Certified PHP Developer Practice Exam

1. Introduction to PHP Programming • Overview of PHP • History and evolution of PHP • Setting up a development environment (XAMPP, MAMP, WAMP, Docker, etc.) • PHP syntax: variables, constants, and data types • PHP tags and HTML integration • Basic output with echo and print • Comments and code documentation standards in PHP • PHP error handling and debugging techniques • The PHP runtime and execution model 2. Control Structures and Functions • Conditional statements: if, else, elseif, switch • Loops: for, foreach, while, do-while • Break and continue statements • Functions in PHP: defining and calling functions • Function arguments and return values • Variable scope and variable functions • Anonymous functions and closures • Recursion in PHP • PHP function libraries and built-in functions 3. Data Structures and Arrays • Array creation and initialization • Associative arrays vs indexed arrays • Array functions: array_merge(), array_push(), array_pop(), array_slice(), array_map() • Multi-dimensional arrays • Traversing arrays with foreach, array_walk(), and other iterators • Array sorting techniques • Array manipulation: slicing, merging, searching, and filtering arrays • Array constants and predefined arrays ($_POST, $_GET, $_SERVER) 4. Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) in PHP • Classes and objects in PHP • Properties and methods • Constructors and destructors • Inheritance and method overriding • Abstract classes and interfaces • Static methods and properties • Polymorphism in PHP • Encapsulation and access modifiers: public, private, and protected • Traits in PHP • Namespaces and autoloading classes 5. Error Handling and Exception Handling • PHP error types: notices, warnings, fatal errors, and exceptions • Configuring error reporting with error_reporting() and ini_set() • Using try-catch blocks for exception handling • Custom error handling and exception classes • Logging errors to a file • Handling PHP error levels and customizing error handling behavior • The set_error_handler() function 6. PHP and Databases (MySQL and Other Databases) • Connecting to a database using mysqli and PDO • Creating, reading, updating, and deleting records in MySQL • SQL Injection prevention techniques • Prepared statements and parameterized queries • Retrieving data from the database: fetch(), fetchAll() • Handling database errors and exceptions • Using transactions in PHP • Database normalization and relationships • Advanced queries and joins in SQL • Integrating MySQL with PHP frameworks 7. Working with Forms and User Input • Understanding HTML forms and submitting data via GET and POST • Retrieving user input with $_POST, $_GET, $_REQUEST • Sanitizing and validating form data • File upload handling in PHP • Form submission and redirection techniques • Working with sessions and cookies to retain form data • Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) and security measures • Handling form data with AJAX in PHP 8. PHP Security Best Practices • Introduction to common web vulnerabilities • Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) prevention • Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) prevention • SQL Injection and how to avoid it • Secure user authentication and password hashing • Using HTTPS and SSL for secure communication • Secure session management practices • File upload security in PHP • Validating and sanitizing user input • Using PHP’s filter_var() for input validation 9. File Handling in PHP • Reading from and writing to files in PHP • File modes and file opening functions: fopen(), fwrite(), fread() • File manipulation functions: file_put_contents(), file_get_contents(), file_exists() • File and directory permissions in PHP • Uploading and downloading files in PHP • Directory traversal: opendir(), readdir(), closedir() • File locks and handling concurrent file access 10. PHP Frameworks and Libraries • Overview of popular PHP frameworks (Laravel, Symfony, CodeIgniter, Zend Framework) • Setting up a PHP framework for development • MVC (Model-View-Controller) pattern in PHP frameworks • Dependency Injection in frameworks • Understanding routing and controllers in PHP frameworks • Using ORM (Object-Relational Mapping) with PHP frameworks • Middleware concepts in PHP frameworks • Understanding Blade, Twig, or other templating engines • Authentication and authorization in PHP frameworks • Working with RESTful APIs in PHP frameworks 11. Working with APIs in PHP • Introduction to APIs and REST principles • Sending HTTP requests with PHP (using cURL, file_get_contents(), etc.) • Working with JSON and XML data formats • API authentication: OAuth, API keys • Consuming third-party APIs in PHP (Google, Twitter, etc.) • Creating a simple RESTful API with PHP • Error handling in API communication • Best practices for API development and consumption 12. PHP and Web Development Concepts • Understanding HTTP requests and responses • Handling URL routing and URL rewriting • Setting up and managing sessions in PHP • Cookies and session handling in PHP • Using the PHP $_SERVER superglobal for server information • Using PHP in combination with JavaScript and AJAX • PHP and front-end frameworks integration • Creating dynamic content with PHP and JavaScript • Understanding and working with HTTP headers in PHP 13. Testing and Debugging in PHP • Debugging techniques and using var_dump(), print_r(), and error_log() • Unit testing in PHP with PHPUnit • Writing test cases and testing PHP functions • TDD (Test-Driven Development) in PHP • Mocking and stubbing with PHPUnit • Integration testing for PHP applications • Continuous integration and deployment for PHP projects • Using debugging tools like Xdebug and PHPStorm 14. Performance Optimization in PHP • Profiling PHP code using tools like Xdebug, Blackfire, or New Relic • Optimizing database queries and connections • Caching strategies (Opcode caching, file caching, database caching) • Memory management and garbage collection • Content Delivery Networks (CDN) integration in PHP projects • Minimizing HTTP requests for web pages • PHP output buffering and compression techniques • Improving server-side performance with asynchronous processing • Using PHP’s built-in functions for performance enhancement 15. Version Control and Collaboration • Introduction to Git and version control concepts • Setting up and using Git in PHP projects • Branching and merging with Git • Collaborating using GitHub or GitLab • Resolving merge conflicts in Git • Writing meaningful commit messages • Understanding Git workflows (feature branching, Gitflow, etc.)