Master back-end development with PHP

Turn your application requirements into clear, maintainable code. Structure your PHP development approach and connect technical decisions to the intended functionality. Build the independence to design, test and evolve your applications.

4 days 28 hours

DEVPHP-CF-FR Code

Overview & objectives

Presentation

Created in the early 2000s and now used by millions of websites, the PHP scripting language is the leading choice for back-end web programming. Its simplicity and accessibility explain its success, particularly among new developers, but this does not mean it lacks power—quite the opposite. PHP enables you to build the entire server side of your applications. It is highly comprehensive and provides all the functionality needed to create a modern website.

On this PHP course, you will explore all aspects of this flexible language. You will master its syntax and the use of operators, variables and more. You will also cover related development topics, including databases, SQL, HTML and CSS.

Throughout the PHP course, your knowledge will be assessed through an ongoing practical project. This series of hands-on exercises requires you to create an online training website from a specification.

Objectives

During this PHP back-end course, you will achieve the following learning objectives:

create and develop an application based on Model–View–Controller (MVC) architecture;
store and retrieve data using cookies and sessions;
communicate with a relational database management system (RDBMS) using basic SQL principles;
implement a data access layer (DAO);
expose REST web services;
complete the ongoing practical project: use a specification to design and develop an e-learning platform in PHP and expose its courses through a REST web service.

Program

Introducing the HTTP protocol

Client–server exchanges.
The structure of an HTTP request.
HTTP verbs.
Header fields.
The structure of an HTTP response.
Response status codes.
Storing cookies.

Basic PHP structure

Embedding PHP in HTML code.
Variables and constants.
Checking whether a variable exists.
Data types.

Creating PHP arrays

Numerically indexed arrays.
Associative arrays.
Multidimensional arrays.
Type casting.

Working with basic variables

What are operators?
Assignment operators.
Assignment by value.
Arithmetic operators.
Concatenation.
Comparison operators.
Logical operators.

Using control structures

Conditional structures.
Iterative structures.
Conditional loops.
The foreach language construct.

Defining user functions

Declaring a function.
Default values.
Variable scope.
Passing by value or by reference.
Variable numbers of parameters.

Creating HTML forms

Form basics.
Form submission methods.
Text fields.
Checkboxes.
Radio buttons.
Drop-down lists.
Uploading images and files.

Receiving data in PHP

Using $_GET and $_POST variables.
Using $_GLOBALS and $_SERVER variables.
Superglobal variables and forms.
Validating data with the Filter extension.
Downloading images and files.

Working with standard functions

The output function.
Mathematical functions.
The date function.
Encryption functions.
Encoding and decoding functions.

Managing cookies

What is a cookie?
Reading and writing a cookie.
Validity and expiration dates.
Arrays and complex types.
Cookie limitations and security.

Managing sessions

What is a session?
Reading and writing a session.
Advanced usage.
Deleting a session.
Storing session data.

Sending email

The importance of managing email.
Installing the Sendmail module.
Sending attachments.
Receiving emails.

Object-oriented programming in PHP

What is an object?
Designing classes.
Copying and references.
Constructors and destructors.
The inheritance concept.
Abstract classes and interfaces.
Final classes and methods.
Static access.

Using a database with PHP

PDO and PHP Data Objects.
Connecting to the data server.
Executing a query.
Error handling.
Transaction management.
Prepared queries.

Managing errors and exceptions

The causes of common errors.
PHP errors.
Assertions.
Exceptions.
Establishing an error-handling policy.

Audience & prerequisites Assessment methods Course highlights Dates & Sessions

Last update: 24/09/2026