543

Here's the information according to the official documentation:

There are four different pairs of opening and closing tags which can be used in PHP. Two of those, <?php ?> and <script language="php"> </script>, are always available. The other two are short tags and ASP style tags, and can be turned on and off from the php.ini configuration file. As such, while some people find short tags and ASP style tags convenient, they are less portable, and generally not recommended.

In my experience most servers do have short tags enabled. Typing

<?=

is far more convenient than typing

<?php echo 

The programmers convenience is an important factor, so why are they not recommended?

12
  • 63
    To answer the why part, I'd quote Zend PHP 5 certification guide: "Short tags were, for a time, the standard in the PHP world; however, they do have the major drawback of conflicting with XML headers and, therefore, have somewhat fallen by the wayside."
    – Fluffy
    Apr 13, 2011 at 14:40
  • 8
    What's the use case where that issue comes up, does that mean it's a pain for developers to generate XML using PHP?
    – jrz
    Sep 6, 2012 at 11:08
  • 10
    Let's say you have XML documents you want public, but you want the documents to be php parseable for whatever reason so you make .xml parseable by your browser. You use short tags so they are turned on, and suddenly the XML document is getting parsed via the XML headers, breaking things. Drove me nuts trying to figure this out long ago. Ever since short codes have been disabled on any server I run and any team I've worked with has had to resort to non short code
    – thenetimp
    Oct 4, 2012 at 7:51
  • 45
    From PHP 5.4.0 the short_open_tag directive does not include the short echo tag <?= $example;?>! This is very important as the use of all other short tags is considered futile. Anyway the use of the short echo tag is encouraged from now on. It does provide for a smoother and tidier code-base - esp. in view files. So for PHP >= 5.4.0 <?= ?> can be used without setting short_open_tag. Please do not use the other short tags in your code. The code-Gods get very angry when you do so... Apr 8, 2013 at 22:27
  • 6
    I'm going to add this as a quick comment, because there are already far too many long answers: <? is not only used in XML for the opening <?xml version="1.0" ?> declaration; it is the general syntax for "processing instructions", the 2nd most common example being <?xml-stylesheet ... ?>. <?php can actually be considered a valid processing instruction, as can <?= (as allowed in 5.4+), but claiming the whole of <? as well creates unnecessary conflict between the syntaxes.
    – IMSoP
    Aug 5, 2013 at 18:46

28 Answers 28

390
Answer recommended by PHP Collective

There must be a clear distinction between the PHP short tag (<?) and shorthand echo tag (<?=)

The former is prohibited by the PHP Coding standard, mostly out of common sense because it's a PITA if you ever have to move your code to a server where it's not supported (and you can't enable it). As you say, lots of shared hosts do support shorttags but "lots" isn't all of them. If you want to share your scripts, it's best to use the full syntax.

Whereas the shorthand echo tag <?= cannot be disabled and therefore is fully acceptable to use.

I agree that <? is easier on programmers than <?php but it is possible to do a bulk find-and-replace as long as you use the same form each time.

I don't buy readability as a reason at all. Most serious developers have the option of syntax highlighting available to them.

As ThiefMaster mentions in the comments, as of PHP 5.4, <?= ... ?> tags are supported everywhere, regardless of shorttags settings. This should mean they're safe to use in portable code but that does mean there's then a dependency on PHP 5.4+. If you want to support pre-5.4 and can't guarantee shorttags, you'll still need to use <?php echo ... ?>.

Also, you need to know that ASP tags <% , %> , <%= , and script tag are removed from PHP 7. So if you would like to support long-term portable code and would like switching to the most modern tools consider changing that parts of code.

13
  • 92
    So, explanation is: They are bad because they are not supported? But why are they not supported? Because they are not part of specification? Ok, but why they are not part of specification? I am bit disapointed with this answer. Nov 30, 2009 at 22:34
  • 62
    I'm not here to discuss the "big questions" like why we're here, how did it all begin, etc. Shorttag support is not guaranteed on shared servers and it's being removed completely next major version. That's all you need to know.
    – Oli
    Dec 1, 2009 at 11:49
  • 49
    Short tags are not being phased out. Only ASP style short tags.
    – Brian Lacy
    Jun 22, 2010 at 16:55
  • 13
    there are hosts where mod_rewrite not supported as well. and a friggin ton of other options. Do not recommend them all. Plain HTML rocks! Sep 5, 2010 at 9:36
  • 46
    In the (very near) future of PHP 5.4, use of <?= will be separated from whether short_open_tags are enabled or disabled. <?= is not being phased out, quite the opposite it is now considered a fundamental piece of the language.
    – Mr Griever
    Jan 12, 2012 at 19:07
178

I'm too fond of <?=$whatever?> to let it go. Never had a problem with it. I'll wait until it bites me in the ass. In all seriousness, 85% of (my) clients have access to php.ini in the rare occasion they are turned off. The other 15% use mainstream hosting providers, and virtually all of them have them enabled. I love 'em.

4
  • 41
    @B Seven If you try to avoid every theoretical problem that could arise, your code will almost definitely be inefficient and buggy. Until the PHP group agrees to phase short tags out [not ASP tags], the worry of being bitten is far less, and the potential solution far simpler, than other things you can spend your time "fixing".
    – SamGoody
    Nov 15, 2011 at 8:47
  • 18
    if it bites you, move to a better hosting
    – Lie Ryan
    Jan 10, 2013 at 3:43
  • 4
    I don't really agree with not using something because it might not be supported. Should we not use any of the other features that might not be supported on a server? MYSQL vs MYSQLI? You will waste your time little by little, again and again writing long tags just to avoid a tiny chance of spending a little time to change to a better host.
    – Dean Or
    Jun 28, 2014 at 21:01
  • $whatever = "<script>alert('om nom nom');</script>" Sep 29, 2022 at 9:07
146

Starting with PHP 5.4, the echo shortcut is a separate issue from short tags, as the echo shortcut will always be enabled. It's a fact now:

So the echo shortcut itself (<?=) is safe to use now.

2
  • 19
    I'd say this is the only "short-tag" needed. <?php can be used at the start of all the class files, and then you have <?= for your views. win-win.
    – Xeoncross
    May 10, 2012 at 18:53
  • 6
    So the echo shortcut itself (<?=) is safe to use ... as long as you're comfortable requiring PHP 5.4. Widely-distributed PHP apps (like wordpress) don't have the luxury of requiring 5.4, and even continued to offer PHP 4 support up until 2011 -- a full 7 years after PHP 5 was released. If you're at a place like facebook, where all installations of your software are directly operated by the company itself, then requiring 5.4 support is much easier than if you're working on a project like wordpress. Sep 13, 2012 at 18:01
83

The problem with this whole discussion lies in the use of PHP as a templating language. No one is arguing that tags should be used in application source files.

However PHP's embeddable syntax allows it to be used as a powerful template language, and templates should be as simple and readable as possible. Many have found it easier to use a much slower, add-on templating engine like Smarty, but for those purists among us who demand fast rendering and a pure code base, PHP is the only way to write templates.

The ONLY valid argument AGAINST the use of short tags is that they aren't supported on all servers. Comments about conflicts with XML documents are ludicrous, because you probably shouldn't be mixing PHP and XML anyway; and if you are, you should be using PHP to output strings of text. Security should never be an issue, because if you're putting sensitive information like database access credentials inside of template files, well then, you've got bigger issues!

Now then, as to the issue of server support, admittedly one has to be aware of their target platform. If shared hosting is a likely target, then short tags should be avoided. But for many professional developers (such as myself), the client acknowledges (and indeed, depends on the fact) that we will be dictating the server requirements. Often I'm responsible for setting up the server myself.

And we NEVER work with a hosting provider that does not give us absolute control of the server configuration -- in such a case we could count on running to much more trouble than just losing short tag support. It just doesn't happen.

So yes -- I agree that the use of short tags should be carefully weighed. But I also firmly believe that it should ALWAYS be an option, and that a developer who is aware of his environment should feel free to use them.

6
  • 6
    If, for some reason, you had apache set up to pass .xml files to mod_php, the <?xml thing would be a headache with short tags on. But that's obviously a bizarre setup. Jun 11, 2010 at 3:43
  • 3
    A templating language that cannot be embedded without workarounds in some types of output documents is a big fail. The only reason I shouldn't have a XML template with PHP code and short tags is because it doesn't work, not because it doesn't make sense.
    – Vinko Vrsalovic
    Nov 2, 2010 at 20:03
  • 8
    It's not a "big fail" to take advantage of the benefits of PHP as a fast, convenient templating language. As I said before, it's a matter of weighing the benefits and drawbacks and writing code in a manner that accommodates your chosen approach. Don't categorically dismiss a valid approach just because it doesn't work in one particular scenario (which can easily be worked around).
    – Brian Lacy
    Nov 4, 2010 at 22:32
  • 5
    I'm not categorically dismissing any valid approach (see my answer to the question.) You are the one who categorically dismisses PHP in XML, I quote: "you shouldn't be mixing PHP and XML anyway". Also, the big fail I was referring to was the decision to use <? as a short tag, because it leads to ugly workarounds on XML. That said, I agree that it is a matter of weighing benefits and drawbacks, and that if you know what you are doing, you certainly can do it. But this doesn't make <? a good choice.
    – Vinko Vrsalovic
    Nov 7, 2010 at 0:53
  • 3
    I'm a little late to the party, but I really like this answer, and it mirrors my experience with the situation. While we have some disagreement on the issue in our office, I can say that with near daily work in php for many years, I have never run into this being an issue. When PHP is used to generate XML, it has in my experience always been in the context of highly dynamic content, that was never directly templated via PHP, so the issue just never comes up.
    – redreinard
    Mar 29, 2013 at 23:24
35

Short tags are coming back thanks to Zend Framework pushing the "PHP as a template language" in their default MVC configuration. I don't see what the debate is about, most of the software you will produce during your lifetime will operate on a server you or your company will control. As long as you keep yourself consistent, there shouldn't be any problems.

UPDATE

After doing quite a bit of work with Magento, which uses long form. As a result, I've switched to the long form of:

<?php and <?php echo

over

<? and <?=

Seems like a small amount of work to assure interoperability.

5
  • 8
    I freelance and all my code goes onto shared hosting, so no control at all! :)
    – MDCore
    Oct 22, 2008 at 4:01
  • 12
    If you have enough clients move to you own coloc, shared hosting is insecure and unstable. Nov 6, 2008 at 15:57
  • 2
    The short tags Zend was bringing back apparently didn't catch as Zend are using the long version: framework.zend.com/manual/en/zend.view.scripts.html
    – Gerry
    Dec 1, 2010 at 6:33
  • 3
    @Gerry I have also read this recently, see the last comment on this thread: Update .htaccess to enable short open tags
    – MrWhite
    Feb 4, 2011 at 1:56
  • 2
    You should really correct the grammar in the first sentence after UPDATE, which makes no sense in its current form.
    – redreinard
    Mar 29, 2013 at 23:26
24

Because the confusion it can generate with XML declarations. Many people agree with you, though.

An additional concern is the pain it'd generate to code everything with short tags only to find out at the end that the final hosting server has them turned off...

13
  • Won't the XML declaration cause confusion anyway if short_tags is on?
    – MDCore
    Oct 14, 2008 at 10:25
  • So instead of directly outputting the XML declaration, you have PHP echo it. It's not really a good refute.
    – moo
    Oct 14, 2008 at 22:16
  • It's not a refutal of anything. It's the only actual reason which in turn is the cause for the other reason "hoster turns it off", of course you can use it if you know what you are doing, as always.
    – Vinko Vrsalovic
    Jul 29, 2009 at 19:12
  • 1
    @macek: I'm aware of that. It was just the first example that I thought about. Another, what if you embed PHP in a XML file? You can't do that directly. And don't tell me the solution to that problem as well, I'm aware of them. The point is that there are plenty of ways for PHP to parse a XML file. You can probably dismiss them all with workarounds (<?='<?xml') or by saying "you shouldn't do that" but that doesn't make the fact that it can happen disappear.
    – Vinko Vrsalovic
    Oct 29, 2010 at 18:25
  • 1
    how is short tags a pain if they dont work? its is very easy to do a bulk and replace <?= with <? echo . many text editors can easily handle doing this to thousands of files at once.
    – Yamiko
    May 6, 2012 at 5:52
21

Following is the wonderful flow diagram of the same:

decision making tree of the use of <?=

Source: similiar question on Software Engineering Stack Exchange

2
  • 2
    This is describing whether to use the short echo tag, not the same as the <? short tags mentioned in the question (though it used the same config setting pre-5.4)
    – Alok
    Jul 26, 2013 at 12:45
  • In fact this should be an answer that everybody can understand, though the circumstances are not really explained why you do not want to use short tags in many cases (e.g. not able to change php.ini file on a shared hosting system)
    – Björn K
    Aug 6, 2013 at 13:49
15

In case anyone's still paying attention to this... As of PHP 5.4.0 Alpha 1 <?= is always available:

http://php.net/releases/NEWS_5_4_0_alpha1.txt

So it looks like short tags are (a) acceptable and (b) here to stay. For now at least...

1
  • 7
    <?= is not considered a short tag as of 5.4
    – T0xicCode
    Dec 19, 2012 at 0:15
14

https://www.php.net/manual/en/language.basic-syntax.phpmode.php has plenty of advice, including:

while some people find short tags and ASP style tags convenient, they are less portable, and generally not recommended.

and

note that if you are embedding PHP within XML or XHTML you will need to use the <?php ?> tags to remain compliant with standards.

and

Using short tags should be avoided when developing applications or libraries that are meant for redistribution, or deployment on PHP servers which are not under your control, because short tags may not be supported on the target server. For portable, redistributable code, be sure not to use short tags.

12
  • Short tags are not turned on by default in some webservers (shared hosts, etc.), so code portability becomes an issue if you need to move to one of these.

  • Readability may be an issue for some. Many developers may find that <?php catches the eye as a more obvious marker of the beginning of a code block than <? when you scan a file, particularly if you're stuck with a code base with HTML and PHP tightly inter-woven.

5
  • 2
    Short tags are enabled in 95% of webservers. Oct 16, 2008 at 1:31
  • 19
    I don't buy the "readability" argument. If you're using PHP as a templating language, <?= $var ?> is much more readable than <?php echo $var ?> Jun 11, 2010 at 3:41
  • 2
    @Paulo this may have changed since '08 but EC2 Ubuntu and Fedora instances with yum install and apt-get versions of PHP have short-tagging disabled by default Jul 21, 2011 at 22:40
  • 2
    use full tags and you'll have 100% :)
    – E Ciotti
    Jan 12, 2012 at 1:18
  • 2
    @FrankFarmer, I think he's comparing the one without echo. <? vs <?php.
    – Pacerier
    Apr 9, 2015 at 10:29
11

Note: Starting in PHP 5.4 the short tag, <?=, is now always available.

5

I read this page after looking for information on the topic, and I feel that one major issue has not been mentioned: laziness vs. consistency. The "real" tags for PHP are <?php and ?>. Why? I don't really care. Why would you want to use something else when those are clearly for PHP? <% and %> mean ASP to me, and <script ..... means Javascript (in most cases). So for consistency, fast learning, portability, and simplicity, why not stick to the standard?

On the other hand I agree that short tags in templates (and ONLY in templates) seem useful, but the problem is that we've just spent so much time discussing it here, that it would likely take a very long time to have actually wasted that much time typing the extra three characters of "php"!!

While having many options is nice, it's not at all logical and it can cause problems. Imagine if every programming language allowed 4 or more types of tags: Javascript could be <JS or < script .... or <% or <? JS.... would that be helpful? In the case of PHP the parsing order tends to be in favor of allowing these things, but the language is in many other ways not flexible: it throws notices or errors upon the slightest inconsistency, yet short tags are used often. And when short tags are used on a server that doesn't support them, it can take a very long time to figure out what is wrong since no error is given in some cases.

Finally, I don't think that short tags are the problem here: there are only two logical types of PHP code blocks-- 1) regular PHP code, 2) template echoes. For the former, I firmly believe that only <?php and ?> should be allowed just to keep everything consistent and portable. For the latter, the <?=$var?> method is ugly. Why must it be like this? Why not add something much more logical? <?php $var ?> That would not do anything (and only in the most remote possibilities could it conflict with something), and that could easily replace the awkward <?= syntax. Or if that's a problem, perhaps they could use <?php=$var?> instead and not worry about inconsistencies.

At the point where there are 4 options for open and close tags and the random addition of a special "echo" tag, PHP may as well have a "custom open/close tags" flag in php.ini or .htaccess. That way designers can choose the one they like best. But for obvious reasons that's overkill. So why allow 4+ options?

5

As of 2019 I disagree with certain answers here. Recommended to use:

1. Long tags

<?php /* code goes here */ ?>

2. Short echo tags

<?= /* code goes here */ ?>

Reason: They are recommended by the PSR-1 basic coding standard

Other short tags like <? /* code goes here */ ?> are not recommended.

The spec says:

PHP code MUST use the long tags or the short-echo tags; it MUST NOT use the other tag variations.

0
4

One situation that is a little different is when developing a CodeIgniter application. CodeIgniter seems to use the shorttags whenever PHP is being used in a template/view, otherwise with models and controllers it always uses the long tags. It's not a hard and fast rule in the framework, but for the most part the framework and a lot of the source from other uses follows this convention.

My two cents? If you never plan on running the code somewhere else, then use them if you want. I'd rather not have to do a massive search and replace when I realize it was a dumb idea.

4

<? is disabled by default in newer versions. You can enable this like described Enabling Short Tags in PHP.

2
  • It's disabled by default in older versions too isn't it.
    – Pacerier
    Apr 9, 2015 at 10:33
  • <? is disabled by default, but <?= has been enabled by default since 5 years ago. Dec 17, 2020 at 21:30
4

I thought it worth mentioning that as of PHP 7:

  • Short ASP PHP tags <% … %> are gone
  • Short PHP tabs <? … ?> are still available if short_open_tag is set to true. This is the default.
  • Since PHP 5.4, Short Print tags <?=… ?> are always enabled, regardless of the short_open_tag setting.

Good riddance to the first one, as it interfered with other languages.

There is now no reason not to use the short print tags, apart from personal preference.

Of course, if you’re writing code to be compatible with legacy versions of PHP 5, you will need to stick to the old rules, but remember that anything before PHP 5.6 is now unsupported.

See: https://secure.php.net/manual/en/language.basic-syntax.phptags.php

Note also the the above reference discourages the second version (<? … ?>) since it may have been disabled:

Note:
As short tags can be disabled it is recommended to only use the normal tags (<?php ?> and <?= ?>) to maximise compatibility.

0
3

IMHO people who use short tags often forget to escape whatever they're echoing. It would be nice to have a template engine that escapes by default. I believe Rob A wrote a quick hack to escape short tags in Zend Frameworks apps. If you like short tags because it makes PHP easier to read. Then might Smarty be a better option?

{$myString|escape}

to me that looks better than

<?= htmlspecialchars($myString) ?> 
2
  • 10
    For most PHP programmers, the second option makes more sense than the first, simply because it is an actual PHP function that we are familiar with, while the first option is pseudo templating code that we have to learn on top of PHP. PHP is already a templating language, adding another templating language on top of it like Smarty is redundant IMO.
    – Bug Magnet
    Sep 9, 2011 at 4:43
  • 3
    Twig is a template engine with html escaping enabled by default twig.sensiolabs.org
    – mateusza
    Jun 10, 2012 at 11:03
3

It's good to use them when you work with a MVC framework or CMS that have separate view files.
It's fast, less code, not confusing for the designers. Just make sure your server configuration allows using them.

3

One has to ask what the point of using short tags is.

Quicker to type

MDCore said:

<?= is far more convenient than typing <?php echo

Yes, it is. You save having to type 7 characters * X times throughout your scripts.

However, when a script takes an hour, or 10 hours, or more, to design, develop, and write, how relevant is the few seconds of time not typing those 7 chars here and there for the duration of the script?

Compared to the potential for some core, or all, of you scripts not working if short tags are not turned on, or are on but an update or someone changing the ini file/server config stops them working, other potentials.

The small benefit you gain doesn't comes close to outweighing the severity of the potential problems, that is your site not working, or worse, only parts of it not working and thus a headache to resolve.

Easier to read

This depends on familiarity.
I've always seen and used <?php echo. So while <?= is not hard to read, it's not familiar to me and thus not easier to read.

And with front end/back end developer split (as with most companies) would a front end developer working on those templates be more familiar knowing <?= is equal to "PHP open tag and echo"?
I would say most would be more comfortable with the more logical one. That is, a clear PHP open tag and then what is happening "echo" - <?php echo.

Risk assessment
Issue = entire site or core scripts fail to work;

The potential of issue is very low + severity of outcome is very high = high risk

Conclusion

You save a few seconds here and there not having to type a few chars, but risk a lot for it, and also likely lose readability as a result.

Front or back end coders familiar with <?= are more likely to understand <?php echo, as they're standard PHP things - standard <?php open tag and very well known "echo".
(Even front end coders should know "echo" or they simply wont be working on any code served by a framework).

Whereas the reverse is not as likely, someone is not likely to logically deduce that the equals sign on a PHP short tag is "echo".

4
  • It has nothing to do with typing. It's shorter and thus has the potential to be easier to read. A person used to reading <?= will read <?= more easily than a person used to reading <?php echo reading <?php echo.
    – Pacerier
    Apr 9, 2015 at 10:32
  • @Pacerier Shorter does not simply = easier to read. We are all different. What you mean is, it's easier to read for you. As I put in my answer, as I'm used to <?php seeing that throughout code many times is more familiar to me than <?= - familiarity makes things easier - tho not necessarily better.
    – James
    Apr 9, 2015 at 11:27
  • No I'm not comparing you and me, I'm saying a person used to reading <?= will read <?= better than a person used to reading <?php echo read <?php echo. That means if we have two identical copies of person X, and alter them only in the aspect whereby one is used to reading <?=, and the other which is used to reading <?php echo, The first copy can achieve readability value of x while reading using his desired syntax, whereas the second copy can achieve readability value of y when reading his desired syntax, where x >= y.
    – Pacerier
    Apr 11, 2015 at 16:43
  • No you're missing the point. I'm referring to the potential of the system, which has nothing to do with any particular person. You can say people used to typing with qwerty keyboard will type faster with qwerty, whereas people used to typing with dvorak will type faster with dvorak, but the fact doesn't change that the two systems have different potential.
    – Pacerier
    Apr 12, 2015 at 14:46
3

To avoid portability issues, start PHP tags with <?php and in case your PHP file is purely PHP, no HTML, you don't need to use the closing tags.

2
  • Short tags are acceptable to use in cases where you are certain the server will support it and that your developers will understand it.
  • Many servers do not support it, and many developers will understand it after seeing it once.
  • I use full tags to ensure portability, since it's really not that bad.

With that said, a friend of mine said this, in support of alternate standardized asp-style tags, like <% rather than <?, which is a setting in php.ini called asp_tags. Here is his reasoning:

... arbitrary conventions should be standardized. That is, any time we are faced with a set of possibilities that are all of equal value - such as what weird punctuation our programming language should use to demarcate itself - we should pick one standard way and stick with it. That way we reduce the learning curve of all languages (or whatever the things the convention pertains to).

Sounds good to me, but I don't think any of us can circle the wagons around this cause. In the meantime, I would stick to the full <?php.

2

Let's face it. PHP is ugly as hell without short tags.

You can enable them in a .htaccess file if you can't get to the php.ini:

php_flag short_open_tag on
3
  • 4
    False. Sometimes, server is set to deny any kind of overriding, sir.
    – Alfabravo
    Mar 19, 2010 at 12:05
  • 18
    True, but if your host doesn't allow you to override with htaccess, you really need a new host! :)
    – Brian Lacy
    Jun 22, 2010 at 16:57
  • 1
    does not work on command line interface, and php_flag not supported all the time
    – E Ciotti
    Jan 12, 2012 at 1:20
1

If you care about XSS then you should use <?= htmlspecialchars(…) ?> most of the time, so a short tag doesn't make a big difference.

Even if you shorten echo htmlspecialchars() to h(), it's still a problem that you have to remember to add it almost every time (and trying to keep track which data is pre-escaped, which is unescaped-but-harmless only makes mistakes more likely).

I use a templating engine that is secure by default and writes <?php tags for me.

4
  • 7
    If you find yourself typing "<?php echo htmlspecialchars($text, ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8'); ?> 500 times a day, you might want to create a shortcut function named "h" like Rails has.. "<?= h($text) ?>" is just so much more readable when scanning a template. Jul 26, 2009 at 12:21
  • 1
    It is better indeed, but with a template engine it may be simply ${text} or such (and you don't have to remember to add h())
    – Kornel
    Jul 26, 2009 at 21:41
  • 7
    PHP itself is a templating engine. When you stop using short tags it starts to be bad templating engine as it becomes too verbose. Jul 12, 2010 at 14:21
  • 1
    @Alexander Malfait that's a good tip. But the <?= is not needed. You can just make the function echo the string instead of return, so then you'd write <?php h('hello')?> Don't we already do that when we de i18n? <?php _e('')?> is not that bad.
    – VladFr
    Nov 30, 2010 at 17:15
1

Short tag are alwayes available in php. So you do not need echo the first statement in your script

example:

    $a =10;
    <?= $a;//10 
    echo "Hellow";//
    echo "Hellow";

   ?>

Suddenly you need to use for a single php script then u can use it. example:

<html>
<head>
<title></title>
</head>  
<body>
<p>hellow everybody<?= hi;?></p>
<p>hellow everybody  </p> 
<p>hellow everybody  </p>   
</body>
</html>
1

3 tags are available in php:

  1. long-form tag that <?php ?> no need to directive any configured
  2. short_open_tag that <? ?> available if short_open_tag option in php.ini is on
  3. shorten tag <?= since php 5.4.0 it is always available

from php 7.0.0 asp and script tag are removed

2
  • That doesn't answer the question.
    – RalfFriedl
    Sep 21, 2019 at 19:03
  • Weren't these facts already provided by earlier answers? Apr 8, 2023 at 8:42
0

<?php ?> are much better to use since developers of this programming language has massively updated their core-language. You can see the difference between the short tags and long tags.

Short tags will be highlighted as light red while the longer ones are highlighted darker!

However, echoing something out, for example: <?=$variable;?> is fine. But prefer the longer tags. <?php echo $variable;?>

0

Convert <? (without a trailing space) to <?php (with a trailing space):

find . -name "*.php" -print0 | xargs -0 perl -pi -e 's/<\?(?!php|=|xml|mso| )/<\?php /g'

Convert <? (with a trailing space) to <?php (retaining the trailing space):

find . -name "*.php" -print0 | xargs -0 perl -pi -e 's/<\? /<\?php /g'
-5

No, and they're being phased out by PHP 6 so if you appreciate code longevity, simply don't use them or the <% ... %> tags.

8
  • 4
    I've seen other blog posts that say they're not going to be deprecated, just the ASP style short tags.
    – MDCore
    Oct 16, 2008 at 10:18
  • 23
    It looks like this answer is incorrect, according to this link from the PHP Developers meeting: php.net/~derick/…
    – Charles
    Nov 4, 2009 at 20:59
  • 7
    WHY are they so bad, whyyy? Everybody is so self confident that they are baaaaaad but nobody says why. Nov 30, 2009 at 22:37
  • 6
    FALSE. They are phasing out <% %> tags, as indeed they should. They serve no purpose but to confuse. The <? ?> tags will not be affected; but of course they are still configurable on a per-server basis, and you should always be aware of your target platform's requirements.
    – Brian Lacy
    Nov 8, 2010 at 16:52
  • 6
    This information appears to be incorrect and misleading, and it should be corrected by the author.
    – tex
    Feb 25, 2011 at 9:17

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