Basic PHP function returns a blank page

Question

I'm learning PHP for the first time and this exercise gives back a blank page. I don't understand why, it's just defining two functions (number 1 and 2), then multiplying both, then printing on screen the result.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
    <head>
    </head>
    <body>
        <?php
        $number1 = 1;
        $number2 = 2;
        function multiply($number1, $number2)
        {
            $result = ($number1 * $number2);
            return $result;
        }
?>
    </body>
</html>

Same with another function, it's supposed to print a Hello world string, yet another blank page.

        <?php
            $head = "Hello world PHP";
            function header($head)
            {
                return $head;
            }
        ?>

Both these functions return a value and don't display anything, you also don't actually call the functions either. — Nigel Ren, May 16 '20 at 16:15
1. Returning from a function is not same as printing. 2. You have defined your function but you haven't `called` them. Functions are used for solving a particular task. And they should be called to execute. Eg: `multiply(1, 2)` 3. As a beginner you should search for a Free PHP course and get the basics right and strong. Then only you can build on top of that. There are tons of tutorials available online (Youtube, Udemy etc). — Harish ST, May 16 '20 at 16:23

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered May 16 '20 at 16:19

0

To print to screen something like this will work:

print_r(multiply($number1, $number2));

answered May 16 '20 at 16:19

philb

46
1
3

Oh, I see, thanks for your answer. – azure_sky May 17 '20 at 13:10

Basic PHP function returns a blank page

1 Answers1