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Learning PHP 7
Learning PHP 7

Learning PHP 7: Build powerful real-life web applications in a simple way using PHP7 and its ecosystem.

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Learning PHP 7

Chapter 2. Web Applications with PHP

Web applications are a common thing in our lives, and they are usually very user friendly; users do not need to understand how they work behind the scenes. As a developer, though, you need to understand how your application works internally.

In this chapter, you will learn about:

  • HTTP and how web applications make use of it
  • Web applications and how to build a simple one
  • Web servers and how to launch your PHP built-in web server

The HTTP protocol

If you check the RFC2068 standard at https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2068, you will see that its description is almost endless. Luckily, what you need to know about this protocol, at least for starters, is way shorter.

HTTP stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol. As any other protocol, the goal is to allow two entities or nodes to communicate with each other. In order to achieve this, the messages need to be formatted in a way that they both understand, and the entities must follow some pre-established rules.

A simple example

The following diagram shows a very basic interchange of messages:

A simple example

A simple GET request

Do not worry if you do not understand all the elements in this diagram; we will describe them shortly. In this representation, there are two entities: sender and receiver. The sender sends a message to the receiver. This message, which starts the communication, is called the request. In this case, the message is a GET request. The receiver receives the message, processes...

Web applications

Maybe you have noticed that in the previous sections, I used the not very intuitive terms of sender and receiver as they do not represent any specific scenario that you might know but rather all of them in a generic way. The main reason for this choice of terminology is to try to separate HTTP from web applications. You will see at the end of the book that HTTP is used for more than just websites.

If you are reading this book, you already know what a web application is. Alternatively, maybe you know it by other terms, such as website or web page. Let's try to give some definitions.

A web page is a single document with content. It contains links that open other web pages with different content.

A website is the set of web pages that usually live in the same server and are related to each other.

A web application is just a piece of software that runs on a client, which is usually a browser, and communicates with a server. A server is a remote machine that receives requests...

Web servers

So, it is about time that you learn what those famous web servers are. A web server is no more than a piece of software running on a machine and listening to requests from a specific port. Usually, this port is 80, but it can be any other that is available.

How they work

The following diagram represents the flow of request-response on the server side:

How they work

Request-response flow on the server side

The job of a web server is to route external requests to the correct application so that they can be processed. Once the application returns a response, the web server will send this response to the client. Let's take a close look at all the steps:

  1. The client, which is a browser, sends a request. This can be of any type—GET or POST—and contain anything as long as it is valid.
  2. The server receives the request, which points to a port. If there is a web server listening on this port, the web server will then take control of the situation.
  3. The web server decides which web application...

Summary

In this chapter, you learned what HTTP is and how web applications use it in order to interact with the server. You also now know how web servers work and how to launch a light built-in server with PHP. Finally, you took the first steps toward building your first web application. Congratulations!

In the next chapter, we will take a look at the basics of PHP so that you can start building simple applications.

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Key benefits

  • Set up the PHP environment and get started with web programming
  • Leverage the potential of PHP for server-side programming, memory management, and object-oriented programming (OOP)
  • This book is packed with real-life examples to help you implement the concepts as you learn

Description

PHP is a great language for building web applications. It is essentially a server-side scripting language that is also used for general purpose programming. PHP 7 is the latest version with a host of new features, and it provides major backwards-compatibility breaks. This book begins with the fundamentals of PHP programming by covering the basic concepts such as variables, functions, class, and objects. You will set up PHP server on your machine and learn to read and write procedural PHP code. After getting an understanding of OOP as a paradigm, you will execute MySQL queries on your database. Moving on, you will find out how to use MVC to create applications from scratch and add tests. Then, you will build REST APIs and perform behavioral tests on your applications. By the end of the book, you will have the skills required to read and write files, debug, test, and work with MySQL.

Who is this book for?

If you are a web developer or programmer who wants to create real-life web applications using PHP 7, or a beginner who wants to get started with PHP 7 programming, this book is for you. Prior knowledge of PHP, PHP 7, or programming is not mandatory.

What you will learn

  • Set up a server on your machine with PHP
  • Use PHP syntax with the built-in server to create apps
  • Apply the OOP paradigm to PHP to write richer code
  • Use MySQL to manage data in your web applications
  • Create a web application from scratch using MVC
  • Add tests to your web application and write testable code
  • Use an existing PHP framework to build and manage your applications
  • Build REST APIs for your PHP applications
  • Test the behavior of web applications with Behat

Product Details

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Publication date : Mar 29, 2016
Length: 414 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781785883415
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Product Details

Publication date : Mar 29, 2016
Length: 414 pages
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Table of Contents

11 Chapters
1. Setting Up the Environment Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
2. Web Applications with PHP Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
3. Understanding PHP Basics Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
4. Creating Clean Code with OOP Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
5. Using Databases Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
6. Adapting to MVC Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
7. Testing Web Applications Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
8. Using Existing PHP Frameworks Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
9. Building REST APIs Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
10. Behavioral Testing Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Index Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

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Rating distribution
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon Empty star icon 3.4
(10 Ratings)
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4 star 20%
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PinkPearl Feb 19, 2018
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Excellent, easy to understand, start here.
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Cliente Amazon Jul 06, 2016
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The book is very interesting, well written and with lots of sample code, which helps a lot to understand the different concepts that are explained across the book.I found specially interesting the Testing section and the MVC framework implementation sample.Hands on and easy to read book, definitely recommended!
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B Bonkoski Apr 07, 2016
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Goes into many areas and concepts including MVC, micro frameworks, full frameworks, testing, and many others. Very good survey coverage with highlighting some of the new features from PHP7.Disclaimer: I might be biased as the Technical Reviewer.
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bootha Apr 29, 2016
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Big Help
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Rattanak Chea Jul 04, 2016
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon 4
You should have at least some fundamental programming experience to understand the concept the Author trying to convey. It is high level, yet very direct to the point with concise examples. I feel understand a lot of more what underneath MVC pattern, popular frameworks such as Laravel, and Testing. Definitely recommended to read for those who want to understand a concept, not cookbook style.
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