PHP parse/syntax errors; and how to solve them

Everyone runs into syntax errors. Even experienced programmers make typos. For newcomers, it's just part of the learning process. However, it's often easy to interpret error messages such as: > PHP Parse error: syntax error, unexpected '{' in index.php on line 20 The unexpected symbol isn't always the real culprit. But the line number gives a rough idea of where to start looking. > Always look at the **code context**. The syntax mistake often hides in the mentioned *or* in **previous code lines**. Compare your code against syntax examples from the manual. While not every case matches the other. Yet there are some [general steps to **solve syntax mistakes**](https://stackoverflow.com/a/18050072). This references summarized the common pitfalls: - [Unexpected T_STRING](https://stackoverflow.com/a/18092277) - [Unexpected T_VARIABLE <br> Unexpected '$varname' (T_VARIABLE)](https://stackoverflow.com/a/18092267) - [Unexpected T_CONSTANT_ENCAPSED_STRING <br> Unexpected T_ENCAPSED_AND_WHITESPACE](https://stackoverflow.com/a/18092288) - [Unexpected $end](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/18050071/php-parse-syntax-errors-and-how-to-solve-them#29500670) - [Unexpected T_FUNCTION](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3723748/php-version-5-2-14-parse-error-syntax-error-unexpected-t-function-expecting)… - [Unexpected `{`<br>Unexpected `}`<br>Unexpected `(`<br>Unexpected `)`](https://stackoverflow.com/a/18092308) - [Unexpected `[`<br>Unexpected `]`](https://stackoverflow.com/a/29505827) - [Unexpected T_IF <br> Unexpected T_FOREACH <br> Unexpected T_FOR <br> Unexpected T_WHILE <br> Unexpected T_DO <br> Unexpected T_PRINT <br> Unexpected T_ECHO](https://stackoverflow.com/a/18092318) - [Unexpected T_LNUMBER](//stackoverflow.com/a/47202089) - [Unexpected ?](//stackoverflow.com/a/48670368) - [Unexpected continue (T_CONTINUE)<br>Unexpected continue (T_BREAK)<br>Unexpected continue (T_RETURN)](//stackoverflow.com/a/51786865) - [Unexpected '='](//stackoverflow.com/a/53037930) - [Unexpected T_INLINE_HTML](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/4934754/t-inline-html-whats-wrong-with-this)… - [Unexpected T_PAAMAYIM_NEKUDOTAYIM](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1966010/what-does-this-mean-parse-error-syntax-error-unexpected-t-paamayim-nekudotay)… - [Unexpected T_OBJECT_OPERATOR](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3990212/help-with-this-error-message-unexpected-t-object-operator)… - [Unexpected T_DOUBLE_ARROW](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2622624/parse-error-syntax-error-unexpected-t-double-arrow-php)… <!-- unterminated array values , https://stackoverflow.com/questions/12980794/parse-error-syntax-error-unexpected-t-double-arrow-in-line-1059 --> - [Unexpected T_SL](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/11208725/parse-error-syntax-error-un...