Introduction to PHP

Outline

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

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

Arithmetic Operators and Loops

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

LAB: Inserting, Updating, and Deleting Poems

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

Uploading Files

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