CODEWITHSUNDEEP
phpbackend
Coding_Harry
Coding_Harry

Reputation: 45

PHP opening tags

Hey fellow developers!

I'm new to PHP and backend development so as I was learning, I was facing a little "issue", where I couldn't exactly realise the difference between the opening tags (<?php) and (<?=)

The main example I was facing was the below one:

    <?php
$drinks = [
  "cola" => 2,
  "fanta" => 3,
  "sprite" => 4
];

$pastries = [
  "Croissant",
  "Muffin",
  "Slice of Pie",
  "Slice of Cake",
  "Cupcake",
  "Brownie"
];
 ?>
<h1>Welcome to the Repetitive Cafe</h1>

<h3>Drinks!</h3>
<ul>
<?php foreach ($drinks as $drink => $price):?>
<li><?="$drink costs $price dollars"?></li>
<?php endforeach;?>
</ul>
<h3>Pastries! ($2 each)</h3>
<ul>
<?php for($i = 0;$i<count($pastries); $i++):?>
<li><?= $pastries[$i] ?></li>
<?php endfor; ?>
</ul>

My question is, what is the difference between those two and why will my code not run if I add instead of between the list elements in HTML?

Thanks in advance and Happy Coding!

Upvotes: 0

Views: 54

Answers (1)

Alex Howansky
Alex Howansky

Reputation: 53581

<?php is the PHP code opening tag. ​<?= is the echo opening tag. Both tags are closed by ?>. The former can contain any PHP code. The latter can contain a single expression.

​So this:

​<?= $foo ?>

Is basically just a shortcut for this:

​<?php echo $foo; ?>

Upvotes: 1

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