Getting Started with PHP for Web Development

PHP remains a cornerstone of web development. Learn the basics of PHP and how to build your first dynamic website.

PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) is a widely-used, open-source scripting language that is especially suited for web development and can be embedded into HTML. Despite the rise of other languages, PHP continues to power a significant portion of the web, including platforms like WordPress and Facebook. To get started, you'll need a local development environment like XAMPP or MAMP, which bundles Apache, MySQL, and PHP. The basic syntax is easy to grasp. PHP code is executed on the server, and the plain HTML result is sent back to the browser. A simple PHP script starts with <?php and ends with ?>. You can declare variables with a dollar sign (e.g., $name = "World";), use control structures like if-else and loops, and connect to databases to create dynamic, data-driven websites. For beginners, building a simple contact form that processes and emails data is an excellent first project.

Sub-heading in the Blog Post

This is a paragraph under a sub-heading. You can continue to structure your content using markdown or rich text. Add more paragraphs, lists, images, and code blocks as needed to create a comprehensive and engaging article.

• This is a list item.
• Another item in the list.
• And a third one to show a list.

function greet() {
  console.log("Hello, World!");
}