PHP Fundamentals
The course teaches PHP fundamentals, covering language basics, arrays, functions, OOP, web development, and security, enabling learners to build robust, database‑driven web applications from scratch with best practices.
Who Should Take This
It is ideal for junior developers, recent CS graduates, or self‑taught programmers who have basic programming experience but little to no exposure to PHP. They seek to add server‑side scripting to their skill set, create dynamic websites, and understand security and error handling for production code.
What's Included in AccelaStudy® AI
Adaptive Knowledge Graph
Practice Questions
Lesson Modules
Console Simulator Labs
Exam Tips & Strategy
20 Activity Formats
Course Outline
60 learning goals
1
Language Basics
4 topics
Syntax and Data Types
- Describe PHP syntax fundamentals including opening/closing tags, variable naming with the dollar sign prefix, type juggling, and the distinction between loose and strict comparison operators
- Identify PHP scalar types (string, int, float, bool), compound types (array, object), and special types (null, resource) and explain type coercion behavior in expressions
- Implement PHP 8 type declarations including union types, nullable types, intersection types, and the strict_types declare directive for function parameter and return type enforcement
- Analyze the implications of PHP's type juggling in comparison operations and evaluate when to use strict comparison (===) versus loose comparison (==) to prevent bugs
Control Flow and Operators
- Implement control flow structures including if/elseif/else, switch, match expressions, for, foreach, while, and do-while loops with break and continue statements
- Implement the PHP 8 match expression and compare its strict type comparison, return value, and exhaustiveness checking against the traditional switch statement
- Implement the null coalescing operator (??), null coalescing assignment (??=), spaceship operator (<=>), and spread operator (...) for concise PHP expressions
Strings and Regular Expressions
- Describe PHP string types including single-quoted, double-quoted with variable interpolation, heredoc, and nowdoc syntaxes and explain their parsing differences
- Implement string manipulation using built-in functions including strlen, strpos, substr, str_replace, explode, implode, trim, and sprintf for formatted output
- Implement regular expression matching and replacement using preg_match, preg_match_all, and preg_replace for input validation and text processing tasks
Date and Time
- Implement date and time operations using the DateTime class including creation, formatting with format(), modification with modify(), and timezone handling with DateTimeZone
- Implement date arithmetic using DateInterval and DatePeriod for calculating differences between dates, generating date ranges, and scheduling recurring events
2
Arrays and Functions
3 topics
Array Operations
- Describe PHP array types including indexed arrays, associative arrays, and multidimensional arrays and explain how PHP arrays are ordered hash maps under the hood
- Implement array manipulation using array_push, array_pop, array_shift, array_merge, array_slice, array_splice, and the short array syntax with spread operator
- Implement array iteration and transformation using foreach, array_map, array_filter, array_reduce, and array_walk for functional-style data processing
- Implement array sorting using sort, asort, ksort, usort, and array_multisort and explain how each function handles keys, values, and custom comparison logic
Functions
- Describe PHP function syntax including named functions, default parameters, variadic arguments, return type declarations, and pass-by-reference using the ampersand operator
- Implement anonymous functions (closures) and arrow functions for callback patterns including array_map, array_filter, and usort with use clause for variable capture
- Implement PHP 8 named arguments in function calls and evaluate how they improve readability and flexibility when calling functions with many optional parameters
- Analyze variable scope in PHP functions including local, global, and static scope and evaluate the implications of the global keyword versus dependency injection
File Handling
- Implement file reading and writing using fopen, fread, fwrite, fgets, and fclose with proper resource handling and describe the difference between file modes (r, w, a, x)
- Implement JSON encoding and decoding using json_encode and json_decode for data serialization and API response handling with proper error checking using json_last_error
- Implement directory operations using opendir, readdir, scandir, mkdir, and rmdir for file system traversal and management in PHP scripts
3
Object-Oriented PHP
5 topics
Classes and Objects
- Describe PHP class syntax including constructors, properties with visibility modifiers (public, protected, private), methods, and the $this keyword for instance reference
- Implement PHP 8 constructor promotion to define and initialize properties directly in the constructor parameter list with visibility and readonly modifiers
- Implement static properties and methods using the static keyword and explain the difference between self::, static::, and parent:: resolution in inheritance hierarchies
Inheritance and Interfaces
- Implement class inheritance using extends with method overriding, parent constructor calls, and abstract classes with abstract method contracts
- Implement interfaces to define method contracts and use multiple interface implementation to achieve polymorphism without multiple inheritance
- Implement traits for horizontal code reuse and explain how trait conflict resolution works when multiple traits define methods with the same name
- Analyze the design trade-offs between abstract classes, interfaces, and traits and evaluate when each mechanism is appropriate for code organization and reuse
Namespaces and Autoloading
- Describe PHP namespaces including declaration syntax, the use keyword for importing, and how namespaces prevent class name collisions across libraries
- Implement Composer-based autoloading using PSR-4 namespace-to-directory mapping and the composer.json autoload configuration for dependency management
- Implement Composer dependency management including require, require-dev, version constraints, and the composer.lock file for reproducible installations
PHP 8 Modern Features
- Implement PHP 8 enums including pure enums and backed enums with string or integer values and explain how they replace class constants for type-safe value sets
- Implement PHP 8 attributes for declarative metadata annotation and explain how they replace docblock annotations for framework and library integration
- Implement readonly properties and classes in PHP 8.2 and evaluate their role in creating immutable value objects and data transfer objects
Magic Methods
- Implement PHP magic methods including __construct, __destruct, __toString, __get, __set, __isset, and __call for customizing object behavior and property access
- Implement the __clone method and explain the difference between shallow and deep copying of objects using the clone keyword for proper object duplication
- Analyze the use of __invoke for callable objects and __debugInfo for var_dump customization and evaluate when magic methods improve versus obscure code clarity
4
Web Development with PHP
4 topics
Form Handling and Superglobals
- Describe PHP superglobal arrays including $_GET, $_POST, $_REQUEST, $_SERVER, $_FILES, and $_COOKIE and explain how HTTP request data maps to each superglobal
- Implement HTML form processing with PHP including input validation, sanitization using filter_input and htmlspecialchars, and proper handling of GET versus POST methods
- Implement file upload handling using $_FILES with validation for file size, MIME type, and extension and secure storage with move_uploaded_file()
Sessions and Cookies
- Describe the difference between sessions and cookies including server-side versus client-side storage, session IDs, and the PHP session lifecycle with session_start()
- Implement session management using $_SESSION for user login persistence, shopping cart state, and flash messages with proper session destruction on logout
- Implement cookie management using setcookie() with expiration, path, domain, secure, and httponly flags and evaluate security considerations for cookie-based data storage
PDO Database Access
- Describe PDO as a database abstraction layer and explain how it supports multiple database drivers while providing a consistent API for connection, querying, and error handling
- Implement PDO database connections with DSN strings, prepared statements with named and positional placeholders, and fetch modes for result retrieval
- Implement CRUD operations using PDO with prepared statements including INSERT, SELECT, UPDATE, and DELETE with proper error handling using PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION
- Implement PDO transactions using beginTransaction, commit, and rollBack for atomic multi-statement operations and explain how transactions maintain data consistency
HTTP Headers and Redirection
- Implement HTTP header manipulation using header() for content type, redirection, cache control, and CORS headers and explain the requirement that headers must be sent before output
- Implement the Post-Redirect-Get pattern to prevent form resubmission on page refresh and explain how HTTP 302/303 redirects work with header('Location: ...')
- Analyze output buffering with ob_start, ob_flush, and ob_end_clean and evaluate how it solves the headers-already-sent problem and enables template rendering patterns
5
Security and Error Handling
2 topics
Security Best Practices
- Describe common PHP security vulnerabilities including SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), cross-site request forgery (CSRF), and directory traversal attacks
- Implement SQL injection prevention using PDO prepared statements and explain why string concatenation in queries creates injection vulnerabilities
- Implement XSS prevention using htmlspecialchars for output escaping, Content-Security-Policy headers, and input validation with filter_var for user-supplied data
- Implement password hashing using password_hash with PASSWORD_BCRYPT or PASSWORD_ARGON2ID and password_verify for secure authentication credential storage
- Analyze the defense-in-depth approach to PHP security and evaluate how layered protections including input validation, output escaping, and prepared statements work together
Error and Exception Handling
- Describe PHP's error reporting levels including E_ERROR, E_WARNING, E_NOTICE and explain the difference between errors and exceptions in PHP's error model
- Implement try-catch-finally exception handling with custom exception classes and explain how to convert legacy PHP errors to exceptions using set_error_handler
- Analyze error handling strategies for production versus development environments including error logging, display_errors configuration, and custom error pages
Scope
Included Topics
- PHP 8.x syntax and semantics including variables, data types, operators, control flow, functions, arrays (indexed, associative, multidimensional), string manipulation, and regular expressions
- Object-oriented PHP including classes, interfaces, abstract classes, traits, namespaces, autoloading with Composer, type declarations, enums, and the match expression
- Web development with PHP including form handling, sessions, cookies, PDO database access with prepared statements, file uploads, and security practices for SQL injection and XSS prevention
Not Covered
- Laravel, Symfony, and other PHP frameworks
- WordPress, Drupal, and CMS internals
- PHP extensions and C-level internals
- Advanced design patterns and enterprise architecture
- Server administration and PHP-FPM configuration
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