Introduction of PHP

• What is PHP?
• The history of PHP
• Why choose PHP?
• Installation overview

First Steps

• Embedding PHP code on a page
• Outputting dynamic text
• The operational trail
• Inserting code comments

Exploring Data Types

• Variables
• Strings
• String functions
• Numbers part one: Integers
• Numbers part two: Floating points
• Arrays
• Associative arrays
• Array functions
• Booleans
• NULL and empty
• Type juggling and casting
• Constants

Control Structures: Logical Expressions

• If statements
• Else and elseif statements
• Logical operators
• Switch statements

Control Structures: Loops

• While loops
• For loops
• Foreach loops
• Continue
• Break
• Understanding array pointers

User-Defined Functions

• Defining functions
• Function arguments
• Returning values from a function
• Multiple return values
• Scope and global variables
• Setting default argument values

Debugging

• Common problems
• Warnings and errors
• Debugging and troubleshooting

Building Web Pages with PHP

• Links and URLs
• Using GET values
• Encoding GET values
• Encoding for HTML
• Including and requiring files
• Modifying headers
• Page redirection
• Output buffering

Working with Forms and Form Data

• Building forms
• Detecting form submissions
• Single-page form processing
• Validating form values
• Problems with validation logic
• Displaying validation errors
• Custom validation functions
• Single-page form with validations

Working with Cookies and Sessions

• Working with cookies
• Setting cookie values
• Reading cookie values
• Unsetting cookie values
• Working with sessions

MySQL Basics

• MySQL introduction
• Creating a database
• Creating a database table
• CRUD in MySQL
• Populating a MySQL database
• Relational database tables
• Populating the relational table

Using PHP to Access MySQL

• Database APIs in PHP
• Connecting to MySQL with PHP
• Retrieving data from MySQL
• Working with retrieved data
• Creating records with PHP
• Updating and deleting records with PHP
• SQL injection
• Escaping strings for MySQL
• Introducing prepared statements

Building a Content Management System (CMS)

• Blueprinting the application
• Building the CMS database
• Establishing your work area
• Creating and styling the first page
• Making page assets reusable
• Connecting the application to the database

Using Site Navigation to Choose Content

• Adding pages to the navigation subjects
• Refactoring the navigation
• Selecting pages from the navigation
• Highlighting the current page
• Moving the navigation to a function

Application CRUD

• Finding a subject in the database
• Refactoring the page selection
• Creating a new subject form
• Processing form values and adding subjects
• Passing data in the session
• Validating form values
• Creating an edit subject form
• Using single-page submission
• Deleting a subject
• Cleaning up
• Assignment: Pages CRUD
• Assignment results: Pages CRUD

Building the Public Area

• The public appearance
• Using a context for conditional code
• Adding a default subject behaviour
• The public content area
• Protecting page visibility

Regulating Page Access

• User authentication overview
• Admin CRUD
• Encrypting passwords
• Salting passwords
• Adding password encryption to CMS
• New PHP password functions
• Creating a login system
• Checking for authorization
• Creating a logout page

Advanced PHP Techniques

• Using variable variables
• Applying more array functions
• Building dates and times: Epoch/Unix
• Formatting dates and times: Strings and SQL
• Setting server and request variables
• Establishing global and static variable scope
• Making a reference assignment
• Using references as function arguments
• Using references as function return values

Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming (OOP)

• Introducing the concept and basics of OOP
• Defining classes
• Defining class methods
• Instantiating a class
• Referencing an instance
• Defining class properties

OOP in Practice

• Understanding class inheritance
• Setting access modifiers
• Using setters and getters
• Working with the static modifier
• Reviewing the scope resolution operator
• Referencing the Parent class
• Using constructors and destructors
• Cloning objects
• Comparing objects

Working with Files and Directories

• File system basics
• Understanding file permissions
• Setting file permissions
• PHP permissions
• Accessing files
• Writing to files
• Deleting files
• Moving the file pointer
• Reading files
• Examining file details
• Working with directories
• Viewing directory content

Sending Emails

• Configuring PHP for email
• Sending email with mail()
• Using headers
• Reviewing SMTP
• Using PHPMailer