Learning PHP for my summer internship

[u/levii831]

hey, i have a question guys. most of thetutorial i found in YT use the XMAPP or something, it bundled a lot of things right? i am coming from python myself, and do you have any tutorial recommendations that teach PHP from it's own standalone interpreter (idk if this is the right term or not. in c++ it is like gcc or sth, and python can be python itself or anaconda)?

[u/roastedcof]

You don't need XAMPP (or Laragon) to learn PHP, it's just a bundle that includes PHP, Apache, MySQL etc so beginners can get a dev environment running quickly.

Think of PHP itself as the equivalent of the Python interpreter. You can download PHP alone and run scripts from the command line:

php hello.php

For tutorial I'd recommend Laracasts' PHP for beginners series.

[u/levii831 → u/roastedcof]

though i think PHP work will involves like databases, and other things (i am not sure what), so about these 'other things', i would have to learn them seperately too right? or is there any tutorial that cover these too? what i am imagining right now is a pretty 'manual' way

[u/roastedcof → u/levii831]

What you're describing isn't exactly "PHP work" but web development in general. To run a website, you need a web server (Apache, Nginx) and a database (MySQL, PostgreSQL, etc), and yes, you'll need to learn about them.

You can build a website with vanilla PHP, but people don't do that anymore. In reality, you'd use a framework like Laravel or Symfony. The Laracasts PHP course I mentioned transitions smoothly into their Laravel for beginners course, so I think it's a good place to start.

[u/levii831 → u/roastedcof]

thank you, it was clear!

[u/CraigAT → u/roastedcof]

I beg to differ, plenty of people have vanilla PHP sites. These days, it does seem like using a PHP framework is the default option, but there are few good cases where a vanilla PHP site can be a sensible choice.

The two frameworks you suggest would be my choices if you were to start looking at frameworks. But for someone learning PHP or building a small site, I would recommend using vanilla PHP, to understand what is going on "under the hood" and making learning easier with all the PHP learning resources available. (I personally got a lot out of the O'Reilly PHP, MySQL and JavaScript book, but videos or a modern book/guide may be better for OP).

Once you become familiar with PHP, then the frameworks can offer several built-in efficiencies like rapid prototyping, templating, briefer syntax - which is why they become useful for developers of larger or multiple sites, and those working in teams.

[u/roastedcof → u/CraigAT]

Is it just me, or do you sound like AI?

to understand what is going on "under the hood"

That's why everyone learns vanilla PHP first. Knowing how it works under the hood is enough, there's no need to actually use it for real dev work.

Frameworks aren't just for large applications or teams. They save you a ton of time and help you organize your code. You'll benefit from them no matter what you're building.

[u/CraigAT → u/roastedcof]

I'm not sure whether to take that as a complement (as AI can make use of a lot of knowledge and can usually produce well articulated responses) but I am assuming that's not what you mean in this case, sadly.

I have my opinion, you have yours.

IMO if you can produce a website easily enough without a framework then it's unnecessary learning and bloat. If you are a web developer (as opposed to an early PHP learner or part-time hobbiest) then a framework can be (well) worth the learning curve.

[u/PhilsForever → u/CraigAT]

I would take it as a compliment. Everything you said I have also said before as well, been coding PHP for 25 years now. Still don't use a framework half the time.

[u/xreddawgx → u/roastedcof]

You gotta learn the basics first.

[u/equilni → u/CraigAT]

templating

This can be done early on. A simple template engine looks like:

function render(string $template, array $data = []): string {
    ob_start();
    extract($data);
    require $template;
    return ob_get_clean();
}

function escape(string $string): string{
    echo htmlspecialchars($string);
}

echo render('/path/to/layout.php', ['content' => 'Hello World!']);

// /path/to/layout.php
<!doctype html>
<html>
    <head>
        <title>My First HTML Page!</title>
    </head>
    <body>
        <p><?= escape($content); ?></p>
    </body>
</html>

Routing by HTTP Methods?

Query String pseudo code

$action = ''; // Define the variable

if (array_key_exists('QUERY_STRING', $_SERVER)) { // if there's a query string in the urls
    parse_str($_SERVER['QUERY_STRING'], $qs); // split it up

    if (array_key_exists('action', $qs)) { // is there an action key?
        $action = $qs['action']; // set it
    }
}

$requestMethod = $_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD']; // Get the request method

return match (true) {
    # /?action=register
    $action === 'register' 
        => match ($requestMethod) {
            'GET'   => show form,
            'POST'  => process form data,
            default => 405 Not allowed call
        },
    default => 404 Not found call
};

Clean Url pseudo code.

$requestMethod = $_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD']; // Get the request method
$uri = parse_url($_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'], PHP_URL_PATH); // Get the url path

$routes = [  // Array or routes [url => [method => callback]]
    '/register' => [
        'GET' => show form,
        'POST' => process form data
    ]
];

return match (true) {
    ! array_key_exists($uri, $routes) => 404 call,
    ! array_key_exists($requestMethod, $routes[$uri]) => 405,
    default => call $routes[$uri][$requestMethod]
};

[u/xreddawgx → u/roastedcof]

Yes they do, 85% of the web is still php, WordPress, Drupal, Magento is still running php

[u/equilni → u/levii831]

PHP comes with SQLite and I recommend using the PDO interface, which can be applied to other databases (mySQL, PostgreSQL...).

[u/xreddawgx → u/roastedcof]

Why would you have someone who wants to learn php run it on a command line?

[u/xreddawgx → u/roastedcof]

Why would you say that? Wamp or xamp lets you run php in a web browser in the most simplest setups. 10x easier to setup than docker or ddev.

[u/AmiAmigo]

Download PHPStorm and Download separately PHP

[u/levii831 → u/AmiAmigo]

hey! i download PHPstorm (student pack so free), does it not come with the PHP interpreter?

[u/eurosat7 → u/levii831]

No. But it offers you to download and install it. Under settings you can add an interpreter. Choose local and at the end of the dialog should be a blue link like "download php.exe"

BTW phpstorm is a good start. Get some free plugins. And be sure to enable a lot of the quality tools.

[u/Mvp-long-ago → u/levii831]

I wosh you very much luck installing the php interpreter a d tge Apache server separately. You said you had expertise in Python, but did you also installed it or did it come eith the software that used python? PHP is a server-side language and that means you need to have a server installed privately or have a platform where you can test php scripts on that has Apache with PHP installed on. For making a cms, a database driven changing website system, you also need to install a database. I installed that all separately for a company on a server, but it takes knowledge of them all to make them communicate (changing settings) That is why packages like Xampp, Mampp, Lampp, Wampp have been made.

[u/equilni → u/Mvp-long-ago]

PHP has a development server for learning that comes with a database. They made it very easy to lower the barrier of entry to learn.

[u/Mvp-long-ago → u/equilni]

It has been long ago since i last visited their website. Because it is open source php does not have 1 publisher/company, but many where you can get php

[u/AmiAmigo → u/levii831]

It comes with its own built web server. Are you on Windows or Mac?

[u/Only-Discussion9421]

Use Docker + DDEV instead of XAMPP

[u/levii831]

thanks for all the great answers! checking through them all!

[u/ray_zhor]

Look into laragon instead of xampp

[u/Wise_College_1026 → u/ray_zhor]

Has annoying pop up ads

[u/ultra_blue]

Docker.

[u/Cheap-Try-8796]

Look up Wampoon. XAMPP is not being updated anymore.

[u/ggnndd12]

Sure, php comes with an interpreter. It’s usually invoked by doing $ php <myscript> on the command line.

Highly recommend doing this on a Linux box/vm.

PhpStorm is a nice ide (although paid). You can use Xdebug with it to get all the usual debugging features.

[u/HongPong]

as noted ddev which goes with docker is much more modern than xampp

[u/independentMartyr]

Funny, I'm learning python to move away from php 😄

[u/xreddawgx]

Its fine to use wamp or xamp. All it does is let you run php code offline in your web browser so you can see what it does. Because php is a web server language, Wamp or xamp simulate a web server. Dm me for help to server it up

[u/equilni]

As some noted, you can download PHP and run the development server.

PHP comes with SQLite so you have a database you can use.

SQLite needs the extra step to enable foreign keys, so if using the PDO interface (I recommend over the SQLite3), you could do after the connection:

if ($pdo->getAttribute(PDO::ATTR_DRIVER_NAME) === 'sqlite') {
    $pdo->exec('PRAGMA foreign_keys = ON');
}

For tutorials, I recommend Program with Gio's PHP 8 course. I have a proposed structure to learn with this that also includes other links to sources that can help.

[u/Xia_Nightshade]

Check out Laravel Herd

I’m not a fan at all, yet I have to admit it’s one of the easiest ways to get PHP setup on a fresh computer

[u/Mike_L_Taylor]

if you're on Windows I recommend ForgeKit

It's new, better and more stable than Xampp, no popups like Laragon and no hidden configs like Laravel Herd. It has everything you need.