend interface or dynamic web page, so database connection is very important. At the beginning, you can use MySQLi extensions to practice, such as connecting to databases and executing queries:
$conn = mysqli_connect("localhost", "root", "", "test_db");
if (!$conn) {
die("Connection failed:" . mysqli_connect_error());
}Slowly transition to PDO, supporting more databases is also more secure. Don't be scared away by the ORM framework from the beginning. First figure out how SQL runs in PHP, so that you won't be dizzy when you learn the framework later.
Debugging and error handling: Don't be afraid of errors
Newbie people are most afraid of seeing red-word error messages on the screen, but in fact it is a good thing - it tells you what's wrong. It is recommended to enable error display in the development stage:
ini_set('display_errors', 1); error_reporting(E_ALL);
This will help you find problems in a timely manner. Remember to turn off these settings when online to avoid exposing sensitive information.
If you encounter problems, you can:
- See if it is a misspelling or a missing semicolon
- Check log files (usually in php_error.log)
- Use
var_dump()to output variable content debugging
Basically that's all. The key to getting started with PHP is to write by hand, don't just read and not practice. It is normal to not understand many things at the beginning, so I can read them while writing and searching the information.
The above is the detailed content of PHP: The First Steps. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!
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