PHP For Everybody — The Perfect PHP Beginners Course (2020)

Learn how PHP dynamically generates web pages, using URL parameters like $_GET['color'] to alter output without compiling, and how PHP outputs HTML on a live server.

Learn PHP as a server-side language with minimal prerequisites; you’ll see HTML/CSS/JavaScript, but the course stays strictly PHP. Master PHP syntax, variables, and debugging to become a professional PHP developer.

Install PHP on Windows, Mac, or Linux using XAMPP or Docker to run PHP files on a local server. Follow PHP 7.x guidance and Docker options.

Install and launch XAMPP to run PHP locally, select a PHP 7.x version on Mac or Windows, access localhost dashboard, and view PHP info for databases and PDO details.

Learn what a PHP file is and why the .php extension matters for the server. Discover how Apache serves PHP templates by hiding source code and delivering dynamic pages.

Discover why PHP remains a dominant server-side language, powering WordPress and major sites like Facebook and Wikipedia, with 27 percent of all web sites running PHP.

Learn the difference between front end and back end coding, including browser-based HTML, CSS, and JavaScript versus server-side databases and languages like PHP and Python; discover what full stack means.

Identify essential tools for PHP development: a text editor (Sublime, VS Code, Atom), Git with GitHub and GitLab, and a local server (zap or lamp) or Docker for running PHP.

Explore PHP documentation on php.net to understand functions like date and their parameters. Remember you don't need to memorize every detail; the power lies in knowing where to find information.

Learn PHP syntax by writing echo statements with proper quotes and semicolons, and declaring variables that start with a dollar sign.

Master echo in PHP and see that it replaces print for most uses. Practice echoing text to a page with quotes or apostrophes and apply escaping to prevent syntax errors.

Learn to manage large PHP projects by using three comment styles: hashtag comments, double slash comments, and multi-line comments, and understand how they affect code readability and debugging.

Explore variables in PHP by creating and assigning values with a dollar sign, then printing them with echo. Learn naming rules and examples like name and age to build content.

Explore PHP data types like strings, integers, floats, booleans, and arrays, and learn variable declarations. Showcase echo and basic outputs for each type.

Master mixing php and html by embedding php echoes into html elements, using .php files, and styling with simple inline css and basic tags like h1 and div.

Unset a PHP variable by clearing its value with the built-in unset function, targeting one or more variables (including arrays and objects) and showing before and after echoes.

Learn to debug variables in PHP with print_r, echo array values, and inspect data types. Explore arrays, indices, and zero-based numbering while viewing page source to verify content.

Learn to debug PHP more effectively by using var_dump instead of print_r, and discover how Xdebug enhances output with clear file and line details.

Explore type casting in PHP, learn how strings, integers, and floats differ, and see how var_dump and simple conditionals handle type conversions; practice converting values and understanding loose typing.

Learn basic arithmetic in PHP, including addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, exponent, and modulus, using variables and echo to compute dynamic numbers.

Learn how to use constants in PHP to store unchanging values with define, create a named constant like name with Caleb, and apply constants in config files.

Master PHP concatenation by learning how to join variables and strings with the dot operator, using echo, and choosing between single and double quotes.

Explore the difference between quotes and apostrophes in PHP, and use escaping with a backslash to render quotes inside strings and concatenate safely.

Learn how to replace parts of a string in PHP using the string replace function, including what to replace, replacement text, where to replace it, and optional count.

Learn to create and access arrays in PHP, using [] and array(), index-based access, and multi-dimensional arrays.

Explore sorting arrays in PHP, from simple alphabetical sorts to reverse sorts, and learn to sort by values or by keys in associative arrays using sort, rsort, and ksort.

Learn how if statements drive conditional logic in PHP, using = vs == and operators like >, <, >=, <= to control output such as age checks and access decisions.

Learn else statements in PHP by executing code when an if condition is false, illustrated with a simple age example and the else syntax.

Master PHP conditionals by building if statements, else if chains, and the optional else, with examples using age checks and URL parameters to drive logic.

Explore how comparison operators work in PHP, including equals, not equals, greater than, less than, and the distinction between soft and strict comparisons tied to data types.

Explore PHP incremental and decremental operators to adjust numbers by one. See plus plus and minus minus in action, including shorthand plus equals and minus equals with points and age.

Explore how booleans drive conditionals, with true and false, the not operator, and how numbers like zero and minus twelve are evaluated as true or false in PHP.

Explore ternary logic as a shorthand for if-else statements in PHP, with practical examples (age and can drink) and guidance on readability and avoiding over-nested expressions.

Explode a sentence into an array and implode the pieces back together in PHP, demonstrating how to transform and join arrays, including using spaces, commas, and pipes.

Learn how switch statements in PHP replace long if-else chains, using multiple cases, default handling, and break to create cleaner, faster conditional logic for dynamic pages like blogs.

Explore while loops in PHP, learn the syntax, echo output, increment a counter, and control flow with break and continue.

Explore for loops in PHP and compare them to while loops, highlighting automatic increment, end conditions, and when to use break, continue, or for each.

Master foreach loops in PHP to iterate arrays, including multi-dimensional and associative arrays, printing keys and values, and accessing nested data for practical data handling.

Learn to check whether a variable or array key exists in PHP using is set, control outputs with if-else, and prevent overwriting across files and plugins.

Explore PHP is_* functions such as is_int, is_float, is_numeric, is_array, and is_string, and learn to typecast values to proper data types to write cleaner, standards-driven code.

Check if the email address is empty to enforce required fields in form submission, then implement basic form validation and guard against malicious input.

Learn how to build a basic html form using the get method, add a text input with a city name and a submit button, and observe url parameters like city=edmonton.

Create a simple PHP get form and display the city from the get parameter, using is set and empty to echo the city name from the URL.

Learn how to use the post method in PHP forms, compare it to get, and access posted data with the post super global to protect sensitive information.

Learn to enforce required form fields in PHP by server-side validation of post data, not relying on the browser 'required' attribute. Create informative error messages and refactor logic for readability.