MapScript Syntax

[Bill Thoen]

I'm trying to learn PHP Mapscript and reading through "Map Configuration 
with MapScript" 
(http://mapserver.gis.umn.edu/docs/howto/mapscript_map_config/) I'm a 
little confused by the syntax in the code examples. For instance, the 
first code line:

empty_map = new mapscript.mapObj

doesn't work. I get an error about the mapscript class being missing. In 
other places, it doesn't like the dot notation (and I thought that PHP 
uses an arrow -> instead anyway).

I suppose the problem here is that this isn't really *PHP* mapscript, 
but if it's not, how do I translate this "code" into something useful?

- Bill Thoen