PHP Certification

PHP certification syllabus & coverage

This certification tests genuine comprehension of PHP language fundamentals, idiomatic patterns, data structures, and production practices. Questions are sampled across all course modules:

• Getting Started: What PHP is, why it still powers WordPress, Laravel and much of the web, how to install PHP 8 on any OS, and your first PHP script explained.
• Fundamentals: Variables, PHP's types, var_dump vs print_r vs echo, type juggling and strict_types, constants, operators, integer division and null handling.
• Flow Control: if/elseif/else, the ternary and ??, switch and its fall-through, the strict match expression, every PHP loop, foreach by reference, and break levels.
• Strings: Single vs double quotes, interpolation, heredoc, the string functions you use daily, sprintf and number_format, UTF-8 with mb_*, comparison and regex.
• Arrays: Indexed and associative arrays, adding and removing, array_map/filter/reduce, sorting with usort and <=>, searching, slicing, destructuring and copy-on-write.
• Functions: Typed parameters and return types, nullable and union types, default and named arguments, variadics, references, static variables, closures, arrow functions and recursion.
• Classes & Objects: Classes, constructor promotion, visibility, typed and readonly properties, static members and constants, object handles and clone, enums and PHP 8.4 property hooks.
• Inheritance, Interfaces & Traits: extends and parent::, overriding and final, abstract classes, interfaces, polymorphism, traits with insteadof and as, late static binding, and Countable, IteratorAggregate and Stringable.
• Exceptions: The Throwable hierarchy, try/catch/finally, multi-catch, custom exceptions, chaining with $previous, warnings vs exceptions, and reading a PHP stack trace.
• Files, JSON & Dates: Read and write files, stream them line by line, handle CSV and directories, encode and decode JSON safely, and work with dates, intervals and time zones.
• PHP for the Web: How PHP answers a web request: superglobals, form validation, escaping against XSS, sessions, redirects, PDO prepared statements, password hashing and routing.
• Errors & Debugging: Parse errors, fatal errors, warnings and uncaught exceptions explained, the 15 PHP errors every beginner hits with real messages, and the tools to debug them.
• PHP + Tools: Nine mini-labs on PHP as it is used at work: Composer and PSR-4, Laravel and its service container, Symfony, PDO with MySQL, Redis, PHPUnit, Docker and CI.
• Data Structures & Algorithms: Build stacks, queues, linked lists, trees, heaps and graphs by hand in PHP, then use arrays and the SPL classes the way an interviewer expects.
• Problem Solving: A repeatable way to crack coding problems in PHP: read it, break it down, test small cases, then apply one of eight patterns that cover most interviews.
• Interview Questions: 60 PHP interview questions with model answers, from == versus === to Laravel, security and scaling, plus a coding round walkthrough and take-home checklist.
• Job Ready: What a PHP resume must show for Laravel, Symfony, WordPress and e-commerce roles, three portfolio projects that get callbacks, where the jobs are, and the exam.

Exam rules & grading

The exam features 25 multiple-choice questions with a time limit of 35 minutes. A passing score of 70% or higher issues a permanent certificate with a verifiable credential ID that can be attached directly to your resume and LinkedIn Profile.

Frequently asked questions