Welcome to the world of PHP! PHP, which stands for “Hypertext Preprocessor,” is a powerful server-side scripting language used for web development. It’s particularly popular for creating dynamic and interactive websites.

In this post, we will guide you through writing your first PHP program. Whether you’re a beginner or just looking to refresh your knowledge, this guide will help you take the first step.

Setting Up Your Environment

Before we write any code, ensure you have the following:

1. A Web Server: Install software like XAMPP, WAMP, or MAMP, which includes Apache and PHP.
2. A Code Editor: Use a text editor like Visual Studio Code, Sublime Text, or Notepad++.
3. PHP Installed: Most web servers like XAMPP come with PHP pre-installed.

Writing Your First PHP Script

1. Open your code editor.
2. Create a new file and name it first_program.php.
3. Add the following code:

<?php
// This is your first PHP program

echo "Hello, World!";
?>

Explanation of the Code

• <?php and ?>: These tags tell the server that the code inside is written in PHP.
• echo: This is used to output text to the browser.
• "Hello, World!": This is the text that will be displayed in the browser.

Running Your PHP Program

1. Save the file in the htdocs folder (or the equivalent directory) of your web server.
2. Start your web server.
3. Open a browser and navigate to http://localhost/first_program.php.

You should see the output:

Hello, World!

Congratulations! You’ve successfully written and executed your first PHP program.

What’s Next?

Now that you’ve written your first program, explore more PHP concepts like variables, loops, and functions. PHP opens the door to endless possibilities in web development.

Happy coding!