PHP is a server-side scripting language that powers over 75% of websites with known server-side technology. Despite its chaotic early history, modern PHP (8.x) is a fast, type-safe, well-designed language with a mature ecosystem. It’s the backbone of WordPress, Laravel, Symfony, and Drupal.

Prerequisites#

  • Programming Logic (variables, control flow, functions, data structures)
  • Basic understanding of HTTP (how web requests work)

Sections#

  1. Syntax, Types, and the Runtime
  2. Control Flow and Functions
  3. Arrays and Strings
  4. Object-Oriented PHP
  5. Error Handling and Exceptions
  6. The Type System (PHP 8.x)
  7. Namespaces, Autoloading, and Composer
  8. Working with Databases (PDO)
  9. HTTP, Sessions, and the Request Lifecycle
  10. Testing with PHPUnit
  11. Modern PHP Patterns and Architecture
  12. Frameworks: Laravel and Symfony
  13. Performance, OpCache, and Deployment

How PHP Executes#

flowchart LR
    A["HTTP Request"] --> B["Web Server<br/>(Apache/Nginx)"]
    B --> C["PHP-FPM<br/>(FastCGI Process Manager)"]
    C --> D["Zend Engine:<br/>Lex → Parse → Compile"]
    D --> E["Opcodes"]
    E --> F["Zend VM Execution"]
    F --> G["Response"]
    G --> B
    B --> H["HTTP Response"]

Why Learn PHP Today?#

ReasonDetail
Market share75%+ of web — WordPress alone is 40%+ of all sites
Mature ecosystemComposer, Laravel, Symfony, PHPUnit, static analysis (PHPStan, Psalm)
Modern language featuresEnums, fibers, readonly properties, union/intersection types, match expressions
FastPHP 8.x with JIT is competitive with other interpreted languages
Easy deploymentShared hosting, Docker, PaaS — runs everywhere
JobsEnormous demand, especially in CMS, e-commerce, and enterprise
Backward React Ecosystem: React and Next.js Syntax, Types, and the Runtime Forward