PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) is a popular server-side scripting language widely used for web development. It is crucial for creating dynamic web pages and applications. While PHP is traditionally associated with web servers, it can also be run via the command line, which is particularly useful for testing scripts, running cron jobs, or performing batch processing tasks. This article will guide you through the process of running PHP scripts using the Terminal on a macOS environment.

Examples:

1. Installing PHP on macOS: macOS often comes with PHP pre-installed, but it might not be the latest version. You can check the installed version by opening the Terminal and typing:

   php -v

   If PHP is not installed or you need a different version, you can use Homebrew to install it:

   /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
   brew install php

2. Running a Simple PHP Script: Create a PHP file, for example, hello.php, with the following content:

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

   Navigate to the directory containing hello.php using the Terminal and run the script by typing:

   php hello.php

3. Running PHP Built-in Server: PHP comes with a built-in web server that is useful for development and testing. To start the server, navigate to your project directory and run:

   php -S localhost:8000

   This command will start a web server on localhost at port 8000. You can then access your PHP files by navigating to http://localhost:8000 in your web browser.

4. Setting Up a Cron Job to Run PHP Scripts: Cron jobs are scheduled tasks that run at specified intervals. To set up a cron job for a PHP script, you need to edit the crontab file:

   crontab -e

   Add the following line to run script.php every day at midnight:

   0 0 * * * /usr/local/bin/php /path/to/your/script.php

   Make sure to replace /usr/local/bin/php with the path to your PHP executable and /path/to/your/script.php with the path to your PHP script.