PHP Programming Course

Master server-side web development with PHP — 73 lessons from first script to advanced application architecture.

Learn PHP for web development — syntax, forms, sessions, databases, security and REST APIs — with practical interactive lessons.

👋 New to PHP? Great choice for web backends.

PHP powers over 75% of the web. Start with Lesson 1 — we'll build your skills from the ground up.

Continue where you left off

Lessons in this course

• Introduction to PHP — What PHP is, how it runs on the server, and how to write your first script
• Variables & Data Types — Strings, integers, floats, booleans — PHP's core data types explained
• Data Types — PHP's eight data types, gettype(), and how var_dump() reveals what you have
• Strings & String Functions — Build, search, and transform text with PHP's rich string function library
• Numbers & Math — Integers, floats, math functions, and avoiding floating-point surprises
• Type Juggling & Casting — How PHP converts types automatically and when to cast explicitly
• Constants — Define unchanging values with const and define(), plus magic constants
• Superglobals ($_GET, $_POST, $_SERVER) — Access request, server, and session data through PHP's built-in superglobals
• Null & Null-Safe Operators — Handle missing values cleanly with ??, ??=, and the ?-> null-safe operator
• Checkpoint: PHP Basics — Combine variables, types, strings and math in a build challenge — then a quiz
• Operators & Expressions — Arithmetic, comparison, logical, and string operators in PHP
• Control Flow — Control program logic with if, elseif, else, and switch
• Loops — Repeat code with for, foreach, while, and do-while loops
• Functions — Write reusable functions with parameters, return values, and default arguments
• Arrays & Collections — Work with indexed, associative, and multidimensional arrays
• The match Expression — PHP 8's strict, expression-based alternative to switch — cleaner and safer
• Closures & Arrow Functions — Anonymous functions, use(), and concise fn() arrow syntax with capture
• Regular Expressions (preg) — Match, capture, and replace text patterns with preg_match and preg_replace
• Generators (yield) — Produce values lazily with yield to process large data sets efficiently
• File Handling — Read, write, and append to files on the server with PHP
• Forms & User Input — Handle HTML form submissions, validate user input, and sanitise data
• Sessions & Cookies — Persist user data between page loads with sessions and cookies
• Object-Oriented PHP — Create classes, objects, interfaces, and use OOP principles in PHP
• Enums (PHP 8.1) — Model a fixed set of values with backed enums, methods, and constants
• Traits — Share methods across unrelated classes with horizontal code reuse
• Type Declarations & Typed Properties — Add parameter, return, and property types for safer, self-documenting code
• Dates & Times (DateTime) — Parse, format, compare, and do arithmetic with DateTime and DateInterval
• Working with JSON — Encode and decode JSON for APIs with json_encode and json_decode
• Checkpoint: Data & Types — Combine enums, match, closures and JSON in a build challenge — then a quiz
• Database Integration (MySQL) — Connect to MySQL, run queries, and display database data on your page
• Security Best Practices — Prevent SQL injection, XSS, and CSRF in PHP web applications
• APIs & JSON — Build and consume REST APIs, encode/decode JSON data with PHP
• Advanced OOP Patterns: Factory, Singleton, Strategy & Repository — Apply GoF design patterns in production-quality PHP code
• Dependency Injection Containers & Service Providers — Build and use DI containers for testable, decoupled PHP applications
• Advanced Error Handling & Custom Exception Hierarchies — Custom exception types, global handlers, and error reporting strategies
• Working with REST APIs: cURL, Streams & Guzzle — Call external APIs with cURL, streams, and the Guzzle HTTP client
• Building Your Own Micro MVC Framework — Build a router, dispatcher, and controller system from scratch in PHP
• Middleware Architecture & Request Pipelines — Process HTTP requests through a stack of middleware for auth, logging, and more
• Advanced PDO: Transactions, Prepared Statements & Stored Procedures — Use PDO for safe, efficient database access with transactions and stored procs
• Query Builders & ORM Concepts (Doctrine/Eloquent Style) — Map database tables to PHP objects with ORM concepts and query builders
• Authentication Deep Dive: JWT, OAuth2 & API Tokens — Implement secure login, JWT issuance, and OAuth2 flows in PHP
• Securing PHP Applications: XSS, CSRF, SQL Injection & Hardening — Defend against all major PHP vulnerabilities with proven security techniques
• Password Hashing, Argon2 & Secure Credential Storage — Hash passwords with Argon2/bcrypt and store credentials safely
• Advanced Sessions: Redis, Database Sessions & Stateless Sessions — Scale session storage with Redis, DB-backed sessions, and JWT stateless auth
• Caching Techniques: OPcache, Redis & File Caching — Speed up PHP apps with OPcache, Redis object caching, and cache layers
• Building Dynamic APIs with JSON, HAL & Pagination — Design paginated, versioned REST APIs with proper JSON response formats
• Rate Limiting, Throttling & IP-Based Controls — Protect your API from abuse with rate limiting and throttle middleware
• Working with Queues: Redis, Beanstalk, RabbitMQ — Offload slow tasks to background queues with Redis and message brokers
• Building Email Systems: SMTP, PHPMailer, DKIM, SPF — Send transactional emails with PHPMailer and configure deliverability
• Image Uploads, Processing & Optimisation (GD & Imagick) — Handle user image uploads, resize, crop, and optimise with GD and Imagick
• Working with PDF Generation & File Exporting — Generate PDFs, invoices, and reports with TCPDF and dompdf
• Localization, Internationalisation & Multilingual Apps — Build multilingual PHP apps with gettext, locale detection, and i18n patterns
• Building Search Features (Full-Text Search, Elastic, Meilisearch) — Add full-text search to PHP apps using MySQL FTS, Elasticsearch, or Meilisearch
• Cron Jobs, Background Tasks & Scheduling Workers — Automate recurring tasks with cron, worker processes, and job schedulers
• Environment Management: env files, Config Services & Secrets — Manage config safely with .env files, vlucas/phpdotenv, and secrets management
• Integrating Payment Gateways (Stripe, PayPal, Mollie) — Accept payments in PHP with Stripe Checkout, webhooks, and refund handling
• Building E-Commerce Logic: Carts, Orders & Invoices — Model shopping carts, orders, inventory, and invoice generation in PHP
• Server-Side Rendering & Template Engines (Twig, Blade-like Patterns) — Separate logic from presentation with Twig and templating best practices
• API Rate Monitoring, Logging & Audit Trails — Log API calls, monitor usage, and build audit trails for compliance
• Building a Role & Permission System (RBAC, ACL) — Implement role-based access control and fine-grained permissions in PHP
• File Storage Abstraction: Local, S3, Cloud Storage — Abstract file storage with Flysystem to switch between local, S3, and cloud
• Optimizing PHP Performance & Understanding OPcache — Profile PHP apps, tune OPcache, and eliminate slow code paths
• Unit Testing & Integration Testing with PHPUnit — Write unit tests, integration tests, and test doubles with PHPUnit
• Building Composer Packages & Publishing Libraries — Create, version, and publish reusable PHP packages on Packagist
• Deploying PHP Apps: Nginx/Apache, PHP-FPM, Docker — Deploy PHP applications with Nginx, PHP-FPM, and Docker containers
• Building a Complete Real-World PHP Architecture (Modular Monolith) — Structure a full PHP application as a modular monolith with clean boundaries
• Final Project — Build and deploy a complete PHP web application from scratch
• Getting Started with Laravel — Routing, controllers, Blade, Eloquent ORM and artisan in PHP's leading framework
• GraphQL APIs in PHP — Build a typed, single-endpoint GraphQL API with schemas, queries and mutations
• Real-Time PHP with WebSockets — Push live updates with WebSockets, Ratchet and Laravel Reverb broadcasting
• Namespaces & PSR-4 Autoloading — Organize code with namespaces and Composer's PSR-4 autoloader
• Fibers & Async PHP — PHP 8.1 Fibers and the event-loop runtimes (ReactPHP, Amp, Swoole) built on them
• Static Analysis with PHPStan & Psalm — Catch bugs before runtime with typed analysis, levels and CI integration

Frequently asked questions

Is PHP still worth learning in 2026?

Yes. PHP runs a large share of the web, including WordPress and many content and e-commerce sites, and modern PHP (with frameworks like Laravel) is fast and pleasant to work with. There is steady demand for PHP backend developers.

Is PHP hard to learn?

PHP is one of the easier backend languages to start with — it was built for the web, integrates directly with HTML, and you can see results quickly. This course covers syntax, forms, sessions, databases and security.

What can you build with PHP?

Dynamic websites, content management systems, e-commerce platforms, REST APIs and web applications. PHP pairs with a database like MySQL to power data-driven sites.

More for this course

• PHP cheat sheet — Quick syntax reference you can scan while you code
• Building Your First REST API with PHP — Step-by-step guide to creating a RESTful API using PHP and best practices for API design.
• PHP Security Best Practices: A Complete Guide — Master SQL injection prevention, XSS protection, CSRF tokens, password security, and file upload safety in PHP.
• Working With Sessions and Cookies in PHP — How PHP stores user data, remembers login states, and powers modern web applications. Learn sessions, cookies, and secure authentication patterns.