Are these two PHP functions equivalent?

blueraincap · Jan 4, 2021

Say I want to print some HTML tags with a variable in it.

I would include all html tags in an echo like this:

Code:

<?php
...
include("abc.php");
$title = "some title here";
print_head($title);

<?php //abc.php
function print_head($title) { echo("
<html><head><title>$title</title></head>
"); }
?>

A text shows below, which I don't understand why putting plain tags inside a function without print/echo will print out tags, can you explain how below works:

Code:

<?php
...
include("abc.php");
$title = "some title here";
print_head($title);

<?php //abc.php
function print_head($title) {
?>
<html><head>
<title><?php echo $title; ?></title>
</head>
<?php
}

OptionsOptionsOptions · Jan 4, 2021

Instead of a function for all the header stuff I would put it in header.php.

<?php
title = "some title here";
include("header.php");
echo "content";
include("footer.php");
?>

HobbyTrading · Jan 4, 2021

Code:

<?php //abc.php
function print_head($title) { echo("
<html><head><title>$title</title></head>
"); }
?>

Maybe nitpicking, but shouldn't there be a </html> after </head>, to close the <html> tag?
I'm not familiar with php, so forgive me if this comment misses the point.

OptionsOptionsOptions · Jan 4, 2021

HobbyTrading said:
Maybe nitpicking, but shouldn't there be a </html> after </head>, to close the <html> tag?
I'm not familiar with php, so forgive me if this comment misses the point.

His example doesn't cover the entire page.
</html> will be at the bottom.

Spaghetti Code · Jan 5, 2021

If your title is dynamic, you should also escape the HTML in it, to avoid cross site scripting attacks.

blueraincap · Jan 5, 2021

HobbyTrading said:
Code:

<?php //abc.php function print_head($title) { echo(" <html><head><title>$title</title></head> "); } ?>

Maybe nitpicking, but shouldn't there be a </html> after </head>, to close the <html> tag?
I'm not familiar with php, so forgive me if this comment misses the point.

Yes it misses the point but it's ok; the example doesn't have </html> because print_head() can have print_x, print_y, print_z following it for doing <body> parts followed by print_footer which will close the html.

HobbyTrading · Jan 5, 2021

blueraincap said:
Yes it misses the point but it's ok; the example doesn't have </html> because print_head() can have print_x, print_y, print_z following it for doing <body> parts followed by print_footer which will close the html.

Okay. Thanks for explaining why it wasn't in the bit of code you posted.

2rosy · Jan 5, 2021

look into templates
https://ourcodeworld.com/articles/read/847/top-7-best-open-source-php-template-engines

Sig · Jan 5, 2021

blueraincap said:
Say I want to print some HTML tags with a variable in it.

I would include all html tags in an echo like this:

Code:

<?php ... include("abc.php"); $title = "some title here"; print_head($title); <?php //abc.php function print_head($title) { echo(" <html><head><title>$title</title></head> "); } ?>

A text shows below, which I don't understand why putting plain tags inside a function without print/echo will print out tags, can you explain how below works:

Code:

<?php ... include("abc.php"); $title = "some title here"; print_head($title); <?php //abc.php function print_head($title) { ?> <html><head> <title><?php echo $title; ?></title> </head> <?php }

So you're missing a bunch of closing "?>" tags on your PHP script. That both ensures it won't work and makes it impossible for us to answer your question because we can't tell what it is supposed to do. You always need to have your PHP code sandwiched between a <?php and ?>. Anything outside that sandwich just gets treated as regular HTML.