PHP Skill

Core PHP language patterns, PSR standards, and foundational concepts for modern PHP development.

Purpose

This skill provides PHP language fundamentals applicable to any PHP project—Laravel, Symfony, WordPress, or vanilla PHP. Framework-specific patterns are covered in dedicated skills (see Laravel skill).

When to Load

• Any PHP backend development
• Working with Composer packages
• PSR-compliant library development
• Understanding core language features before framework abstractions
• Non-Laravel PHP projects (Symfony, Slim, WordPress)

Key Topics

Topic	Description
PHP 8.x Features	Enums, attributes, readonly, match, named args
OOP Patterns	Traits, interfaces, design patterns, DI
Handler/Service Pattern	Repository-like business logic layers
Map/DTO Pattern	Data transformation objects
PDO	Database access, prepared statements, transactions
Composer	Autoloading, PSR-4, scripts
PSR Standards	PSR-4, PSR-12, PSR-7, PSR-11, PSR-15
PHPUnit	Testing fundamentals (framework-agnostic)
Security	Input validation, password hashing, SQL injection prevention

File Structure

php/
├── README.md           # This file
├── SKILL.md            # Quick reference (~800 lines)
├── REFERENCE.md        # Comprehensive guide (~1400 lines)
├── VALIDATION.md       # Coverage matrix
├── templates/
│   ├── composer.template.json
│   ├── phpunit.template.xml
│   ├── class.template.php
│   ├── interface.template.php
│   ├── trait.template.php
│   ├── enum.template.php
│   ├── handler.template.php
│   ├── map_data.template.php
│   └── pdo_repository.template.php
└── examples/
    ├── php8_features.example.php
    ├── pdo_crud.example.php
    ├── design_patterns.example.php
    └── handler_architecture.example.php

Relationship to Other Skills

Skill	Relationship
Laravel	Builds on this skill; Laravel skill assumes PHP fundamentals
Prisma	Alternative ORM approach (TypeScript)
Python	Comparable language skill structure

Context7 Integration

Use Context7 for:

• PHP RFC details and edge cases
• Specific extension documentation (e.g., sodium, ffi)
• Framework-specific PHP usage (covered in framework skills)

Quick Start

<?php
// PHP 8.3 features
enum Status: string {
    case Active = 'active';
    case Inactive = 'inactive';
}

readonly class UserDTO {
    public function __construct(
        public string $name,
        public string $email,
        public Status $status = Status::Active,
    ) {}
}

// Handler pattern
class UserHandler {
    public function __construct(
        private readonly PDO $db
    ) {}

    public function create(UserDTO $data): int {
        $stmt = $this->db->prepare(
            'INSERT INTO users (name, email, status) VALUES (?, ?, ?)'
        );
        $stmt->execute([$data->name, $data->email, $data->status->value]);
        return (int) $this->db->lastInsertId();
    }
}

Version

• Skill Version: 1.0.0
• PHP Version: 8.1+ (8.3 recommended)
• Last Updated: 2025-01-01