PHP

What PHP is, why it still powers most of the web, and how it fits into a request/response cycle.

Installing PHP locally and running the built-in development server.

Writing, running, and understanding a first PHP script from top to bottom.

PHP's core data types and how its loose, dynamic typing actually behaves.

The difference between single and double quotes, and building strings from variables.

How PHP automatically converts between types, and how to control that conversion explicitly.

Conditional branching in PHP, from basic if/else to the modern match expression.

for, while, do-while, and foreach — and when to reach for each one.

Working with PHP's single, flexible array type — indexed, associative, and the built-in functions that manipulate them.

Declaring functions, type-hinting parameters and return values, and passing by value vs. by reference.

Named arguments, variadic parameters, and collecting an unknown number of values.

Functions without a name, capturing outer variables, and the compact arrow function syntax.

Defining a class, creating instances, constructors, and the visibility modifiers that control access.

Extending classes, overriding methods, and defining contracts with interfaces.

Sharing method implementations across unrelated classes without inheritance.

The special __-prefixed methods PHP calls automatically for construction, string conversion, and dynamic property access.

Organizing code with namespaces and managing third-party packages with Composer.

Throwing and catching exceptions, custom exception types, and the difference between errors and exceptions.

Reading request data with PHP's superglobal arrays, and handling an HTML form submission safely.

What Laravel and Symfony add on top of raw PHP, and when each is the right choice.

The most common PHP vulnerabilities and the built-in tools that prevent them.

Habits that separate maintainable, professional PHP from code that merely runs.