Chapter 3: Hello, World!

Let's write our very first HolyPHP program. It's traditional to start with "Hello, World!".

Creating the File

Create a new file called hello.hphp with your favorite text editor.

Writing the Code

echo "Hello, World!";

That's it! No imports, no main() function, no boilerplate. You can just start writing code.

Running the Program

Open your terminal in the same directory as hello.hphp and run:

hphp run hello.hphp

You should see:

Hello, World!

Understanding the Code

• echo - Outputs text to the screen (like in PHP)
• echo adds a line break after its output automatically, so you do not need to append "\n".
• ; - Statement terminator (like in PHP and JavaScript)

Building a Standalone Executable

Want to share your program? Compile it to a standalone executable:

hphp build hello.hphp -o hello

Now you can run it directly:

./hello        # On Linux/Mac
hello.exe      # On Windows

No HolyPHP compiler needed on the target machine!

A Slightly More Interesting Example

$name = "World";
echo "Hello, {$name}!";

Notice the string interpolation with {$name} - just like PHP! Variables start with $.