This is a basic comparison between PHP and JavaScript. It's intended for users familiar with PHP and looking for JavaScript equivalents.
JavaScript and PHP Comparisons:
Variables
Variable Scope
PHP and JavaScript take two very different approaches to declaring variables. In PHP, all variables are local in scope unless declared as global. JavaScript is opposite, and all variables are global unless declared with the var keyword.
PHP
function foo() {
$variable_a = 'value'; // Local variable declaration.
}
function bar() {
print $variable_a; // Prints nothing.
}
function foo() {
global $variable_b; // Global variable declaration.
$variable_b = 'value';
}
function bar() {
global $variable_b;
print $variable_b; // Prints 'value'.
}
JavaScript
function foo() {
var variableA = 'value'; // Local variable with use of "var".
}
function bar() {
alert(variableA); // Variable not defined error.
}
function foo() {
variableB = 'value'; // Global variable, no "var" declaration.
}
function bar() {
alert(variableB); // alert('value')
}
An interesting twist is JavaScript also allows scoping within functions. When using the "var" declaration, variables are available for everything in the current function or any sub-functions.
PHP
function foo() {
$variable_a = 'value'; // Local variable declaration.
function bar() {
print $variable_a; // Prints nothing.
}
}
JavaScript
function foo() {
var variableA = 'value'; // Local variable with use of "var".
function bar() {
alert(variableA); // alert('value');
}
}
Variable Types
Both PHP and JavaScript are loosely typed, meaning a variable can be of any type, and change from one type to another. However both PHP and JavaScript keep track of the type of variables, and you can check this type.
PHP
$foo = 3;
is_int($foo); // TRUE
$foo = '3';
is_int($foo); // FALSE
is_string($foo); // TRUE
JavaScript
var foo = 3;
type_of(foo); // 'number'
foo = '3';
type_of(foo); // 'string'
Casting Variables
Every now and then you might need to cast variables to a specific type. This is extremely important when dealing with JavaScript's + operator, which is used for both string concatenation and for numeric addition.
PHP
In PHP, variables may be cast to certain type by using parenthesis. String concatenation is done with "." and addition with "+".
$foo = '3.5 kg';
$bar = (float)$foo; // 3.5
$bar = (int)$foo; // 3
$baz = (string)$foo; // '3.5 kg'
print $bar + $baz; // 6
print $bar . $baz; // '33'
JavaScript
JavaScript has functions specifically for casting variables to numbers. Both string concatenation and addition is done with "+". If mixing a string and a number with "+", concatenation will take precedence over addition.
var foo = '3.5 kg';
var bar = parseFloat(foo); // 3.5
bar = parseInt(foo); // 3
var baz = '3';
alert(bar + baz); // '33'
alert(bar + parseInt(baz)); // 6
Checking for NULL or empty() values
Variables in PHP don't have to be defined for you to use them, though if you're working with E_ALL compliance on (not the default of most PHP installs), your script will throw a notice if you try to use an undeclared variable. JavaScript is a bit mixed concerning undeclared variables, if you attempt to modify or compare with an undeclared variable, the script will break entirely, but you can check the variable status using typeof() or in conditional statements containing only that variable.
PHP
// Check if a variable is declared at all.
if (!isset($foo)) {
$foo = TRUE;
}
// Or check if a variable has a value that equates to FALSE.
// This includes variables that have not been declared.
if (empty($bar)) {
$bar = TRUE;
}
JavaScript
// Check if a variable is declared at all.
if (typeof(foo) == 'undefined') {
var foo = true;
}
// Or check if a variable has a value that equates to false.
// This includes variables that have not been declared.
if (!bar) {
var bar = true;
}
// However an undeclared variable can't be used in comparisons.
if (baz == false) { // Variable undefined error.
var baz = true;
}
Boolean Variables
A simple but important thing to remember is that JavaScript only recognizes the keyword true in all lowercase. PHP accepts both uppercase and lowercase.
PHP
is_boolean(TRUE); // TRUE
is_boolean(true); // TRUE
is_boolean(True); // TRUE
JavaScript
typeof(true); // 'boolean'
typeof(TRUE); // 'undefined'
typeof(True); // 'undefined'
Case Sensitivity
Both JavaScript and PHP are case sensitive in their variables. PHP is not case-sensitive in function or class declarations, but JavaScript is case sensitive for these also.
PHP
// Variable case:
$foo = 'bar';
print $foo; // Prints 'bar'.
print $Foo; // Prints nothing.
// Function case:
function foo() {
print 'bar';
}
foo(); // Prints 'bar'.
Foo(); // Prints 'bar'.
JavaScript
// Variable case:
var foo = 'bar';
alert(foo); // alert('bar')
alert(Foo); // Variable not defined error.
// Function case:
function foo() {
alert('bar');
}
foo(); // alert('bar')
Foo(); // Function not defined error.
Objects and Arrays
In PHP, objects and arrays are two distinctly different things and have different syntaxes. In JavaScript, objects and arrays are often interchangeable, and you can switch between syntaxes freely.
Declaring an Object or Array
There are a few different ways to declare an object or an array in both JavaScript and PHP. The key difference between PHP and JavaScript is that JavaScript does not have associative arrays. Arrays in JavaScript are always numeric based. However, since objects may use array-like syntax, simply declare a new object when you'd use an associative array in PHP.
PHP
// Define an array.
$foo = array(); // New empty array.
$foo = array('a', 'b', 'c'); // Numeric index.
$foo = array('a' => '1', 'a' => '2', 'c' => '3'); // Associative.
// Define an object.
$bar = new stdClass(); // New empty object.
$bar->a = '1';
$bar->b = '2';
$bar->c = '3';
JavaScript
// Define an array (longhand).
var foo = new Array(); // New empty array.
var foo = new Array('a', 'b', 'c'); // Numeric index.
// Define an array (shorthand, more common).
var foo = []; // New empty array.
var foo = ['a', 'b', 'c']; // Numeric index.
// Define an object.
var bar = {}; // New empty object.
var bar = { // New populated object.
a: '1',
b: '2',
c: '3'
};
As you might notice in the last example, declaring an object in JavaScript uses the format commonly known as JSON, which stands for "JavaScript Object Notation". JSON strings having become very popular as a faster alternative to XML, and can be read and created with the PHP functions json_encode() and json_decode().
Object and Array Syntax
JavaScript and PHP are very similar in array notation, though they differ more in their object notation. The key difference is that PHP uses an array "->" to reference items within objects, while JavaScript uses the dot ".".
PHP
$foo = array('a', 'b', 'c'); // New numeric index array.
print $foo[0]; // 'a'
$bar = new stdClass();
$bar->a = '1';
print $bar->a; // '1';
JavaScript
var foo = ['a', 'b', 'c']; // New array.
alert(foo[0]); // 'a'
var bar = { a: '1', b: '2', c: '3' }; // New object.
alert(bar.a); // '1'
Using Objects as Associative Arrays
Let's take one more look at defining an object in JavaScript and see how it can be used to compensate for the lack of associative arrays in JavaScript.
PHP
$bar = array(
'a' => '1',
'b' => '2',
'c' => '3',
);
JavaScript
JavaScript doesn't have associative arrays, but defining an object works identically to an associative array in PHP.
var bar = {
a: '1',
b: '2',
c: '3'
};
As mentioned earlier, in JavaScript array and object syntaxes can be mixed freely, so this new object can be referenced either as an array or an object.
// Using array syntax, even though this is an object.
alert(bar['a']); // '1'
// Or the standard object property syntax.
alert(bar.b); // '2'
If we had a multi-level object, we can even combine the bracket and dot syntaxes.
var bar = {
a: { red: 'my favorite', blue: 'not so bad' },
b: '2',
c: '3'
}
alert(bar.a['red']); // 'my favorite'
alert(bar['a'].blue); // 'not so bad'
Dumping variables
PHP
var_dump($foo);
// Or
print_r($foo);
JavaScript
console.log(foo); // Prints to Firebug or Safari console.
Logic Constructs
for()
The classic for() construct is supported nearly identically in PHP and JavaScript.
PHP
for ($n = 0; $n < 10; $n++) {
print $n;
}
JavaScript
// Note that variables should always be
// prefixed with "var" to define a local scope.
for (var n = 0; n < 10; n++) {
alert(n);
}
foreach()
PHP's foreach() construct can easily be converted to JavaScript's for().
PHP
foreach ($array as $key => $value) {
// Do something.
}
JavaScript
for (var key in array) {
// There is no "value" directly, but you can get it easily.
var value = array[key];
// Do something.
}
Wrap up
There are still a lot of other topics that could be covered (JavaScript is a language with a lot of tricks), but this should be a good foundation to work from. Hope you enjoy!