Modern PHP

Preface

There are a million PHP tutorials online. Most of these tutorials are outdated and demonstrate obsolete practices. Unfortunately, these tutorials are still referenced today thanks to their immortality on Google. Outdated information is dangerous to unaware PHP programmers who unknowingly create slow and insecure PHP applications. I recognized this issue in 2013, and it is the primary reason I began PHP The Right Way, a community initiative to provide PHP programmers easy access to high-quality and up-to-date information from authoritative members of the PHP community.

Modern PHP is my next endeavor toward the same goal. This book is not a reference manual. Nope. This book is a friendly conversation between you and me. I’ll introduce you to the modern PHP programming language. I’ll show you the latest PHP techniques that I use every day at work and on my open source projects. And I’ll help you use the latest coding standards so you can share your PHP components and libraries with the PHP community.

You’ll hear me say “community” over and over (and over). The PHP community is friendly and helpful and welcoming—although not without occasional drama. If you become curious about a specific feature that we discuss, reach out to your local PHP user group with questions. I guarantee you there are nearby PHP developers who would love to help you become a better PHP programmer. Your local PHP user group is an invaluable resource as you continue to improve your PHP skills long after ...