**Course Title:** Modern PHP Development: Best Practices and Advanced Techniques **Section Title:** Introduction to PHP and Development Environment **Topic:** Introduction to PHP's built-in server and basic scripting. **Learning Objectives:** - Understand the PHP built-in server and its configuration. - Learn how to write basic PHP scripts and execute them using the built-in server. - Understand the concept of a PHP script and its lifecycle. - Learn how to handle common errors and exceptions in PHP scripts. **Introduction to PHP's Built-in Server** As of PHP 5.4, PHP comes bundled with a built-in web server that makes it easy to run PHP applications without the need to set up a full-fledged web server like Apache or Nginx. This server is designed for development purposes only and should not be used in production. **Configuring the PHP Built-in Server** To start the PHP built-in server, navigate to the directory containing your PHP script in the terminal or command prompt and run the following command: ```bash php -S localhost:8000 ``` This will start the server and make it accessible at `http://localhost:8000`. You can also specify a custom document root and port number if needed. **Basic PHP Scripting** A PHP script typically consists of PHP code embedded within HTML. PHP code is denoted by the `<?php` opening tag and the `?>` closing tag. Here's a basic PHP script that outputs "Hello, World!": ```php <?php echo "Hello, World!"; ?> ``` **Saving and Executing PHP Scripts** Save this script to a file called `hello.php` in the document root of your PHP built-in server. In this case, the document root is the directory where you started the server. To execute the script, navigate to `http://localhost:8000/hello.php` in your web browser. **Handling Common Errors and Exceptions** In PHP, errors and exceptions can occur due to various reasons such as syntax errors, type mismatches, and so on. To handle these errors, you can use the `try`/`catch` block: ```php try { // code that might throw an exception } catch (Exception $e) { echo "An error occurred: " . $e->getMessage(); } ``` **Practical Takeaways:** - Always check for errors and exceptions in your PHP scripts to ensure robustness and reliability. - Use the `var_dump()` function to output the contents of variables for debugging purposes. - Use the PHP built-in server for development purposes only. **External Resources:** - [PHP Built-in Web Server Documentation](https://www.php.net/manual/en/features.commandline.webserver.php) - [PHP Exception Handling Documentation](https://www.php.net/manual/en/language.exceptions.php) **Leave a Comment or Ask for Help:** If you have any questions or need help with a specific topic, please leave a comment below. We'd be happy to assist you. **What's Next:** In the next topic, we'll cover 'Conditional statements: if, else, elseif, switch' under the section 'Control Structures and Functions'. We'll explore how to write conditional logic in PHP and use it to make decisions based on user input, database data, or other factors. **Questions to Ponder:** - What are some scenarios where the PHP built-in server is useful? - How do you handle fatal errors in PHP? - What are some best practices for debugging PHP scripts? Please think about these questions and review the material covered in this topic before moving on to the next one.