PHP - Echo
As you saw in the previous lesson, the PHP function echo
is a means of outputting text to the web browser. Throughout your
PHP career you will be using the echo function more than any other. So
let's give it a solid perusal!
Outputting a String
To output a string, like we have done in previous lessons, use
the PHP echo function. 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:
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!
It is pretty cool that you can output HTML with PHP. However, you must be careful when using HTML code or
any other string that includes quotes! The echo function 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 the echo
function:
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 echo's string.
Echoing Variables
Echoing variables is 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:
Hello Bob. My name is: 4a
Echoing Variables and Text Strings
You can also combine text strings and variables. By doing such
a conjunction you save yourself from having to do a large number of echo
statements. Variables and text strings are joined together with a period( . ). The example
below shows how to do such a combination.
PHP Code:
<?php
$my_string = "Hello Bob. My name is: ";
$newline = "<br />";
echo $my_string."Bobettta".$newline;
echo "Hi, I'm Bob. Who are you? ".$my_string.$newline;
echo "Hi, I'm Bob. Who are you? ".$my_string."Bobetta";
?>
Display:
Hello Bob. My name is: Bobetta
Hi, I'm Bob. Who are you? Hello Bob. My name is:
Hi, I'm Bob. Who are you? Hello Bob. My name is: Bobetta
This combination
can be done multiple times, as the example shows. This method of joining
two or more strings together is called concatenation and we will talk more about this
and other forms of string manipulation in our string lesson.
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