Welcome to PHP

Welcome

To PHP

Hi! Welcome to Introduction to PHP. In this course you will learn the following:

  • the basics of the PHP language.
  • essential Zend PHP concepts – such as Object Oriented Programming
  • creating your very own Drones!

Let’s see how this course will unfold: 

Sparta

In the Andromeda Galaxy

After many years of research and space exploration, humans have finally found sustainable life in the Andromeda Galaxy far from the Milky Way. Space travel has become commonplace and humans are given the opportunity to inhabit a Planet called Sparta in the Andromeda Galaxy. Thousands of Inhabitants from Earth have already started settling on Sparta.

Galaxy X flight goes missing

A flight to Sparta from Earth takes 20 years to get there. The Galaxy X flight with 500 passengers on board, already en route to Sparta, is hit by a meteor in space. Already 19 years into travel,  the flight is thrown off its planned course and gets lost in space. 

The mainframe computer and engine  is damaged. They are experiencing technical difficulty in trying to reach another flight or nearest spaceshipt to ask for help. A flight log records all events happening on the flight. The last entry in the log records the collision event and notifies the control center based on Sparta. 

Agent Gail has to save Galaxy X

Control Tower agent Gail is the first to receive the logged entry of flight Galaxy X and notifies the other agents of the collision. Scrambling to make contact with Galaxy X, the agents on Sparta have to find a way to help the flight crew. The crew on board the Galaxy X are racing against time to save the ship and 500 passengers on board! They are in danger of drifting aimlessly in space and losing oxygen supply fast.

Your task - build a drone

You need to help Agent Gail and the other agents build two drones that would help locate the crew on Galaxy X flight. It would take you and an agent 3 months to build such drones and drones need to be built in such a way that they would take less than 2 months to locate the crew on Galaxy X flight as they are racing against time.

As the software engineer, your main task in building the drones with the other agents is to program the brains of drones or software components of the drone.

Good luck !!!! Remember you don’t have much time and people’s lives are depending on you.

Learning outcomes

In PHP

Let’s see how this course will unfold. Hover on the green glowing icons below to find out what you will cover in each of our PHP lessons. 

Icons

Unlink from Global BEFORE adding your edits!

Before we begin. We will be using icons to display various items which you need to look into. Here are some icons to keep an eye out for:

Video

This icon is used to represent a video

Quiz

This icon is used to represent a quiz

Task

This icon is used to represent a project

Example

This icon is used to give an example

Recap

This icon is used to summarise what you have learnt

Download

Optional section

There is no required software for this course. We will be using an online PHP compiler throughout this course. But if you wish to install PHP on your local machine so you can have some fun with PHP code, follow the steps in the videos below.

Optional: install PHP

Let’s learn how to install PHP.

Optional: install text editor

Let’s learn how to install a text editor. Remember – you don’t need to install a local server for this course – as we have our own PHP online editors in the course where you will be coding. But if you’d like to extend your knowledge into programming, it’s a good idea to know about text editors. 

Optional: install local server

Let’s learn how to install a local server. Remember – you don’t need to install a local server for this course – as we have our own PHP online editors in the course where you will be coding. But if you’d like to extend your knowledge into programming, it’s a good idea to know about local servers.

Next up

Intro to PHP

Post a comment

Leave a Comment

Whitespace – basically empty space (like spaces, tabs, or enter button) that makes the code look neat and organized, but the computer doesn’t care about it.

 A User – is any person that interacts (by inputs) with a program without having to write the code directly. For example, you are the user to the code that makes your browser/website run. When you clicked on this pop-up, that was the input that made this explanation come up when the code detected it.

To book your spot – click here

All learners who are aspiring web developers will have an opportunity to build a website for a live NGO or charity client as part of their community service hours. This project will be run jointly with Community Hours – so all your time spent counts towards your LO credits. This event is suitable for learners, parents and their teachers.

TechWays will be providing the WordPress course and web dev resources for free to any learner wanting to participate. 

Besides the amazing community service you’ll be doing for a charity in need – you’ll also be building your portfolio of web dev skills. Who knows – web dev could become a side hustle for extra income?

Book your spot HERE

Indentation – In the written form of many languages, an indentation or indent is an empty space at the beginning of a line to signal the start of a new paragraph.

Text editor – is the part of the IDE where you write the code. Most text editors highlight words with different properties like functions to help you distinguish them from one another. 

Homogeneous – of the same kind; alike throughout.

Heterogeneous – diverse in character or content; containing different things

Prompt – to  cause or bring about; to make something happen. For example making someone to say or write something.

Troubleshooting is a form of problem solving, often applied to repair failed products or processes on a machine or a system. It is a logical, systematic search for the source of a problem in order to solve it, and make the product or process operational again.

String Built-in Functions/Methods

There are a lot of strings functions/methods in Python. Find full list in course manual. Here’s are some that you find useful in this course:

Functions

  • len(varName) – Returns the length of a list, string
  • join(varName) – Converts the elements of an iterable into a string.

Methods 

  • varName.capitalize() – Converts the first character to upper case.
  • varName.center(length) – Returns a centered string
  • varName.count(“?”) – Returns the number of times a specified value (?) occurs in a string (varName).
  • varName.endswith(“?”) – Returns true if the string ends with the specified value.
  • varName.find(“?”) – Searches the string for a specified value and returns the position of where it was found.
  • varName.format(placeholder = value) – Formats specified values in a string.
  • varName.index(“?”) – Searches the string for a specified value and returns the position of where it was found.
  • varName.isalnum() – Returns True if all characters in the string are alphanumeric.
  • varName.isalpha() – Returns True if all characters in the string are in the alphabet.
  • varName.isascii() – Returns True if all characters in the string are ascii characters.
  • varName.isdecimal() – Returns True if all characters in the string are decimals.
  • varName.isdigit() – Returns True if all characters in the string are digits.
  • varName.isidentifier() – Returns True if the string is an identifier.
  • varName.islower() – Returns True if all characters in the string are lower case.
  • varName.isupper() – Returns True if all characters in the string are upper case.
  • varName.isnumeric() – Returns True if all characters in the string are numeric.
  • varName.isprintable() – Returns True if all characters in the string are printable.
  • varName.isspace() – Returns True if all characters in the string are whitespaces.
  • varName.istitle() – Returns True if the string follows the rules of a title.
  • varName.ljust(value) – Returns a left justified version of the string.
  • varName.rjust() Returns a right justified version of the string.
  • varName.lower() – Converts a string into lower case.
  • varName.upper() – Converts a string into upper case.
  • varName.strip() – Returns a trimmed version of the string.
  • varName.lstrip() – Returns a left trim version of the string.
  • varName.rstrip() Returns a right trim version of the string.
  • varName.partition() – Returns a tuple where the string is parted into three parts.
  • varName.replace(“old”, “new”) – Returns a string where a specified value is replaced with a specified value.
  • varName.rfind() – Searches the string for a specified value and returns the last position of where it was found.
  • varName.rindex() – Searches the string for a specified value and returns the last position of where it was found.
  • varName.rpartition() – Returns a tuple where the string is parted into three parts.
  • varName.rsplit() – Splits the string at the specified separator, and returns a list.
  • varName.split() – Splits the string at the specified separator, and returns a list.
  • varName.splitlines() – Splits the string at line breaks and returns a list.
  • varName.startswith() – Returns true if the string starts with the specified value.
  • varName.swapcase() – Swaps cases, lower case becomes upper case and vice versa.

String Special Characters

There a number of special string characters that have different functions when used inside ” “. Here’re some useful and common ones:

  • \n – Newline – Everything after it goes to next line.
  • \t – Horizontal tab – creates a tab space, similar to when you use ‘tab’ on keyboard.
  • \b – backspace – deletes the character before the it.
  • \r – carriage return – same as \n

In programming Concatenation is a process of appending one string to another. 

\ – escape character is a string character that tell Python that the next character after it should be taken as a string and not as an instruction.

str ( ) is a built-in function that converts and sequence of characters (numbers especially) in to text. 

Mad Libs is a phrasal template word game created by Leonard Stern and Roger Price. It consists of one player prompting others for a list of words to substitute for blanks in a story before reading aloud.

type ( ) is a built-in function (still to cover what built-in functions are later) that determines the Data Type of any data presented. 

input ( ) is a built-in function (still to cover what built-in functions are later) allows a user to insert info into a program/the code. 

print ( ) is a built-in function (still to cover what built-in functions are later) that executes data inside the brackets. The results get printed out on the console/results section.

Integrated Development Environment (IDE) – A digital environment used to develop games, software, hardware, that offers integration from debugging to compiling. Essentially where you write, edit, and run to test your code. 

Variables

More about variables

Info about variables

To book your spot – click here

#WOW – What Outstanding Work – Awards: join us to learn from our students. 

Our top 20 learners are from St Andrews for Girls, Reddam Umhlanga, Evolve Online, Nova Pioneer and Sutherland High. 

Learners will be presenting their final projects. Come celebrate their successes and lessons learnt with us at our TechWays #WOW Awards.

This event is suitable for learners, parents and their teachers. Book your spot HERE

To book your spot – click here

 

Calling on all high schoolers interested in tech as a career. Join us on Thursday 22 September at 5:30pm.

 

We will be sharing:

  • Some “hot button/in-demand” career pathways – including Automation
  • the skills needed to access these careers
  • some of the job realities in these careers

There are only 100 spaces – so book your spot now – please RSVP here Book

To access the recording – click here

Calling on all high schoolers interested in tech as a career to join us on 16 September at 5:30pm. If you missed it, we’ll host another one on 18 November. 

We covered the following:

  • general tech career tips
  • a few “hot button/in-demand” career pathways and jobs
  • the skills needed to access these careers
  • some of the job realities in these careers

To access the recording – click here

To book your spot – click here

We will be talking to Noelene Kinsley from GC Network. Noelene has been specialised in the exciting career of Genetic Counseling and wants to share her passion for making the world a healthier place using genetics….and data science technology. 

Let’s hear more about the trends in the health/genetics industries, where jobs are moving to and what kind of skills you’ll need in this exciting world of opportunities out there. 

This event is suitable for learners, parents and their teachers. Book your spot HERE

To book your spot – click here

We will be talking to Jason Suttie from Devson. Jason has been in the tech world since he was six years old. He headed IT innovation unit at RMB and has since left to start up his own software consulting company – solving problems and building solutions for clients around the world. 

Let’s hear more about the trends in the software and programming industries, where jobs are moving to and what kind of skills you’ll need in this exciting world of opportunities out there. 

Book your spot HERE

Linux Essentials

Introduces Linux as an operating system, the basic open source concepts and an understanding of the Linux commands. Linux is crucial for cybersecurity.

Comptia
Security+

Gives you the baseline skills you need to secure a company’s systems, software and hardware. This certificate gives practical hands-on skills to pursue a career in cyber security

Certified Ethical Hacker

Will give you skills in Information Security Threats and Attack Vectors, Attack Detection, Attack Prevention, Procedures, Methodologies and more.