Chapter 2. Language Basics

This chapter provides a whirlwind tour of the core PHP language, covering such basic topics as data types, variables, operators, and flow control statements. PHP is strongly influenced by other programming languages, such as Perl and C, so if you've had experience with those languages, PHP should be easy to pick up. If PHP is one of your first programming languages, don't panic. We start with the basic units of a PHP program and build up your knowledge from there.