Introduction to PHP
This course provides a comprehensive introduction to PHP development, covering essential topics such as understanding PHP development, its importance, advantages and challenges, as well as key tools
Pre-requisite Program(s)
The following program(s) are pre-requisite to taking this program:
RWL Code
BLP-5871ALX1101
Category
Backend Development
Program Type
Free Program
Program Fee
FREE
Publish Date
21/08/2025
Language
4 Lessons |
40mins
1
This introductory lesson provides a comprehensive foundation for understanding PHP as a server-side scripting language used for web development. It explains PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) as an open-source language that creates dynamic web pages by processing data, interacting with databases, and generating HTML responses. The lesson uses analogies like comparing PHP to a car engine or skilled chef to illustrate how it processes user requests and generates customized responses. It covers PHP's key characteristics including its server-side execution, cross-platform compatibility, and integration capabilities with HTML. The lesson explains the request-response cycle showing how PHP processes web requests and emphasizes the importance of having foundational knowledge in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript before learning PHP.
This lesson examines the continuing relevance and importance of PHP in modern web development despite the emergence of newer programming languages. It highlights PHP's significant market presence, powering a substantial portion of existing websites from small blogs to large e-commerce platforms, which creates ongoing demand for PHP skills in maintaining and developing these systems. The lesson explores career opportunities available to PHP developers across various roles including web developer, backend developer, and full-stack developer positions. It emphasizes PHP's versatility through its seamless database integration capabilities, dynamic content creation features, and server-side scripting advantages that provide security and efficiency benefits for web applications.
This lesson provides a balanced evaluation of PHP by examining both its strengths and limitations as a programming language for web development. It covers PHP's key advantages including its beginner-friendly syntax, open-source nature that eliminates licensing costs, versatility for various web development tasks, cross-platform compatibility, wide hosting availability, and robust frameworks like Laravel and Symfony. The lesson also addresses significant disadvantages such as historical security vulnerabilities requiring careful input validation, potential performance issues with complex applications, syntax inconsistencies that can confuse beginners, limitations for certain application types like real-time systems, learning curve for advanced concepts, and code maintainability challenges in large projects. It concludes by emphasizing the importance of understanding these trade-offs when selecting PHP for specific project requirements.
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This lesson focuses on the essential tools and setup required for effective PHP development, with particular emphasis on Integrated Development Environments and local development configurations. It compares popular IDEs including PHPStorm as a commercial, feature-rich option and Visual Studio Code as a free, open-source alternative that can be enhanced with PHP extensions. The lesson explains VS Code's advantages including its cost-free nature, lightweight performance, extensive PHP support through extensions like PHP Intelephense and PHP Debug, and cross-platform compatibility. It also covers various local development environment options such as Laragon for Windows users, XAMPP as a cross-platform solution, Docker for containerized development, and the php.new CLI command for simplified server setup, which will be the primary method used in the course.