PHP Tutorials: Build Real Projects Step by Step
Build a small PHP project or choose a task such as sending email, resizing images, or reading a file. These tutorials explain the code and link to the PHP concepts each project uses. If you are new to the language, start with the PHP guide before choosing a project.
Which PHP Tutorial Should You Start With?
Start with the dynamic-site tutorial if you can write a PHP function and understand an HTML form. Follow this order: Build Dynamic Sites with PHP and MySQL first, because it teaches the request-to-database loop the database projects reuse. Then the mini chat app for forms and polling, and Add Search to a PHP and MySQL App once you have data worth searching. Keep PHP Security Fundamentals open from your first database-backed form.
Shorter jobs are here too. Sending email from PHP or creating image thumbnails covers one task rather than a whole application. Email needs a configured mail provider; thumbnails need PHP’s GD extension.
Databases and MySQL
These PHP projects connect forms and pages to a MySQL database. Use the PDO guide when you need connection and query details.
- Build Dynamic Sites with PHP and MySQL: the foundational request-query-render loop.
- PHP and MySQL with PDO: the modern database layer the other tutorials build on.
- Build a Mini Chat App with PHP: forms, inserts, and a polling refresh in one small app.
- Add News and Comments with PHP and MySQL: one-to-many data in a real page.
- Add Search to a PHP and MySQL App: LIKE queries, relevance, and result pages.
Forms and Validation
- PHP Email Validation: validating addresses server-side before anything is stored or sent.
- Form and Spelling Validation in PHP: checking user input beyond the format level.
Email, Messaging, and APIs
- Sending Email in PHP: text and HTML mail with attachments, done safely.
- Sending SMS with HTTP APIs: reaching phones from PHP through an HTTP gateway.
- Build a Custom API with PHP: exposing your own application's data as an API.
Images and Media
- Create Image Thumbnails with PHP: resizing images with GD while keeping their proportions.
- Composite Images with PHP and GD: layering and overlapping images server-side.
- Streaming Media with PHP: serving audio through PHP rather than direct file links.
Files, Templates, and XML
- Working with Text Files in PHP: reading, writing, and appending safely.
- Writing a Template System in PHP: separating markup from logic by hand, which is what every template engine automates.
- Processing XML with PHP: parsing feeds and structured documents.
- Recursion in PHP: the technique behind directory walkers and tree menus.
Networking and the Browser
- Using Sockets in PHP: talking to other servers below the HTTP layer.
- Smart Auto Refresh with PHP: polling for new records and deciding when to update or reload the page.
Security References
Use these references when your PHP project accepts input or handles accounts.
- PHP Security Fundamentals: the attacks every PHP application faces and the habits that prevent them.
- PHP Authentication and Sessions: a reference for login systems and session handling.
Beyond the Tutorials
The PHP guide is the language's home page, and the Guides group in the sidebar covers the concept side: control flow, object-oriented PHP, configuration, the LAMP stack, and the framework landscape. When a tutorial's database side raises questions, the SQL section explains the database concepts.