Cross Ref > Language Basics

Object Pascal is generally not case sensitive.

Syntax Example:   Variables and commands are not case sensitive. var FullName: String; begin fullname := 'Mike Prestwood'; ShowMessage(fullNAME); SHOWMESSAGE(FULLNAME); showmessage(fullname); end;

 Camel versus Pascal Casing

PHP is case sensitive with variable names but not with commands. Although commands are case incenstive, I prefer to use all lowercase because it's easy to type and that's what I see most PHP coders doing and I see it on PHP.Net.

echo "hello<br>";

ECHO "hello<br>";

Echo "hello<br>";

eCHo "hello<br>";

$fullname = "Mike Prestwood"; //These are two...

$FullName = "Wes Peterson";   //separate varialbes.

Object Pascal requires the semi-colon after the "declaration" part.

function DoSomething : integer;

var

  a, b : integer

begin

  a := 1;

  b := 2;

  result := a + b;

end;

In .PHP html pages, you embed PHP code between <?PHP and ?>.

For PHP, JavaScript, Java,and C++, I prefer to put the first { at the end of the first line of the code block as in the example above because I see morePHP codeformatted that way (and on PHP.Net).

PHP Alternative Syntax

Although I don't like to use it, PHP offers an alternative syntax for if, while, for, foreach, and switch. These code blocks are surrounded by statement ending keywords that all use End with camel caps such as endif, endwhile, endfor, endforeach,and endswitch.

<?PHP

$x = "Yes";

//Simple if

If ($x == "Yes")
  echo "hello world";

//If with a block of code.

If ($x == "Yes") {
  echo "Hello world";

  echo "I am a PHP coder!";

}

?>

Commenting Code
Delphi uses // for a single line comment and both {} and (**) for multiple line comments. Although you can nest different types of multiple line comments, it is recommended that you don't.

Compiler Directives - $
A special comment. Delphi compiler directives are in the form of {$DIRECTIVE}. Of interest for comments is using the $IFDEF compiler directive to remark out code.

//This is a single line comment.

 
{

Multiple line

comment.

}

 
(*
This too is a
multiple line comment.
*)

 
{$IFDEF TEMPOUT}
  //...code here
{$ENDIF}

 Delphi Comments (// or { ... } or (* ... *))  

Commenting Code
Use the multi-line to comment out large blocks of code and to write multiple line comments.

#This is a comment in PHP.

//This is too!
 

/*

This is a multi-line

comment.

*/

In Delphi, you define constants similar to how you define variables but use the Const keyword instead of the Var keyword. Declare global constants in a unit's interface section and unit constants (scope limited to unit) in the implementation section. Declare local constants above the begin..end block.

Const 

  kFeetToMeter: Double = 3.2808;

  kMeterToFeet: Double = .3048;

  kName: String = "Mike";

//Local constants:

procedure SomeProcedure;

const

  kPI: Double=3.1459;

begin

end;

 Delphi Constants (Const kPI: Double=3.1459;)  

In PHP, you declare constants using the define keyword:

define("CONST_NAME", "Value");

Constants in PHP are case sensitive. A common standard in PHP is to use all-uppercase letters, with underscores to separate words within the name.

define('FULL_NAME', 'Mike Prestwood');
define("AGE", 25);

echo "Your name is " . FULL_NAME . ".";
echo "You are " . AGE . ".";

 PHP Constants (define)

Object Pascal uses a semicolon ";" as an end of statement specifier and you can put multiple statements on a single line of code and put a single statement on two or more code lines if you wish.

Syntax Example:   WriteLn('Hello1'); WriteLn('Hello2'); WriteLn('Hello3'); //Same line works too: WriteLn('Hello4'); WriteLn('Hello5'); //Two or more lines works too: WriteLn ('Hello6');

String literals are single quoted (the apostrophe) as in 'Prestwood'. If you need to embed an apostrophe use two apostrophes in a row.

Floating point literals must start with an integer. For example, to specify a fractional floating point literal between 1 and -1, you preceed the decimal with a 0; otherwise, you will get a compiler error.

//x := .1 + .1;   //Does not work.

x := 0.1 + 0.1;   //Does work.

Syntax Example:   ShowMessage('Hello'); ShowMessage('Hello Mike''s website.');

 Ref: https://forums.codegear.com/thread.jspa?threadID=8909&tstart=60

In PHP you can use quotes, or apostrophes as in "Prestwood", and 'Prestwood' for string literals. Use a slash in front of a quote or apostrophe to embed same type as in \' and \".

To specify a floating point literal between 1 and -1, you can preceed the decimal with a 0 or not (both work). In other words, preceding and following decimals are allowed (both .1 and 0.1). Trailing decimals are also allowed (1, 1., and 1.0 are all equivalent and allowed).

echo "Mike's drums are over there.<br>";
echo 'Mike said, "hi!"<br>';

//Does PHP evaluate this simple

//floating point math correctly? No! 

If ((.1 + .1 + .1) == .3) {
 Echo "Correct";
} Else {
 Echo "Not correct";
}

 PHP Literals (quote or apostrophe)

The Delphi language is a strongly typed language so you have to specifically declare variables and frequently use commands such as IntToStr and StrToInt.

Declare global variables in the interface section of a unit, variables declared within the implementation section (but not within a method) have a scope limited to the unit. You declare local variables in a var block outside (above) your begin..end code block. You cannot declare variables in-line (inside begin..end).

You can initialize global and unit variables but you cannot initialize local variables.

Delphi offers many variable types. Some common variable types include String, WideString, PChar, Integer, Boolean, Single, Double, Pointer, and Variant.

Note: D2009 introduced a new UnicodeString type.

procedure SomeProcedure;

var
  Fullname: String;
  Age: Integer;

  X, Y, Z: Double;

  MyArray: array [1..100] of Char;

begin

end;

//You can initialize global variables.

var

  ClickCounter: Integer = 0;

 Delphi Variables (var x: Integer = 0;)  

PHP is a loosely typed language. No variable types in PHP. Declaring and using variables are a bit different than in other languages. In PHP, you identify and use a variable with a $ even within strings!

You assign by reference with & as in &$MyVar.

$fullname = 'Mike Prestwood';
$FullName = 'Wes Peterson';   //This is a different variable!
$Age = 38;
$Weight = 162.4;

 

echo "Your name is $fullname.
";
echo "You are $Age and weigh $Weight.
";

 PHP Variables ($x = 0;)