PHP from Scratch in 2025: A Practical Guide for Beginners

Introduction to PHP: Where to Start in 2025 in Practice

PHP is one of the most popular programming languages for web development, powering over 75% of all websites on the internet, including giants like WordPress, Facebook (partially), and Wikipedia. In 2025, PHP remains a sought-after tool for creating dynamic websites, online stores, and APIs. If you want to master backend development, starting with PHP is a logical and practical step. In this article, we will break down where to start learning PHP in 2025 and show real code examples that you can apply immediately.

1. Installation and Environment Setup

Before writing code, you need to set up a development environment. For PHP, this doesn't require complex manipulations. The easiest way for a beginner is to use a ready-made package XAMPP (or its alternatives: OpenServer, MAMP). It includes PHP, the Apache web server, and the MySQL database — everything you need to get started.

Steps to install XAMPP:

• Download XAMPP from the official website (version for your OS).
• Install it, leaving all components at their default settings.
• Launch the control panel and click "Start" for Apache and MySQL.
• Create a project folder in the directory C:\\xampp\\htdocs\\myproject.

Now create a file index.php inside the project folder and write:

<?phpecho "Hello, world! PHP is working!";?>

Open your browser and go to http://localhost/myproject/index.php. If you see the greeting, everything is set up correctly!

2. Basic Syntax and Variables

PHP code is embedded in HTML and always starts with <?php and ends with ?>. Each statement ends with a semicolon (;). Variables in PHP start with a dollar sign ($) and do not require type declaration — the language determines it from the context.

Example: Variables and Data Output

<?php$name = "Alexey";$age = 25;$isStudent = true;

echo "My name is $name, I am $age years old.";?>

Output: My name is Alexey, I am 25 years old.

Note: inside double quotes, variables are substituted automatically. If you use single quotes, the variable will be output as text.

Data Types in PHP

• Strings (string) — text in quotes.
• Integers (int) — for example, 42.
• Floating-point numbers (float) — for example, 3.14.
• Booleans (bool) — true or false.
• Arrays (array) — a collection of data.

Arrays in PHP can be indexed or associative:

<?php// Indexed array$colors = ["red", "green", "blue"];echo $colors[0]; // red

// Associative array$user = ["name" => "Maria", "age" => 30];echo $user["name"]; // Maria?>

3. Working with Forms and HTTP Requests

One of the key tasks of PHP is processing data submitted by users via HTML forms. Let's look at an example of a feedback form.

HTML Form (file form.html)

<form action="process.php" method="POST">    <label>Your name:</label>    <input type="text" name="username" required>    <label>Email:</label>    <input type="email" name="email" required>    <button type="submit">Submit</button></form>

PHP Handler (file process.php)

<?phpif ($_SERVER["REQUEST_METHOD"] == "POST") {    $username = htmlspecialchars($_POST["username"]);    $email = htmlspecialchars($_POST["email"]);\