Languages

Displaying  A String :
To output a string, like we have done in previous lessons, use PHP echo. You can place either a string variable or you can use quotes, like we do below, to create a string that the echo function will output.

PHP Code:
<?php
$myString = "Hello!";
echo $myString;
echo "<h5>I love using PHP!</h5>";
?>

Display Output:
Hello!
I love using PHP!

In the above example we output "Hello!" without a hitch. The text we are outputting is being sent to the user in the form of a web page, so it is important that we use proper HTML syntax!

In our second echo statement we use echo to write a valid Header 5 HTML statement. To do this we simply put the <h5> at the beginning of the string and closed it at the end of the string. Just because you're using PHP to make web pages does not mean you can forget about HTML syntax!

Careful When Echoing Quotes :
Echo uses quotes to define the beginning and end of the string, so you must use one of the following tactics if your string contains quotations:

• Don't use quotes inside your string
• Escape your quotes that are within the string with a backslash. To escape a quote just place a backslash directly before the quotation mark, i.e. \"
• Use single quotes (apostrophes) for quotes inside your string.
• See our example below for the right and wrong use of echo:

PHP Code:
<?php
// This won't work because of the quotes around specialH5!
echo "<h5 class="specialH5">I love using PHP!</h5>";  

// OK because we escaped the quotes!
echo "<h5 class=\"specialH5\">I love using PHP!</h5>";  

// OK because we used an apostrophe '
echo "<h5 class='specialH5'>I love using PHP!</h5>";  
?>
If you want to output a string that includes quotations, either use an apostrophe ( ' ) or escape the quotations by placing a backslash in front of it ( \" ). The backslash will tell PHP that you want the quotation to be used within the string and NOT to be used to end the echo's string.

Echoing Variables :
Echoing variables are very easy. The PHP developers put in some extra work to make the common task of echoing all variables nearly foolproof! No quotations are required, even if the variable does not hold a string. Below is the correct format for echoing a variable.

PHP Code:
<?php
$my_string = "Hello Bob.  My name is: ";
$my_number = 4;
$my_letter = a;
echo $my_string;
echo $my_number;
echo $my_letter;
?>
Display Output:
Hello Bob. My name is: 4a