To some designers who are well versed in graphic design and HTML, but has little or no experience in coding and programming, the idea of PHP may be intimidating. Some people may even say they do not need it within their field. Yes, it’s true that using PHP, you can work database-driven websites with MySQL, and you can work with XML data integration. You can also exchange information between different servers in order to achieve Paypal gateways and what not. BUT some basic PHP can be used simply to save you a LOT of time in coding and updating sites.
For this exercise, you only need to know a few PHP commands. To open a PHP code snippet, you use <?, and to close, ?>. In some cases, opening with <?php is recommended, but I generally skip it – it’s not critical.