Starting your career in web development with PHP? Whether you’re a student or a self-taught programmer, cracking your first technical interview can be nerve-wracking. To help you get a head start, we’ve compiled the top 50 PHP interview questions and answers for freshers. These questions cover the fundamentals, syntax, common pitfalls, and practical coding challenges that interviewers love to ask.
Top 50 PHP Interview Questions and Answers for Freshers
1. What is PHP?
Answer: PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) is a popular open-source server-side scripting language used for web development. It can be embedded into HTML and is especially suited for creating dynamic web pages.
2. What are the key features of PHP?
Answer:
- Open-source
- Platform-independent
- Easy to learn
- Supports OOP
- Integrates with many databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL)
- Built-in functions for web development
3. What is the difference between echo and print in PHP?
Answer:
echocan take multiple parameters and is slightly faster.printreturns a value (1), so it can be used in expressions.
4. How can you declare a variable in PHP?
Answer:
$name = "John";
All PHP variables start with a dollar sign ($).
5. What is a constant in PHP?
Answer:
Constants are defined using define() and cannot be changed during execution:
define("SITE_NAME", "MyWebsite");
PHP Interview Questions and Answers for Freshers
6. What are PHP data types?
Answer:
- Integer
- Float (Double)
- String
- Boolean
- Array
- Object
- NULL
- Resource
7. What is the difference between == and === in PHP?
Answer:
==checks only value equality.===checks both value and data type.
8. How do you create an array in PHP?
Answer:
$fruits = array("apple", "banana", "mango");
9. What are Superglobals in PHP?
Answer: Built-in variables that are always accessible, regardless of scope:
$_GET$_POST$_REQUEST$_SESSION$_COOKIE$_SERVER$_FILES$_ENV
10. What is the difference between GET and POST methods?
Answer:
GET: Sends data via URL, not secure, limited in size.POST: Sends data in the body, secure, suitable for forms.
11. How do you write a comment in PHP?
Answer:
// Single-line comment
/* Multi-line comment */
12. What is the use of isset() function in PHP?
Answer: It checks whether a variable is set and is not NULL.
13. What is the use of empty() function in PHP?
Answer: It determines whether a variable is empty.
14. What is the use of include and require in PHP?
Answer: Both are used to include files. require produces a fatal error on failure; include only gives a warning.
15. How do you connect to a MySQL database using PHP?
Answer:
$conn = mysqli_connect("localhost", "username", "password", "database");
PHP Interview Questions and Answers for Freshers
16. How do you fetch data from a database in PHP?
Answer:
$result = mysqli_query($conn, "SELECT * FROM users");
while($row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($result)) {
echo $row['name'];
}
17. What is a session in PHP?
Answer: Sessions are used to store data across multiple pages.
session_start();
$_SESSION['user'] = 'John';
18. What is a cookie in PHP?
Answer: Cookies are stored on the client side.
setcookie("user", "John", time() + 3600);
19. What is the difference between unset() and unlink()?
Answer:
unset()removes a variable.unlink()deletes a file.
20. What is the use of die() and exit() in PHP?
Answer: Both terminate script execution. die() is an alias of exit().
21. What is the difference between $message and $$message in PHP?
Answer:
$messageis a variable.$$messageis a variable variable.
22. What is the use of explode() function in PHP?
Answer: It splits a string into an array.
explode(",", "apple,banana,mango");
23. What is implode() in PHP?
Answer: Converts an array into a string.
implode(",", ["apple", "banana"]);
24. How can you redirect a page in PHP?
Answer:
header("Location: newpage.php");
exit();
25. What are magic constants in PHP?
Answer: Built-in constants like __FILE__, __LINE__, __DIR__, etc.
PHP Interview Questions and Answers for Freshers
26. What is error handling in PHP?
Answer: Managing runtime errors using try, catch, finally, and custom error functions.
27. What are the types of errors in PHP?
Answer:
- Parse Errors
- Fatal Errors
- Warning
- Notice
28. How do you create a function in PHP?
Answer:
function greet($name) {
return "Hello $name";
}
29. What is the use of return in PHP?
Answer: Returns a value from a function.
30. Can you access a global variable inside a function?
Answer: Yes, using global $var; inside the function.
31. What is a constructor in PHP?
Answer:
A special function called automatically when an object is created:
function __construct() {}
32. What is an interface in PHP?
Answer: A contract for classes to implement:
interface Vehicle { public function drive(); }
33. What is the use of final class and method in PHP?
Answer: Prevents further inheritance or method overriding.
34. What are static methods in PHP?
Answer: Called without instantiating a class using ClassName::method().
35. How can you destroy a session in PHP?
Answer:
session_destroy();
PHP Interview Questions and Answers for Freshers
36. How to upload a file in PHP?
Answer:
move_uploaded_file($_FILES["file"]["tmp_name"], "uploads/" . $_FILES["file"]["name"]);
37. What is the difference between == and = in PHP?
Answer: = is assignment, == is comparison.
38. How to send an email using PHP?
Answer:
mail("to@example.com", "Subject", "Message");
39. What is heredoc and nowdoc in PHP?
Answer: Used for defining multi-line strings.
40. What is a namespace in PHP?
Answer: Used to encapsulate items to avoid name conflicts.
41. What are traits in PHP?
Answer: Reusable chunks of code within classes.
42. What is the difference between abstract class and interface?
Answer: Abstract classes can have method definitions; interfaces cannot.
43. How to define a constant in a class?
Answer:
class Test { const NAME = "Test"; }
44. How do you check data type in PHP?
Answer:
gettype($variable);
45. What is type hinting in PHP?
Answer: Enforces specific data types in functions.
PHP Interview Questions and Answers for Freshers
46. What is the use of var_dump() in PHP?
Answer: Displays structured information about variables.
47. How to handle exceptions in PHP?
Answer:
try {
// code
} catch (Exception $e) {
echo $e->getMessage();
}
48. What is the difference between require and require_once?
Answer: require_once prevents the same file from being included more than once.
49. What is the use of isset() and unset()?
Answer:
isset()checks if a variable exists.unset()deletes a variable.
50. What are some common PHP frameworks?
Answer: Laravel, Symfony, CodeIgniter, Yii, Zend Framework.
Table of Contents
PHP Interview Questions and Answers for Freshers
PHP Interview Questions and Answers for Freshers
2 comments
[…] PHP Interview Questions and Answers for Freshers […]
[…] PHP Interview Questions and Answers for Freshers […]