Looking for the best online PHP classes and courses? Well, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve put together a list of the best online PHP tutorials on the web. We’ve included both free and paid classes for all abilities to give you lots of variety.
But first, let’s answer an important question – what is PHP?
PHP stands for ‘Hypertext Pre-processor’ (which earlier stood for Personal Home pages, hence the abbreviation). It is the most widely used scripting language on the web. PHP is a server side scripting language, used to develop static or dynamic websites or web applications.
PHP code is so popular and widely used because it can be embedded into HTML code. Or, it can be used in combination with various web template systems, web content management systems and web frameworks, making it general-purpose and suited for web development.
PHP sounds complicated… and it is at first! However, to be able to use PHP properly, you don’t need years of training or experience. Instead, you can gather all the skills you need to use PHP through online classes. In this article, I’ve gathered the best online PHP classes. They are suitable for a wide range of levels, budgets, and time frames. So, whether you’re someone looking to make a full-time career as a web developer, or a small business owner who is wanting to cut costs and create their own website, we guarantee that there will be a PHP tutorial for you.
1. Building Web Applications in PHP (Coursera)
- Level: Intermediate
- Completion time: Approx. 31h
- Cost: Enroll for free
- Certification: Yes
- Number of people who have completed the course: 109,363
- Course rating: 4.7/5 (out of 3,378 ratings)
Offered by the University of Michigan, who are a committed to providing excellent academic course, the Coursera class will teach you everything you need to know about building web applications using PHP.
In this course, you will begin by exploring the basic structure of a web application, and how a web browser interacts with a web server. You will then explore various coding languages (e.g., HTML, CSS) before taking an in-depth look at PHP. You will learn how to instal PHP, it’s arrays, functions and forms. By the end of this course, you should fell confident building web applications. Through practice quizzes, graded feedback and assignments, you will feel confident that you have the correct knowledge to use PHP to produce functioning and useful web applications.
2. PHP for Beginners – Become a PHP Master – CMS Project (Udemy)
- Level: Beginner
- Completion time: 37h 47m
- Cost: $139.99
- Certification: No
- Number of people who have completed the course: 96,122
- Course rating: 4.4/5 (out of 19,333 ratings)
This Udemy PHP tutorial was created by Coding Faculty Solutions, a reputable organization that creates high quality technology training content. Coding Faculty Solutions aims to teach technology the right way, and they value every single one of their students. This course is taught by Edwin Diaz, who is a software and web technologies engineer, and is suitable for those who want to advance their PHP skills through practical exercises and projects.
Over the humongous 37 hours that this course takes, you will learn all the PHP fundamentals. The course will cover how to use data types, how to custom functions, how to work with files, how to launch your application online and much, much more! After the course, you should have enough skills and knowledge on PHP to make really good money using the skills, both online and offline!
3. PHP Programming Language Tutorial – Full Course (YouTube)
- Level: Beginner
- Completion time: 4h 36m
- Cost: Free
- Certification: No
- Number of people who have completed the course: 2,095,992 views
- Course rating: 37,000 ‘likes’
Taught by Mike Dane, this free YouTube course, is designed for those with no prior programming or web development experience. To begin with, you will get an introduction into PHP and programming. The course then goes on to take a look at other PHP fundamentals, such as HTML, arrays, functions, loops and much more!
By the end of this course, you should be able to use PHP language professionally, whether it’s for a career in web development or just as an additional skill to have in order to build websites in your spare time. All of this knowledge is for free, and for only 4 hours of your time… you’ve got nothing to lose by trying out this course!
4. Learn PHP (Codecademy)
- Level: Intermediate
- Completion time: 25h
- Cost: Free
- Certification: Yes
- Number of people who have completed the course: N/A
- Course rating: N/A
In this Codecademy course, you’ll be exposed to the fundamental programming concepts of PHP. Note, this course is suitable for intermediate web developers, as some basic HTML knowledge is required to complete this course. In this PHP class, you’ll cover everything from PHP variables and functions to PHP arrays, HTML form handling, logic in PHP and much more.
Through a number of quizzes and projects, you’ll be able to stress-test your knowledge that help commit the PHP syntax to memory. As a result, you can complete this course feeling confident that you can use PHP to create high-quality web pages and applications.
5. PHP: Getting Starts (Pluralsight)
- Level: Beginner
- Completion time: 3h 23m
- Cost: Free 10-day trial
- Certification: No
- Number of people who have completed the course: N/A
- Course rating: 4/5
Christian Wenz is an author, consultant and trainer that focuses on web technologies. He has written over 100 books, and has a true passion for really helping others to thrive. In this Pluralsight course, Christian uses his passion of inspiring others to expertly teach you how to use PHP.
Firstly, you will learn how to process form data and later store everything in a MySQL database. Next, you will discover how to take special care and overcome security-related pitfalls. Finally, the course will give you an understanding of how to develop small applications. By the end of this course, you should confidently know your way around PHP and will open a door for further PHP learning and exploration.
6. The Complete PHP MYSQL Professional Course with 5 Projects (Udemy)
- Level: Beginner
- Completion time: 20h 8m
- Cost: $129.99
- Certification: No
- Number of people who have completed the course: 43,634
- Course rating: 4.3/5 (out of 2,199 ratings)
Taught by Jazeb Akram, a data scientist and experienced developer consultant, this course will teach you all the practical skills that you need to code webpages and web applications.
The course teaches you PHP through lots of small projects, which ensure that all the information is presented in a small and digestible manner. The course starts off with the building blocks of PHP. After, you’ll go onto to explore coding exercises, global post variables, regular expressions and much more.
7. Advanced PHP (LinkedIn Learning)
- Level: Advanced
- Completion time: Approx. 5h
- Cost: $49.99
- Certification: Yes
- Number of people who have completed the course: 58,982
- Course rating: 4.3/5 (out of 2,199 ratings)
Justin Yost is a web developer and programmer with a bachelors degree in computer science. In this LinkedIn learning course, Justin aims to share all his advanced PHP skills and knowledge with you.
Suitable for those who already have a good understanding of PHP, this LinkedIn learning class will take your knowledge one-step further. In this class, you will learn how to implement namespaces, extend interfaces, use object-oriented programming and discover versatile scripting methods. Justin will provide an overview of each of these advanced topics and takes you through how to code each for the first time, and then shows you how to expand further!
8. The Beginners Guide to PHP Mastery (Skillshare)
- Level: Beginner
- Completion time: 8h 48m
- Cost: 14-day free trial
- Certification: No
- Number of people who have completed the course: 4,425
- Course rating: N/A
Aimed at beginners, this course is designed to teach you everything you need to know about PHP, without it being too fancy!
Created by John Morris, who has 12 years experience in web development and want to help others gather the same knowledge and skill as himself, this PHP class covers all the fundamentals. You will start with basic syntax and a simple “Hello World” script. After, you will explore different databases, how to send emails, upload files, build contact forms and much more. Throughout the entire course, John prides himself on helping you learn by explaining WHY you do these things so that you truly understand the process.
Conclusion
So, there you have it… the 8 best PHP classes online.
There are a huge variety of PHP tutorials available. Some of them are quick and cost effective. Others are more expensive and take more time but they cover PHP in more depth.
All of the above PHP courses are excellent. They are the best of the best. Each is taught by an experienced and dedicated teacher and they all have satisfied and happy customers.
So, which course you decide to take depends on you experience, funds and spare time. Have you ever built a website before? Do you have the money to spend on your skill development? Do you have a lot of spare time, or are you just looking for a quick, but effective, skill top up?
