Ladoo, think of it like this (it's how i got used to it from VB)


if VB you MAY put () around your IF. (wasted code but no real harm against it)

#1 IF example, in VB:
Code:
IF A > B THEN 
   msgbox("yes")
END IF
is the same as
#2 IF example in (still in VB):
Code:
IF (A > B) THEN 
   msgbox("yes")
END IF
in php you MUST use () around your condition.
and in php you replace THEN with a { symbol and END IF with a } symbol

so looking at example 2 again:
#2 IF example in VB:
Code:
IF (A > B) THEN 
   msgbox("yes")
END IF
#2 IF example translated to php:
Code:
IF (A > B) {
   msgbox("yes");
}
once you get that down, the rest is easy.
and here it is:



instead of saying
Code:
IF (A = B) THEN
   do this
END IF
you have to use TWO == symbols.
Code:
IF (A == B) {
   do this
}
the reason is simple:
php is stupid.

in VB it knows that "Hey! i'm doing an IF because i saw the word IF!"

but php it says "wait, what was i doing after i read that word IF?? OH! TWO == symbols! that means i'm doing an IF still!"

vb vs php:

Code:

  VB                     |       PHP
----------------------------------------------
IF ( condition ) THEN      |  IF (condition) {
ELSE                       |     } ELSE {
END IF                     |        }
  IF ( A > B) THEN         |  IF (A > B) {
  IF ( A < B) THEN         |  IF (A < B) {
  IF ( A => B) THEN        |  IF (A >= B){...... (ALWAYS the > or < comes before the =
  IF ( A NOT B) THEN       |  IF (A != B) {
  IF ( A <> B) THEN        |  IF (A != B) {
  IF ( A = B) THEN         |  IF (A == B) {
IF (A <> B AND C = D) THEN |  IF ((A != B) AND (C == D)) {


VB:
IF ( Cow > Moon AND Time = NIGHT) THEN
  Print "Cow Jumped Over The Moon At Night"
ELSE
  Print "Something didn't go as planned and the cow got hurt"
END IF

PHP:
IF ( (Cow > Moon) AND (Time == NIGHT)) {
  echo "Cow Jumped Over The Moon At Night";
} ELSE {
  echo "Something didn't go as planned and the cow got hurt";
}

Now there are 3 things that still get me. they just take getting used to.

First, VB is smart. It knows when it's done with a command.
but after every PHP command you need to type that annoying semicolon. ;
because, like i said, php just isn't that bright.

Second: the == gets me very often.
in PHP if you put one = instead of == then it will say IF ... OH, this = that so i must do { this }
so many times i stared at a php IF THEN and simply couldn't see that i had one = instead of two == causing all of my problems.

and last, remember the variable names are case sensitive.

$Hello = "Hi"
$hello = "bye"

echo "i said $Hello then i said $hello.";

output is:

i said Hi then i said bye.