Practical PHP Course
Stop collecting tutorials and start collecting projects: six PHP builds that give you a portfolio a hiring manager will actually open.
The weakest part of almost every junior developer's application is the projects section. Three tutorial clones and a to-do list, the same three every other applicant has. I have looked at a lot of portfolios over the years, and the ones that get callbacks show range: different kinds of apps, solving different kinds of problems.
That is the entire design of this course. Six builds, each one a different shape.
What you build
You start small with an email list app: take a signup form, write the logic, connect to a database, save real emails. Then comes my favorite section of the course, where you refactor that app into your own MVC framework. Helper functions, a database connection, models to handle data, controllers, a router, and Composer autoloading. Building a tiny framework by hand is the single fastest way I know to make Laravel make sense.
From there the projects widen out. A shortlink microservice in Laravel that creates short URLs, saves them, and redirects visitors. A warehouse CLI app that runs entirely in the terminal, with commands to create, update quantities, and search items. A task manager modeled on Notion, built in Laravel with Breeze authentication, route groups, relational data, and separate layouts for the marketing site and the dashboard. And a movie app that consumes the Watchmode REST API, which teaches you to read someone else's documentation and work with JSON responses, a skill you will use at every job forever.
The last section deploys to Digital Ocean, so at least one of these lives at a real URL.
Why this works for getting hired
Each project practices a different muscle: forms and databases, architecture, third-party APIs, the command line, authentication. Put four of these in a portfolio and you look like someone who has built things, because you have. I collected examples of what a strong PHP portfolio looks like in PHP developer portfolio examples if you want to see the bar.
PHP backend roles typically pay $65,000 to $130,000, and the PHP developer career path shows where this course sits in the bigger route. Fair warning: this is a project course, not a syntax course. If loops and arrays are still shaky, start with the Modern PHP Development course and come back. The projects will still be here.
What you'll learn
- ✓ Build an email list app that validates input and saves signups to a database
- ✓ Write your own MVC framework with helper functions, models, controllers, a router, and Composer autoloading
- ✓ Build a Laravel shortlink microservice that creates, stores, and redirects short URLs
- ✓ Create a warehouse CLI app with commands to add, update, and search inventory
- ✓ Build a Notion-style task manager in Laravel with Breeze authentication, route groups, and separate site and dashboard layouts
- ✓ Consume a real REST API by building a movie app on the Watchmode API
- ✓ Deploy a PHP application to Digital Ocean
Course Curriculum
10 sections
1
First Section
2
Build an Email List
3
MVC Framework - Refactor
4
Shortlink - Microservice
5
Task Manager App
6
Warehouse CLI App
7
Consume Api
8
Deploying PHP Apps
9
Mercedes Benz REST API
10
More videos
Before you start
- ✓ Basic PHP syntax. If you are brand new, take the Modern PHP Development course first
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to know PHP before starting? +
What exactly do I build? +
Why build my own MVC framework when Laravel exists? +
Is this included in the Diamond membership? +
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