PHP Interview Questions and Answers

PHP Interview Questions

Following is a list of PHP interview questions and answers for ready reference of the interview panel:

Q1. What is PEAR in PHP?

Ans: PEAR or PHP Extension and Application Repository contains all types of PHP code snippets and libraries. In other words, it is a framework and repository for reusable PHP components. In addition, it also allows a command line interface to install "packages" automatically.

Q2. List the popular Content Management Systems (CMS) in PHP.

Ans: WordPress, Joomla, Magento and  Drupal are some of the popular CMS in PHP.

Q3. What are the popular frameworks in PHP?

Ans: A few of the popular frameworks in PHP are CakePHP, CodeIgniter, Yii 2, Symfony and Zend Framework.

Q4. Differentiate $message and $$message?

Ans: $message stores fixed variable data while $$message is used to store variable of variables and hence may be changed dynamically.

Q5. How can a text be displayed with a PHP script?

Ans:Following are the two methods to display text using a PHP script:

<!--?php echo "Method 1"; print "Method 2"; ?-->

Q6. How to connect to a MySQL database from a PHP script?

Ans: mysqli_connect() function allows to connect to a MySQL database:

<!--?php $database = mysqli_connect("HOST", "USER_NAME", "PASSWORD"); mysqli_select_db($database,"DATABASE_NAME"); ?-->

Q7. Which function is used to return text in title case from a variable?

1. ucwords($var)
2. upper($var)
3. toupper($var)
4. ucword($var)

Ans: a ucwords($var)

Q8. Which function is used to redirect a page?

1. Header()
2. Redirect()
3. Reflect()
4. None of the above

Ans: a. Header()

Skills to Assess While Hiring PHP Developer

Being clear about the business needs and requirements and the role of PHP in it is an absolute precursor to the right talent selection. The next step is to design a coding assessment and put together a list of PHP interview questions. With these things in place, recruiters can confidently hope to breeze through the recruitment process and select the right candidates. So, let us look at the skills to look for while hiring a PHP developer:

• Choose an experienced PHP developer with bug-fixing capabilities, knowledge of OOPS concepts, a firm grasp of databases and methods of integrating PHP with DBMS.
• Willingness to learn and expand their knowledge base is an important trait of candidates who are more likely to succeed in any job role and PHP is no different. By asking the right questions, recruiters can pick out candidates who have the enthusiasm and ability to quickly learn on their own accord.  
• Candidates with strong work ethics are true assets for any organisation and that can easily be tested using psychometric tests as well as references and feedback from previous employers.
• Candidates having experience with a wide range of PHP applications and frameworks naturally get more preference as that is the need of the hour as well as any business. 
• Recruiters must satisfy themselves about the ability of candidates to adapt to changes and updates in PHP as programming languages tend to evolve constantly.
• Knowledge and experience in JavaScript, HTML and CSS is almost absolutely essential given the major role these programming languages play and the interaction between them in website development.

Applications of MeritTrac Assessment Solutions

MeritTrac has a range of technology-driven assessments that make assessments convenient, quick, reliable and accurate. Our PHP coding assessments are tailor-made to suit the unique needs and requirements of a specific IT service provider. They help select the PHP developer with the right skill set and who is worth calling for a face-to-face interview. Recruiters and hiring managers can focus their time and attention on the right talent rather than wasting their time by interviewing all the candidates. A list of PHP interview questions and answers for ready reference will help them quickly and reliably judge the suitability of the candidates for the job position.

Our assessments can even be used to test the knowledge, strengths and weaknesses of the existing PHP programmers in the workforce. Using the performance results, the L&D team can design a specific training program to equip the workforce with the necessary PHP skills.