Server-Side Programming: PHP

Introduction – Converting between data types – Operators – Arrays – String Comparison –

Regular Expression – Form Processing and Business Logic – Reading from a database – Using
Cookies – Ajax web Application – Ajax example using XMLHttpRequest Object.

1. Introduction to PHP

PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) is a server-side scripting language primarily used for web
development. PHP code is executed on the server, and the result is sent to the browser.

✅ Example:

<?php
echo "Hello, World!";
?>

🧠 Output: Hello, World!

🔹 2. Converting Between Data Types

PHP is loosely typed, but sometimes you need to convert between types explicitly.

✅ Example:

$number = "10"; // String

$converted = (int)$number; // Convert to integer
echo $converted + 5;

🧠 Output: 15

Use functions like (int), (float), (string) for typecasting.

🔹 3. Operators

PHP supports a wide range of operators:

 Arithmetic: +, -, *, /
 Assignment: =, +=
 Comparison: ==, ===, !=
  Logical: &&, ||, !

✅ Example:

$a = 10;
$b = 5;
echo $a + $b; // Arithmetic
echo $a > $b; // Comparison

🔹 4. Arrays

Arrays store multiple values. PHP has:

 Indexed Arrays
 Associative Arrays
 Multidimensional Arrays

✅ Example:

// Indexed
$colors = ["Red", "Green", "Blue"];
echo $colors[1]; // Green

// Associative
$ages = ["John" => 25, "Jane" => 22];
echo $ages["Jane"]; // 22

🔹 5. String Comparison

Use ==, ===, strcmp() to compare strings.

✅ Example:

$str1 = "hello";
$str2 = "Hello";

if (strcmp($str1, $str2) == 0) {
echo "Equal";
} else {
echo "Not equal";
}

🧠 Output: Not equal (because of case sensitivity)

🔹 6. Regular Expression

Used for pattern matching and validation using functions like preg_match().

✅ Example:
= "[email protected]";
if (preg_match("/^[a-z0-9._%-]+@[a-z0-9.-]+\.[a-z]{2,4}$/", $email)) {
echo "Valid email";
} else {
echo "Invalid email";
}

🔹 7. Form Processing and Business Logic

HTML form collects input, PHP processes it with logic.

✅ Example (HTML):

<form method="post" action="process.php">

Name: <input type="text" name="name">
<input type="submit">
</form>

✅ process.php:

<?php
$name = $_POST['name'];
echo "Hello, " . htmlspecialchars($name);
?>

🔹 8. Reading from a Database (MySQL with mysqli)

✅ Example:

$conn = mysqli_connect("localhost", "root", "", "testdb");

$result = mysqli_query($conn, "SELECT * FROM users");

while($row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($result)) {
echo $row['username'] . "<br>";
}
mysqli_close($conn);

🔹 9. Using Cookies

Cookies store small data on the client's browser.

✅ Set a Cookie:

setcookie("user", "John", time() + 3600); // 1 hour

✅ Read a Cookie:

if(isset($_COOKIE["user"])) {
echo "User is " . $_COOKIE["user"];
}
🔹 10. AJAX Web Application

AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) allows updating parts of a page without
reloading.

✅ HTML:

<button onclick="loadData()">Get Data</button>

<div id="result"></div>

✅ JavaScript:

function loadData() {
var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
xhr.open("GET", "data.php", true);
xhr.onload = function() {
if (this.status == 200) {
document.getElementById("result").innerHTML = this.responseText;
}
};
xhr.send();
}

🔹 11. AJAX with XMLHttpRequest (Server File: data.php)

✅ data.php:

<?php
echo "This data was loaded via AJAX!";
?>

🧠 Output (on button click):

This data was loaded via AJAX! appears in the <div>.

1. Introduction to PHP

PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) is a server-side scripting language widely used for web
development. It is embedded within HTML and executes on the server.

Example:

<?php
echo "Hello, World!";
?>
Explanation: This script uses echo to output the string "Hello, World!". The <?php ... ?>
tags denote PHP code.

2. Converting Between Data Types

PHP is loosely typed, but conversions can be done explicitly.

Example:

$number = "10";
$converted = (int)$number;
echo $converted + 5; // Outputs 15

Explanation: The string "10" is typecast to an integer using (int), and then added to 5. The
result is 15.

3. Operators in PHP

Types of operators:

 Arithmetic: +, -, *, /
 Assignment: =, +=, etc.
 Comparison: ==, ===, !=
 Logical: &&, ||, !

Example:

$a = 10;
$b = 5;
echo $a + $b; // Outputs 15
echo $a > $b; // Outputs 1 (true)

Explanation: The first line adds two integers. The second line compares them and returns
true (represented as 1 in PHP).

4. Arrays in PHP

 Indexed Arrays
 Associative Arrays
 Multidimensional Arrays

Example:

$colors = ["Red", "Green", "Blue"];

echo $colors[1]; // Green
$ages = ["John" => 25, "Jane" => 22];
echo $ages["Jane"]; // 22

Explanation: $colors is an indexed array where elements are accessed using numeric
indices. $ages is an associative array where elements are accessed using named keys.

5. String Comparison

Use ==, ===, or strcmp().

Example:

$str1 = "hello";
$str2 = "Hello";
echo strcmp($str1, $str2); // Outputs a non-zero value (case-sensitive)

Explanation: strcmp() compares two strings. It returns 0 if they are equal, a positive
number if $str1 is greater, or a negative if smaller. Case matters here.

6. Regular Expressions

Used for pattern matching and input validation.

Example:

$email = "[email protected]";
if (preg_match("/^\w+@[a-zA-Z_]+?\.[a-zA-Z]{2,3}$/", $email)) {
echo "Valid email";
} else {
echo "Invalid email";
}

Explanation: The preg_match function checks if $email matches the given regular
expression pattern for a basic email format.

7. Form Processing and Business Logic

HTML Form:

<form method="post" action="process.php">

Name: <input type="text" name="name">
<input type="submit">
</form>

process.php:
<?php
$name = $_POST['name'];
echo "Hello, " . htmlspecialchars($name);
?>

Explanation: The form sends data via POST to process.php. The PHP script retrieves the
name using $_POST['name'] and prints a greeting, using htmlspecialchars() to prevent
XSS attacks.

8. Reading from a Database

Example:

$conn = mysqli_connect("localhost", "root", "", "testdb");

$result = mysqli_query($conn, "SELECT * FROM users");

while($row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($result)) {
echo $row['username'] . "<br>";
}
mysqli_close($conn);

Explanation:

 mysqli_connect() connects to the MySQL database.

 mysqli_query() runs an SQL query.
 mysqli_fetch_assoc() retrieves each row as an associative array.
 The usernames are printed with a line break.
 mysqli_close() closes the connection.

9. Using Cookies

Set a Cookie:

setcookie("user", "John", time() + 3600);

Read a Cookie:

if(isset($_COOKIE["user"])) {
echo "User is " . $_COOKIE["user"];
}

Explanation: setcookie() sets a cookie named "user" with value "John" that expires in 1
hour. $_COOKIE is used to access the stored cookie value.

10. AJAX Web Application

Allows dynamic updates without reloading the page.

HTML:

<button onclick="loadData()">Get Data</button>

<div id="result"></div>

JavaScript:

function loadData() {
var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
xhr.open("GET", "data.php", true);
xhr.onload = function() {
if (this.status == 200) {
document.getElementById("result").innerHTML = this.responseText;
}
};
xhr.send();
}

Explanation: XMLHttpRequest is used to fetch data asynchronously from data.php. On

success, the returned data is displayed in the <div> with id result.

11. AJAX Example using XMLHttpRequest

data.php:

<?php
echo "This data was loaded via AJAX!";
?>

Explanation: This PHP file simply returns a string. When requested via AJAX, the string is
inserted into the web page without reloading.