Lecture 01 · Fundamentals

Introduction to PHP & Setup

Beginner ~45 min

What is PHP?

PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) is a popular server-side scripting language designed for web development. It powers over 75% of websites including WordPress, Facebook, and Wikipedia.

Why PHP?

Easy to learn with simple syntax
Excellent for building dynamic websites and APIs
Strong database integration (MySQL, PostgreSQL, etc.)
Fast development with huge ecosystem (Laravel, Symfony)

Setup

Recommended: XAMPP (Windows/Mac/Linux) or Laragon.

info.php

<?php
phpinfo();
?>

🎯 Exercise 1.1

Create hello.php that outputs "Hello, PHP Mastery!" and run it on your local server.

Lecture 02 · Fundamentals

Variables & Data Types

Beginner ~45 min

Variables in PHP

PHP variables start with a $ sign.

$name = "John";
$age = 25;
$price = 19.99;

Lecture 03 · Fundamentals

Operators & Expressions

Beginner ~40 min

Concatenation

In PHP, we use a dot . to join strings.

echo "Hello " . $name;

Lecture 04 · Fundamentals

Control Flow

Beginner ~45 min

If Statements

if ($age >= 18) {
    echo "Adult";
} else {
    echo "Minor";
}

Lecture 05 · Fundamentals

Loops

Beginner ~40 min

Foreach Loop

The best way to iterate through arrays in PHP.

$colors = ["red", "green", "blue"];
foreach ($colors as $color) {
    echo $color;
}

Lecture 06 · Core Concepts

Functions

Intermediate ~50 min

function sum($a, $b) {
    return $a + $b;
}

Lecture 07 · Core Concepts

Arrays & Superglobals

Intermediate ~55 min

Associative Arrays

$person = [
    "name" => "Jane",
    "role" => "Manager"
];

Lecture 08 · Core Concepts

Strings & Forms

Intermediate ~45 min

Handling form data with $_POST and $_GET.

Lecture 09 · Advanced

Object-Oriented PHP

Advanced ~65 min

class User {
    public $name;
    function __construct($name) { $this->name = $name; }
}

Lecture 10 · Advanced

File I/O & Security

Advanced ~50 min

Always sanitize your inputs using htmlspecialchars() to prevent XSS attacks.

Lecture 11 · Advanced

MySQL & PDO

Advanced ~60 min

Use PDO with prepared statements for secure database queries.

$stmt = $pdo->prepare('SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = ?');
$stmt->execute([$id]);

Lecture 12 · Capstone

Capstone Project: Blog System

Advanced ~180 min

Build a fully functional blog system with user authentication, post creation, and database storage.

// Project requirements:
// 1. Database schema for users and posts
// 2. Login/Register system
// 3. Post CRUD functionality
// 4. File uploads for post images