Problem scenario
You are a Bash programmer, but you want to learn how to code in PHP. How do you learn to develop PHP scripts when you have a Linux bash background?
Solution
If you are new to PHP programming and familiar with Bash programming, remember these tips:
1. Variable assignments involve the variable with the syntax of a cash sign "$" before the variable name. Here is an example:
$var4 = 4;
2. An error such as this "PHP Parse error: syntax error, unexpected '...' (T_VARIABLE) " can be caused by forgetting to have a semi-colon at the end of a line. Here is an example:
$var1 = "A sentence";
3. To concatenate strings, use a period between two variables like this:
$var3 = $var1.$var2;
4. Here is a basic program to learn about arithmetic and conditionals:
<?php
$var1 = "The beginning of a sentence";
$var2 = " and other stuff.";
$var3 = $var1.$var2;
$var4 = 4;
$var5 = 5;
$var6 = $var4 - $var5;
if ($var6 > 3) { echo "It is bigger than three!!!";}
else { echo "It is not bigger than three!!!";}
?>
Save the above file as test.php, and run it with this command: php test.php