Topics (Zend PHP Exam Topics)

PHP Basics
  • Syntax
  • Operators
  • Variables
  • Control Structures
  • Language Constructs and Functions
  • Namespaces 
  • Extensions
  • Config
  • Performance/bytecode caching
Functions
  • Arguments
  • Variables
  • References
  • Returns
  • Variable Scope
  • Anonymous Functions, closures
  • Type Declarations
Data Format & Types
  • XML Basics
  • SimpleXML
  • XML Extension
  • Webservices Basics
  • SOAP
  • JSON 
  • DateTime 
  • DOMDocument
Web Features
  • Sessions
  • Forms
  • GET and POST data
  • Cookies
  • HTTP Headers
  • HTTP Authentication
  • HTTP Status Codes
Object-Oriented Programming
  • Instantiation
  • Modifiers/Inheritance
  • Interfaces
  • Return Types
  • Autoload
  • Reflection
  • Type Hinting
  • Class Constants
  • Late Static Binding
  • Magic (_*) Methods
  • Instance Methods & Properties
  • SPL
  • Traits 
Security
  • Configuration
  • Session Security
  • Cross-Site Scripting
  • Cross-Site Request Forgeries
  • SQL Injection
  • Remote Code Injection
  • Email Injection
  • Filter Input
  • Escape Output
  • Encryption, Hashing algorithms
  • File uploads
  • PHP Configuration
  • Password hashing API 
I/O
  • Files
  • Reading
  • Writing
  • File System Functions
  • Streams
  • Contexts
Strings & Patterns
  • Quoting
  • Matching
  • Extracting
  • Searching
  • Replacing
  • Formatting
  • PCRE
  • NOWDOC
  • Encodings
Databases & SQL
  • SQL
  • Joins
  • Prepared Statements
  • Transactions
  • PDO
Arrays
  • Associative Arrays
  • Array Iteration
  • Array Functions
  • SPL, Objects as arrays 
  • Casting
Error Handling
  • Handling Exceptions
  • Errors
  • Throwables

Reference: Zend PHP Exam Topics

Books

Beginning PHP and MySQL From Novice to Professional
Apress
W. Jason Gilmore
ISBN 10: 1430260440
ISBN 13: 9781430260448

PHP Arrays
Apress
Steve Prettyman
ISBN 10: 1484225562
ISBN 13: 9781484225561

Pro PHP Security
Apress
Chris Snyder, Thomas Myer, Michael Southwell
ISBN 10: 1430233184
ISBN 13: 9781430233183

Pro PHP 8 MVC
Apress
Christopher Pitt
ISBN 10: 148426956X
ISBN 13: 9781484269565

Learn PHP 8
Apress
Steve Prettyman
ISBN 10: 1484262409
ISBN 13: 9781484262405