Php terms
The engine behind the web's most-used server-side language
PHP powers an enormous portion of the web — from WordPress and Laravel to custom e-commerce platforms. This category covers the language internals, core functions, OOP features, type system, performance patterns, and PHP-specific quirks that every serious PHP developer should understand deeply. Whether you are writing procedural scripts or building full-stack applications with modern PHP 8.x features, these terms form the foundation.
PDO Error Handling PHP 5.1+
PDO has three error modes — silent, warning, and exception — controlling how database errors surface.
1mo ago
php beginner
PDO Fetch Modes PHP 5.1+
Constants controlling how PDO returns rows — as arrays, objects, or custom classes.
1mo ago
php beginner
PDO lastInsertId() PHP 5.1+
Returns the auto-increment ID generated by the most recent INSERT statement.
1mo ago
php beginner
PDO Named Placeholders PHP 5.1+
Named parameters (:name) in prepared statements — more readable than positional ? placeholders for queries with multiple parameters.
1mo ago
php beginner
PDO query() vs prepare() PHP 5.1+
PDO query() executes raw SQL immediately — prepare() parameterises it. query() must never include user-controlled values.
CWE-89 OWASP A3:2021
1mo ago
php beginner
9.8
PDO Transactions PHP 5.1+ PDO wraps multiple queries in an atomic unit — either all succeed or all roll back.
1mo ago
php intermediate
PDO::ATTR_EMULATE_PREPARES PHP 5.1+
Controls whether PDO sends real prepared statements to the database or emulates them client-side in PHP.
CWE-89 OWASP A3:2021
1mo ago
php intermediate
PDOStatement::bindParam() vs bindValue() PHP 5.1+
Two PDO methods for binding variables to placeholders — bindParam() binds by reference (evaluated at execute), bindValue() binds by value (evaluated immediately).
1mo ago
php intermediate
PDOStatement::rowCount() PHP 5.1+
Returns the number of rows affected by the last DELETE, INSERT, or UPDATE — unreliable for SELECT.
1mo ago
php beginner
PHP Generators PHP 5.5+
Functions using yield that produce values lazily — one at a time — instead of building a complete array in memory.
1mo ago
php intermediate
PHP Fibers — Internals & Scheduler Patterns PHP 8.1+ How PHP Fibers work under the hood — stack allocation, suspension mechanics, and how to build a cooperative multitasking scheduler on top of the Fiber API introduced in PHP 8.1.
1mo ago
php advanced
password_hash() — Native Bcrypt (PHP 5.5) PHP 5.5+
PHP 5.5 added password_hash() and password_verify() — the only correct way to hash and verify passwords. Never use MD5, SHA1, or unsalted hashes.
2mo ago
php beginner
PCNTL Signals in CLI PHP PHP 7.1+
The PCNTL extension lets CLI PHP scripts handle OS signals (SIGTERM, SIGINT, SIGUSR1) — enabling graceful shutdown and hot reload in long-running daemons.
2mo ago
php advanced
PHP 3 — Birth of the Language (Rasmus Lerdorf) PHP 3.0+
PHP 3 (1997) was the first version called 'PHP' — a complete rewrite by Zeev Suraski and Andi Gutmans that transformed Rasmus Lerdorf's Personal Home Page tools into a proper language.
2mo ago
php beginner
PHP 4 Objects Passed by Value (Pre-5 Gotcha) PHP 4.0+
PHP 4 copied objects on assignment — $b = $a created a full clone. PHP 5+ passes object handles by value (reference semantics). This was the biggest PHP 4 pain point.
2mo ago
php intermediate
PHP 4 — Zend Engine 1, Classes Without OOP PHP 4.0+
PHP 4 (2000) introduced the Zend Engine 1.0 — dramatically improving performance and adding basic classes, though objects were passed by value and OOP was rudimentary.
2mo ago
php beginner
PHP 6 — The Version That Never Shipped
PHP 6 was a major development effort (2005–2010) that aimed to bring native Unicode support to PHP but was abandoned due to complexity and performance problems — its features were later cherry-picked into PHP 5.3 and 5.4.
2mo ago
php beginner
PHP 8 — Key Features PHP 8.0+
PHP 8.0–8.4 introduced match expressions, named arguments, union types, nullsafe operator, fibers, enums, readonly properties, first-class callables, and a JIT compiler — the most significant evolution of the language since PHP 5.
2mo ago
php intermediate
PHP 8.5 — What's Coming PHP 8.5+
PHP 8.5 is in active development (expected late 2025). Confirmed additions include pipe operator |>, first-class callable improvements, and several standard library additions. The release follows PHP's annual November release cycle.
2mo ago
php beginner
PHP CSV Handling (fgetcsv / str_getcsv) PHP 5.3+
PHP provides fgetcsv() for reading CSV line-by-line from a file handle and str_getcsv() for parsing a CSV string — both handle quoted fields, embedded commas, and escaped characters correctly where explode() does not.
2mo ago
php beginner