What this book covers

Chapter 1, CRUD Operations, Sorting, Filtering, and Joins, deals with introducing readers to basic SQL operations such as create, read, update, and delete. We then go to the next step by discussing sorting, filtering, and end by discussing the concept of joining tables.

Chapter 2, Advanced Programming with MariaDB, deals with various data manipulation operations such as alter and drop. After a clear understanding of the DML operations, we will discuss the more advanced concepts such as stored procedures, stored routines, and triggers.

Chapter 3, Advanced Programming with PHP, introduces readers to more advanced programming concepts such as unit testing and exception handling. We also discuss the new features that have been added to PHP 5.4 and 5.5.

Chapter 4, Setting Up Student Portal, deals with using all the concepts encompassed in the last few chapters to build a student portal.

Chapter 5, Working with Files and Directories, deals with the introduction and implementation of file imports, file uploads, and application logging using files in our student portal application.

Chapter 6, Authentication and Access Control, deals with the introduction and implementation of authentication and access controls for our student portal application.

Chapter 7, Caching, introduces the readers to the concept of caching. We later discuss the different types of caching and how each method of caching is implemented.

Chapter 8, REST API, introduces readers to the concept of REST architecture, followed by building a REST API for our student portal.

Chapter 9, Security, deals with an introduction to the different security optimizations that can be performed for Apache, MariaDB, and PHP to secure the web application.

Chapter 10, Performance Optimization, deals with the introduction of different performance optimization techniques that can be used to scale the application more effectively.

Bonus chapter 1, Installation of PHP, MariaDB, and Apache, deals with the installation and configuration of PHP, MariaDB, and Apache. This chapter is not present in the book but is available for download at https://www.packtpub.com/sites/default/files/downloads/Bonus_chapter_1.pdf.

Bonus chapter 2, Object-oriented Programming with PHP, deals with introducing the readers to the concept of Object Oriented Programming (OOP) with PHP and we continue by discussing various OOP features such as inheritance, encapsulation, polymorphism, interfaces, and abstract classes. We end this chapter by discussing a few popular design patterns. This chapter is not present in the book but is available for download at https://www.packtpub.com/sites/default/files/downloads/Bonus_chapter_2.pdf.