title: How to use the PHP interactive shell
body: <p>I'm using Ubuntu 12.04 64 bit and I want to use the PHP interactive shell: </p>
  
  <pre><code>php -a
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>But it doesn't seem to work very well, a lot of syntax is incorrectly interpreted.</p>
  
  <p>When I run <code>php -a</code> it displays:</p>
  
  <pre><code>interactive mode enabled
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>And just a cursor blinking.</p>
  
  <p>I'm using: PHP 5.4.13-2~precise+1 (cli) (built: Mar 21 2013 12:17:18)</p>
  
  <p>How do I use the PHP interactive shell?</p>