Beginner terms
Scalar Type Declarations (PHP 7.0)
PHP 7.0+
PHP 7.0 added int, float, string, bool type declarations for function parameters — the biggest type safety leap in PHP history, enabling static analysis.
6mo ago
PHP beginner
Short Open Tags History & Why to Avoid
PHP 3.0+
PHP's short tags (<? ?> and <?= ?>) have been problematic since PHP 3 — disabled by many hosting providers, conflicting with XML, and inconsistent across environments.
6mo ago
PHP beginner
SimpleXML — Parsing XML in PHP
PHP 5.0+
2
SimpleXML provides the fastest way to read well-formed XML in PHP — simplexml_load_string() or simplexml_load_file() returns an object where elements are properties and attributes are array-accessed, requiring no tree traversal.
6mo ago
PHP beginner
Spans & Traces
A trace is one request's full journey; spans are the individual operations within it — each span has a name, start time, duration, status, and optional attributes.
6mo ago
Observability beginner
Spread Operator & Variadic Args (PHP 5.6)
PHP 5.6+
PHP 5.6 added variadic functions (...$args) and argument unpacking ($array...) — replacing func_get_args() and call_user_func_array() with clean syntax.
6mo ago
PHP beginner
sprintf() — Format Strings in PHP
PHP 4.0+
sprintf() builds a string by substituting typed placeholders (%s, %d, %f, %05d) with values — safer and more expressive than string concatenation or interpolation for formatted output, especially for numbers, padding, and locale-independent formatting.
6mo ago
PHP beginner
Spaceship Operator <=> (PHP 7.0)
PHP 7.0+
The spaceship operator <=> returns -1, 0, or 1 by comparing two values — it replaces verbose if/else comparison callbacks in usort() with a single concise expression.
6mo ago
PHP beginner
Spread Operator in Arrays [...$a, ...$b]
PHP 8.1+
PHP 8.1+ allows the spread operator ... inside array literals to merge arrays — cleaner than array_merge() for combining arrays inline.
6mo ago
PHP beginner
str_contains / str_starts_with / str_ends_with
PHP 8.0+
PHP 8.0 added str_contains(), str_starts_with(), and str_ends_with() — replace strpos() !== false patterns with these readable alternatives.
6mo ago
PHP beginner
SyntaxError — Parse-Time Failures
ES5
SyntaxError means JavaScript couldn't parse your code — the entire script fails to execute. Common causes: missing brackets, invalid JSON, reserved word misuse.
6mo ago
JavaScript beginner
Spread & Rest Operators
ES2015
Spread (...) expands iterables into arguments or array/object literals; rest (...) collects remaining arguments into an array.
6mo ago
JavaScript beginner
Short Open Tag (<?)
PHP 5.0+
Using <? instead of <?php — short tags are disabled by default in many PHP configurations and conflict with XML processing instructions.
6mo ago
PHP beginner
Skip Links & Bypass Blocks
HTML5
1
Hidden links at page top letting keyboard users jump past navigation to main content — a WCAG 2.4.1 requirement.
6mo ago
Accessibility beginner
Stacks
PHP 5.3+ A LIFO (Last In, First Out) data structure — the last element pushed is the first popped. Used for function call stacks, undo history, expression parsing, and DFS traversal.
6mo ago
Data Structures beginner
String Offset Curly Brace Syntax
PHP 5.0+
Using $str{0} to access string characters by index — deprecated since PHP 7.4 and removed in PHP 8.0; use square bracket syntax $str[0] instead.
6mo ago
PHP beginner
Salted Hashing
PHP 5.5+
1
Prepending or appending a unique random value (salt) to each password before hashing, neutralising precomputed rainbow table attacks.
CWE-759 OWASP A2:2021
6mo ago
Security beginner
Security Misconfiguration
PHP 5.0+
Insecure default settings, unnecessary features, or missing hardening steps leave applications and infrastructure exposed.
CWE-16 OWASP A5:2021
6mo ago
Security beginner
7.5
Semantic HTML
HTML5
Using HTML elements for their intended meaning — <article>, <nav>, <main>, <time> — improving accessibility, SEO, and code clarity.
6mo ago
Frontend beginner
Semantic Versioning
1
MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH — bump MAJOR for breaking changes, MINOR for new backwards-compatible features, PATCH for backwards-compatible bug fixes. Pre-release and build metadata extend this.
6mo ago
Style beginner
Semantic Versioning (SemVer)
PHP 5.0+
3
A versioning scheme (MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH) where version numbers communicate the nature of changes to consumers.
6mo ago
DevOps beginner