Introduction to PHP Training

All attendees must have general familiarity with HTML and CSS. Some database experience and/or programming experience will also be helpful.

Outline of Introduction to PHP Training 1. PHP Basics

• Welcome to the Server-side
  • What is a web server?
  • Dynamic Websites
• Google Chrome DevTools: Network Tab
  • Status Codes
• How PHP Works
  • The phpini File
  • PHP Tags
  • Hello, World!
• Comments
• PHP Statements and Whitespace
• PHP Functions
• phpnet
• Exercise: Using phpnet
• Variables
  • Variable Types
  • Variable Names (Identifiers)
  • Type Juggling and Casting
  • Hello Variables!
• Exercise: First PHP Script
• Variable Scope
  • Superglobals
• Single Quotes vs Double Quotes
• Concatenation
• Passing Variables on the URL
• Exercise: Passing Variables via the Query String
• User-defined Functions (UDFs)
  • Defining and Calling Functions
  • Default Values
  • Variable Scope
  • By Reference vs By Value
• Introduction to the Poet Tree Club
• Including Files
  • require
  • require_once
• Exercise: Using Header and Footer Includes
• Constants
• Error Reporting
• Exercise: Displaying Errors
  • Including a Secure Configuration File
• Exercise: Including a Configuration File

2. PHP Conditionals

• if / if - else / if - elseif - else
  • Simple if Condition
  • if-else Condition
  • if-elseif-else statement
  • False Equivalents: Falsy Values
• Testing for Variable Existence
• Exercise: Checking for Variable Existence
• switch/case
• Exercise: Working with Conditions
• Ternary Operator
• Exercise: The Ternary Operator
• Null Coalescing Operator

3. Arithmetic Operators and Loops

• Arithmetic Operators
• The Modulus Operator
• Loops
  • while
  • dowhile
  • for
  • break and continue
• Exercise: Working with Loops

4. Arrays

• Indexed Arrays
  • Initializing Arrays
  • Appending to an Array
  • Reading from Arrays
  • Looping through Arrays
• Exercise: Working with Indexed Arrays
• Associative Arrays
  • Initializing Associative Arrays
  • Reading from Associative Arrays
  • Looping through Associative Arrays
  • Superglobal Arrays
• Exercise: Working with Associative Arrays
• Multi-dimensional Arrays
  • Reading from Two-dimensional Arrays
  • Looping through Two-dimensional Arrays
  • Two-dimensional Associative Arrays
  • Non-tabular Multi-dimensional Arrays
• Array Manipulation Functions
• in_array() Function
• Exercise: Array Practice

5. Working with Databases

• Objects
• Attributes / Properties
• Behaviors / Methods
• Classes vs Objects
• Connecting to a Database with PDO
• Introducing the Poetree Database
• phpMyAdmin
• Querying Records with PHP
• Exercise: Creating a Single Poem Page
• Queries Returning Multiple Rows
• Exercise: Creating the Poems Listings
• Exercise: Adding Pagination
• Exercise: Sorting
• Exercise: Filtering
• Exercise: Adding Filtering Links to the Single Poem Page

6. Exception Handling

• Uncaught Exceptions
• Throwing Your Own Exceptions
• Catching Exceptions
  • Getting Information about Exceptions
• Exercise: Division Form
• PDOExceptions
• Exercise: Logging Errors
• Exercise: The dbConnect() Function
• When Queries Fail to Execute
• Exercise: Catching Errors in the PHP Poetry Website

7. PHP and HTML Forms

• HTML Forms
  • How HTML Forms Work
• Form Submissions
• Sanitizing Form Data
  • htmlspecialchars()
  • htmlentities()
  • filter_var()
  • filter_input()
• Validating Form Data
  • Was the Field Filled In?
  • Is the Entered Value an Integer?
  • Is it an Email?
  • Is it a Valid Password and Do the Passwords Match?
  • Do the Combined Values Create a Valid Date?
  • Did the User Check the Box?
• Exercise: Processing Form Input

8. Sending Email with PHP

• mail()
  • Shortcomings of mail()
• Setting Up PHPMailer
  • Get and Install the Latest Version of PHPMailer
• Mail Server
• Exercise: Including a Mail Configuration File
• Sending Email with PHPMailer
• PHPMailer Methods and Properties
• Exercise: Creating a Contact Form

9. Authentication with PHP and SQL

• The Registration Process
• Passwords and Pass Phrases
• Registration with Tokens
• Exercise: Creating a Registration Form
• Sessions
  • Session Variables
• Cookies
• Exercise: Logging in
• Logging Out
• $_REQUEST Variables
• Exercis9: Resetting the Pass Phrase

10. LAB: Inserting, Updating, and Deleting Poems

• Exercise: Submitting a New Poem
• Exercise: Editing an Existing Poem
• Exercise: Deleting a Poem

11. Uploading Files

• Uploading Images via an HTML Form
• Resizing Images
• Exercise: Uploading a Profile Picture