PHP Course

Overview

Learning Objectives

PHP is a widely used server-side scripting language that has become increasingly fast and powerful through the years. You can also use it on the front-end since PHP can be embedded right into HTML. These features make learning PHP a great option for any web developer. In this skill path, you’ll work through PHP fundamental programming concepts and gain the skills necessary to develop programs in PHP.

Prerequisites

None

Course Outline

Module 1. Introduction to PHP

What is PHP?

Overview of PHP

History and Evolution

PHP vs Other Server-Side Languages

Setting Up PHP Development Environment

Installing XAMPP/WAMP/LAMP (Local Servers)

Configuring a Web Server (Apache)

Using Composer (PHP Dependency Manager)

Introduction to PHP IDEs (VS Code, PhpStorm)

Basic Syntax and PHP Tags

Opening and Closing Tags

Comments in PHP

Syntax Rules (Case Sensitivity, Semicolons)

Module 2. PHP Basics

Variables and Data Types

Declaring Variables

PHP Data Types: Strings, Integers, Floats, Arrays, Booleans

Typecasting and Type Juggling

Operators

Arithmetic, Comparison, Logical Operators

Assignment Operators

String Operators

Control Structures

Conditional Statements: if, else, elseif, switch

Loops: for, while, do-while, foreach

Module 3. Functions and Arrays

Functions

Declaring Functions

Function Parameters and Return Values

Variable Scope (Global vs Local)

Built-in PHP Functions

Anonymous Functions / Lambdas

Arrays

Indexed Arrays, Associative Arrays, Multidimensional Arrays

Array Functions: array_push(), array_merge(), array_map(), etc.

VLooping Through Arrays: foreach, for

Array Sorting and Filtering

Module 4. Handling Forms and User Input

HTML Forms and PHP

POST vs GET Methods

Retrieving Form Data in PHP

Form Validation

Handling File Uploads

Superglobals

$_GET, $_POST, $_SESSION, $_COOKIE, $_REQUEST, $_FILES

Module 5. Working with Databases

Introduction to Databases

Setting Up MySQL or MariaDB

Connecting PHP to MySQL

Introduction to SQL: SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE

CRUD Operations

Create, Read, Update, Delete Operations in PHP

Prepared Statements and Security (SQL Injection Prevention)

Using PDO and MySQLi for Database Interaction

Fetching Data: mysqli_fetch_assoc(), PDO::fetch()

Error Handling with Databases

Module 6. Sessions and Cookies

Understanding Sessions

Starting and Destroying Sessions

Storing Session Variables

Session Handling and Security

Cookies

Setting, Retrieving, and Deleting Cookies

Cookie Expiry and Path

Module 7. Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) in PHP

Introduction to OOP Concepts

Classes and Objects

Constructors and Destructors

Properties and Methods

Visibility: public, private, protected

Inheritance and Polymorphism

Inheriting from Parent Classes

Method Overriding

Using parent:: keyword

Encapsulation

Access Modifiers

Getter and Setter Methods

Abstraction and Interfaces

Abstract Classes

Interfaces

Namespaces and Autoloading

Module 8. PHP Advanced Topics

Error Handling

Try-Catch Blocks

Custom Error Handling with set_error_handler()

Logging Errors and Debugging PHP Code

Security Best Practices

Input Sanitization and Validation

Protecting Against SQL Injection, XSS, CSRF

Password Hashing and Verification (password_hash(), password_verify())

PHP File Handling

Reading, Writing, and Modifying Files

File Uploads

Directory Traversal and Permissions

Regular Expressions in PHP

Using preg_match(), preg_replace(), etc.

Module 9. PHP and Modern Web Development

Working with APIs

Sending GET and POST Requests (cURL)

Working with JSON Data

Consuming REST APIs

PHP and Frontend (AJAX, JSON)

Introduction to AJAX

Making Asynchronous Requests from PHP

Handling JSON Data with PHP

Using Composer for Dependency Management

Creating and Managing Composer Projects

Installing Libraries via Composer

Module 10. Frameworks and CMSs

Introduction to PHP Frameworks

Laravel, Symfony, CodeIgniter Overview

MVC Architecture

Routing, Controllers, Views

PHP and Content Management Systems

Introduction to WordPress or Drupal (Brief Overview)

Creating Themes or Plugins in WordPress

Module 11. Performance Optimization and Best Practices

PHP Performance Optimization

Caching Techniques

Opcode Cache (OPcache)

Query Optimization in MySQL

PHP Coding Standards

PSR Standards (PSR-1, PSR-2, PSR-4)

Writing Clean, Maintainable PHP Code

Module 12. PHP Project

Building a Real-World Application

Planning and Designing the Application

Implementing PHP and MySQL Features

Incorporating Sessions, Cookies, and Security Best Practices

Testing and Debugging the Application

Final Project: Deploying the PHP Application

Preparing for Deployment (Server Setup)

Uploading to a Web Host or Cloud Service

Ensuring Security and Performance

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