Want to understand a certain PHP programming technique? Or learn how to accomplish a particular task? This cookbook is the first place to look. With more than 350 code-rich recipes revised for PHP 5.4, this third edition provides updated solutions for generating dynamic web content—everything from using basic data types to querying databases, and from calling RESTful APIs to testing and securing your site.

Each recipe includes code solutions that you can freely use, along with a discussion of how and why they work. Whether you’re an experienced PHP programmer or coming to PHP from another language, this book is an ideal on-the-job resource.

You’ll find recipes to help you with:

• Basic data types: strings, numbers, arrays, and dates and times
• Program building blocks: variables, functions, classes, and objects
• Web programming: cookies, forms, sessions, and authentication
• Database access using PDO, SQLite, and other extensions
• RESTFul API clients and servers, including HTTP, XML, and OAuth
• Key concepts: email, regular expressions, and graphics creation
• Designing robust applications: security and encryption error handling, debugging and testing, and performance tuning
• Files, directories, and PHP’s Command Line Interface
• Libraries and package managers such as Composer and PECL