This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Abdul Haseeb
Here’s a comprehensive PHP cheat sheet covering essential syntax and functions:
Basics
<?php
// Single-line comment
/*
Multi-line comment
*/
// Variables
$variable_name = "Value"; // String
$number = 123; // Integer
$float = 12.34; // Float
$boolean = true; // Boolean
$array = [1, 2, 3]; // Array
// Constants
define("CONSTANT_NAME", "Value");
const ANOTHER_CONSTANT = "Value";
?>
Data Types
- String:
"Hello, World!"
- Integer:
123
- Float:
12.34
- Boolean:
true
orfalse
- Array:
["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
- Object
- NULL
Strings
<?php
$str = "Hello";
$str2 = 'World';
$combined = $str . " " . $str2; // Concatenation
// String functions
strlen($str); // Length of a string
strpos($str, "e"); // Position of first occurrence
str_replace("e", "a", $str); // Replace all occurrences
?>
Arrays
<?php
$array = [1, 2, 3];
$assoc_array = ["key1" => "value1", "key2" => "value2"];
// Array functions
count($array); // Count elements
array_push($array, 4); // Add an element
array_merge($array, [4, 5]); // Merge arrays
in_array(2, $array); // Check if element exists
?>
Control Structures
If-Else
<?php
if ($condition) {
// code to execute if true
} elseif ($another_condition) {
// code to execute if another condition is true
} else {
// code to execute if all conditions are false
}
?>
Switch
<?php
switch ($variable) {
case "value1":
// code to execute if variable equals value1
break;
case "value2":
// code to execute if variable equals value2
break;
default:
// code to execute if no case matches
}
?>
Loops
<?php
// For loop
for ($i = 0; $i < 10; $i++) {
// code to execute
}
// While loop
while ($condition) {
// code to execute
}
// Do-While loop
do {
// code to execute
} while ($condition);
// Foreach loop
foreach ($array as $value) {
// code to execute
}
?>
Functions
<?php
function functionName($param1, $param2) {
// code to execute
return $result;
}
$result = functionName($arg1, $arg2);
?>
Superglobals
-
$_GET
– Variables sent via URL parameters -
$_POST
– Variables sent via HTTP POST -
$_REQUEST
– Variables sent via both GET and POST -
$_SERVER
– Server and execution environment information -
$_SESSION
– Session variables -
$_COOKIE
– HTTP Cookies
File Handling
<?php
// Reading a file
$file = fopen("filename.txt", "r");
$content = fread($file, filesize("filename.txt"));
fclose($file);
// Writing to a file
$file = fopen("filename.txt", "w");
fwrite($file, "Hello, World!");
fclose($file);
?>
Error Handling
<?php
try {
// Code that may throw an exception
if ($condition) {
throw new Exception("Error message");
}
} catch (Exception $e) {
// Code to handle the exception
echo "Caught exception: " . $e->getMessage();
} finally {
// Code to always execute
}
?>
Database (MySQLi)
<?php
// Create connection
$conn = new mysqli($servername, $username, $password, $dbname);
// Check connection
if ($conn->connect_error) {
die("Connection failed: " . $conn->connect_error);
}
// Select data
$sql = "SELECT id, firstname, lastname FROM MyGuests";
$result = $conn->query($sql);
if ($result->num_rows > 0) {
while($row = $result->fetch_assoc()) {
echo "id: " . $row["id"]. " - Name: " . $row["firstname"]. " " . $row["lastname"]. "<br>";
}
} else {
echo "0 results";
}
$conn->close();
?>
Session Management
<?php
// Start session
session_start();
// Set session variables
$_SESSION["username"] = "JohnDoe";
$_SESSION["email"] = "john@example.com";
// Get session variables
echo $_SESSION["username"];
// Destroy session
session_destroy();
?>
Include & Require
<?php
include 'filename.php'; // Includes file, gives a warning if not found
require 'filename.php'; // Includes file, gives a fatal error if not found
include_once 'filename.php'; // Includes file once, checks if already included
require_once 'filename.php'; // Requires file once, checks if already included
?>
This cheat sheet covers the fundamental concepts and commonly used features in PHP. Let me know if you need more details on any specific topic!
This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Abdul Haseeb