PHP echo produces a "Parse error: syntax error"

Question

I have started learning PHP and trying a simple echo statement on XAMP on my machine. This is my code :

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN”
“http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd”>
<html xmlns=”http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml” xml:lang=”en” lang=”en”>
<head>
<title>Hello</title>
<link rel=”stylesheet” type=”text/css” href=”common.css” />
</head>
<body>
<h1> <?php echo “Hello, world !”; ?> </h1>
</body>
</html>

When I run this I am getting this error :

Parse error: syntax error, unexpected '!', expecting ',' or ';' in C:\xampp\htdocs\PHP\hello.php on line 9

I have no clue as to what is going wrong.

You're using the wrong kind of quotes. Use `"` instead (`"` is wrong). — Qirel, Dec 16 '16 at 11:50
Those quotes seem tired. They can't stand up straight. Maybe use more robust ones. — apokryfos, Dec 16 '16 at 12:09

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 16 '16 at 11:51

1

Try

<?php echo "hello, World!"; ?>

answered Dec 16 '16 at 11:51

Abhishek

1,008
1
16
39

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 16 '16 at 11:53

1

If you are using MS Word to write your code, don't. Use Notepad++ or Sublime Text - even plain ol' Notepad is better.

Also, you must run your program using localhost/PHP/hello.php - not c:\xampp\htdocs\PHP\hello.php

In the browser address bar, type localhost/PHP/hello.php

answered Dec 16 '16 at 11:53

cssyphus

37,875
18
96
111

I am using notepad++ and running it using localhost/PHP/hello.php – Knownow Dec 16 '16 at 11:58
Do you understand why we have identified the incorrect quotes as the reason for your problems? The quotes posted in your question are "smart quotes" inserted by word processors like MS Word. ASCI double quotes are not slanted: ` " ` How did you get the smart quotes in your question? – cssyphus Dec 16 '16 at 12:05
Yes , I got it now . Never knew there were different type of quotes . Thanks a lot . – Knownow Dec 16 '16 at 13:02

PHP echo produces a "Parse error: syntax error"

2 Answers2