Storing numbers and text in variables

…PHP variables can store many different types of information.…For the time being, let's just focus on…how you store numbers and text in a variable.…We'll also look at the important role the semicolon plays in PHP.…This page, variables.php, contains a simple…template for a webpage about a book.…I'm going to add my PHP code above the doc…type, so if I put my insertion point up there,…add in a couple of extra lines, then an opening PHP tag.…Open angled bracket, question mark, PHP.…

And down here a closing tag which is a question mark and a closing angle bracket.…It might seem strange to you that I'm putting the PHP code above the doc type.…But remember, PHP code is processed by the server, and that's where it stays.…So as long as the PHP code doesn't output…any HTML, it's okay.…Above the doc type, that will remain at the…top of the page when it's received by the browser.…So let's add our first variable. This one will be a number.…

We'll call it answer.…Variables always begin with a dollar sign, so $, answer, then an equal sign.…