This is my first php program!

Statements and Semicolons
A statement is a collection of PHP code that does something. It can be as simple as
a variable assignment or as complicated as a loop with multiple exit points. Here is
,ch02.15294 Page 17 Wednesday, March 13, 2002 11:42 AM

---

This is the Title of the Book, eMatter Edition
Copyright © 2002 O’Reilly & Associates, Inc. All rights reserved.
18
|
Chapter 2: Language Basics
a small sample of PHP statements, including function calls, assignment, and an
if
test:
echo "Hello, world";
myfunc(42, "O'Reilly");
$a = 1;
$name = "Elphaba";
$b = $a / 25.0;
if ($a == $b) { echo "Rhyme? And Reason?"; }
PHP uses semicolons to separate simple statements. A compound statement that
uses curly braces to mark a block of code, such as a conditional test or loop, does not
need a semicolon after a closing brace. Unlike in other languages, in PHP the semico-
lon before the closing brace is not optional:
if ($needed) {
echo "We must have it!"; // semicolon required here
} // no semicolon required here
The semicolon is optional before a closing PHP tag:
if ($a == $b) { echo "Rhyme? And Reason?"; }
echo "Hello, world" // no semicolon required before closing tag
?>
It’s good programming practice to include optional semicolons, as they make it eas-
ier to add code later.
Whitespace and Line Breaks
In general, whitespace doesn’t matter in a PHP program. You can spread a state-
ment across any number of lines, or lump a bunch of statements together on a single
line. For example, this statement:
raise_prices($inventory, $inflation, $cost_of_living, $greed);
could just as well be written with more whitespace:
raise_prices (
$inventory ,
$inflation ,
$cost_of_living ,
$greed
) ;
or with less whitespace:
raise_prices($inventory,$inflation,$cost_of_living,$greed);
You can take advantage of this flexible formatting to make your code more read-
able (by lining up assignments, indenting, etc.). Some lazy programmers take advan-
tage of this free-form formatting and create completely unreadable code—this isn’t
recommended.
,ch02.15294 Page 18 Wednesday, March 13, 2002 11:42 AM

---

This is the Title of the Book, eMatter Edition
Copyright © 2002 O’Reilly & Associates, Inc. All rights reserved.