Create a file named hello.php
and put it in your web servers root directory (DOCUMENT_ROOT) with the following content:
Note that this is not like a CGI script. The file does
not need to be executable or special in any way. Think of it
as a normal HTML file which happens to have a set of special
tags available to you that do a lot of interesting
things.
This program is extremely simple and you really didn't
need to use PHP to create a page like this. All it does is
display: Hello World using the PHP
echo() statement.
If you tried this example and it didn't output anything,
or it prompted for download, or you see the whole file as
text, chances are that the server you are on does not have
PHP enabled. Ask your administrator to enable it for you
using the Installation
chapter of the manual. If you're developing locally, also
read the installation chapter to make sure everything is
configured properly. If problems continue to persist, don't
hesitate to use one of the many PHP
support options.
The point of the example is to show the special PHP tag
format. In this example we used
?php to indicate the start of a PHP tag. Then we put
the PHP statement and left PHP mode by adding the closing
tag, ? . You may jump in and out
of PHP mode in an HTML file like this all you want. For more
details, read the manual section on
basic PHP syntax.
A Note on Text Editors: There are many text editors and Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) that you can use to create, edit and manage PHP files. A partial list of these tools is maintained at PHP Editor's List. If you wish to recommend an editor, please visit the above page and ask the page maintainer to add the editor to the list. Having an editor with syntax highlighting can be helpful.
A Note on Word Processors: Word processors such as StarOffice Writer, Microsoft Word and Abiword are not good choices for editing PHP files. If you wish to use one for this test script, you must ensure that you save the file as PLAIN TEXT or PHP will not be able to read and execute the script.
A Note on Windows Notepad: If you are writing your PHP scripts using Windows Notepad, you will need to ensure that your files are saved with the .php extension. (Notepad adds a .txt extension to files automatically unless you take one of the following steps to prevent it.) When you save the file and are prompted to provide a name for the file, place the filename in quotes (i.e. "hello.php"). Alternately, you can click on the 'Text Documents' drop-down menu in the save dialog box and change the setting to "All Files". You can then enter your filename without quotes.
Now that you've successfully created a simple PHP script
that works, it's time to create the most famous PHP script!
Make a call to the phpinfo() function and you'll see a lot of
useful information about your system and setup such as
available
Predefined Variables, loaded PHP modules, and configuration settings. Take some
time and review this important information.