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Bob Cravens

Bob Cravens

Your Instructor

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Owner

TekFoundry

Wisconsin

United States

Short Bio:

Bob Cravens is a seasoned technology leader, software architect, and educator with a passion for empowering others through practical, real-world knowledge. As the founder of TekFoundry, Bob has dedicated his career to designing and delivering innovative software solutions that combine cutting-edge technology with elegant simplicity.

At TekCasts, Bob leverages over two decades of experience in software engineering, application architecture, and team leadership to create engaging, high-impact courses for developers and technology professionals. His instructional style is rooted in practical application, offering insights drawn from his extensive background in industries like medical devices and global technology consulting.

Bob’s expertise spans a variety of technologies and methodologies, including PHP/Laravel, FastAPI, and DevOps, as well as architecture best practices and team dynamics. Whether teaching foundational concepts or advanced strategies, he’s passionate about helping others turn complex challenges into streamlined solutions.

When not crafting elegant code or inspiring the next generation of tech innovators, Bob enjoys exploring the intersection of technology, business strategy, and creative problem-solving.

Videos

Checkout Videos By This Instructor

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File System - Permission

This video is part of the Linux Crash Course series. This video will continue exploring the Linux File System. In this video you will learn about permissions and how to secure access to files. Github Repo: https://github.com/rcravens/linux-crash-course

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File System - Wildcards, Find, Search

This video is part of the Linux Crash Course series. This video will continue exploring the Linux File System. In this video you will learn how to search the file system for files or content inside those files. Github Repo: https://github.com/rcravens/linux-crash-course

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File System Basics - Navigation

This video is part of the Linux Crash Course series. This video will introduce the Linux File System. In this video you will learn how to navigate the file system. Github Repo: https://github.com/rcravens/linux-crash-course

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Functions are the building blocks of reusable and efficient code in PHP! In this video we break down everything you need to know to get started with functions, including: ✅ Function keyword & syntax – How to define and call functions in PHP. ✅ Naming functions – Best practices for readability and maintainability. ✅ Parameters & return values – Passing data and getting results. ✅ Type hinting – Writing safer, more predictable functions. To make learning fun and practical, we’ll incrementally build a simple calculator that supports addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division! By the end of this tutorial, you’ll have a solid understanding of PHP functions and how to use them effectively in your projects.

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How the Web Works

Ever wondered what happens behind the scenes when you visit a website? In this video, we break down the fundamentals of how the web works, focusing on how PHP processes requests and responses on the server. You’ll learn about HTTP & HTTPS, how browsers communicate with web servers, and what happens when you enter a URL. We’ll also explore key HTTP concepts like request methods, headers, response codes, and more. Plus, we’ll walk through a live example using browser developer tools to see it all in action. By the end, you’ll have a clear understanding of how PHP fits into the bigger picture of web development! 🚀

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Inheritance—one of the core pillars of Object-Oriented Programming! 💡 But how does it actually work in PHP? 🤔 In this video, we’ll break it down step by step: ✅ What inheritance is and why it’s useful ✅ How a child class can inherit properties & methods from an abstract base class 🏗️ ✅ The rules & limitations of PHP’s single inheritance 🔒 ✅ Use inheritance to extend an existing class with new properties & methods that add functionality 🎯 By the end, you’ll be harnessing inheritance like a pro—structuring your code for maximum reusability and maintainability! 💻🔥 Let’s dive in! 🎬

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Welcome to the world of Interfaces—where we take PHP code structure to the next level! 🎯💡 In this video, we explore how interfaces help us write cleaner, more flexible, and more maintainable code. ✨ What’s inside? ✅ The power of explicitly defining types for parameters & return values 🏷️ ✅ Extracting an interface from an abstract base class 🔄 ✅ Converting methods using the interface keyword ✍️ ✅ Decomposing large interfaces into smaller, focused ones 🔧 ✅ Leveraging interfaces as parameter & return type constraints 🔗 By the end, you’ll see how interfaces bring ultimate flexibility and extensibility to your PHP projects! 🚀🔗 Watch now and level up your OOP game! 🎬🔥

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Intro to Composer & Packagist

Welcome to the PHP Package Development series! 🎉 In this first video, we introduce the problem we’re solving and explore the world of package management systems. You’ll learn what Composer and Packagist are, why they matter, and how they simplify PHP development. 📌 What you’ll learn: ✅ What are package management systems? ✅ Introduction to Composer & Packagist ✅ Why use Composer for PHP projects? 🔔 Subscribe for more PHP content! 🔗 Resources: • Composer Documentation • Packagist

composer,packagist,php

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Introduction - History, Quick Setup

This video is part of the Linux Crash Course series. This video will discuss the history of Linux and help prepare a sandbox where you can practice as you follow along. Github Repo: https://github.com/rcravens/linux-crash-course

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Laravel Pulse: Install & Deploy to Production (Step-by-Step Tutorial)

🚀 Learn how to install and deploy Laravel Pulse in a production environment using Laravel Forge and Envoyer! In this tutorial, I’ll walk you through: ✅ Installing Laravel Pulse in your Laravel project ✅ Configuring it for real-time performance monitoring ✅ Deploying Laravel Pulse to production with Forge & Envoyer ✅ Best practices to keep Pulse running smoothly in production 🔧 Tools Used: Laravel Forge, Laravel Envoyer, Laravel Pulse If you found this video helpful, don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more Laravel content! 🔥 📌 Links & Resources: 👉 Laravel Pulse Docs: [https://pulse.laravel.com/] 👉 Laravel Forge: [https://forge.laravel.com/] 👉 Laravel Envoyer: [https://envoyer.io/] #tekfoundry #tekcasts

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Logic, Conditionals & Branching

In this video from the PHP for Beginners series, we explore logic, conditionals, and branching—key concepts that control the flow of your PHP programs. You’ll learn how to use if, else, and switch statements to make decisions in your code, allowing your programs to respond dynamically to different conditions. By the end of this lesson, you’ll have a strong understanding of conditional statements and how to apply them effectively in real-world scenarios. 🔹 Beginner-friendly explanations 🔹 Hands-on coding examples 🚀 Master PHP conditionals and take control of your code today!

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Loops are a fundamental part of programming, allowing you to execute code multiple times efficiently. In this video, part of the “PHP for Beginners” series, we break down the four main types of loops in PHP: ✅ foreach – Perfect for looping through arrays effortlessly. ✅ for – Ideal when you know exactly how many times you need to iterate. ✅ while – Runs as long as a condition is true, great for dynamic scenarios. ✅ do…while – Similar to while, but always runs at least once. By the end of this tutorial, you’ll understand when and how to use each loop, with clear explanations and examples. Whether you’re new to PHP or need a refresher, this video will help you master loops in no time!

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Mixing Markup & Code

It’s time to take our PHP calculator from hardcoded values to real user input! In this video we introduce an HTML frontend to drive our calculator, making it interactive. Here’s what we cover: ✅ Creating an HTML form – Allow users to input expressions dynamically. ✅ PHP Superglobals – Understanding $_POST and how to handle form data. ✅ Mixing PHP & HTML – Embedding PHP inside markup to render values and conditionally show elements. By the end of this tutorial, you’ll know how to build dynamic web pages that process user input using PHP—an essential skill for web development!

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Namespaces, PSR-4, and Autoloading

Say goodbye to messy, single-file chaos! 😵‍💫 In this video, we organize and supercharge our PHP projects by breaking them into multiple files. First, we manually load classes using the trusty require keyword 📜—but that’s just the beginning! Next, we introduce the PSR-4 standard, the industry gold standard for structuring PHP code 🏆. And to make life even sweeter, we harness the power of Composer’s autoloading ⚡—letting PHP automatically find and load classes like magic! ✨ By the end, you’ll be writing scalable, maintainable PHP code like a true OOP architect! 🏗️💻

autoloading,namespaces,oop,php,psr-4

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PHP for Beginners | Hello World!

Every programming journey begins with a simple “Hello, World!”, and PHP is no different! In this video, we’ll walk you through writing your first PHP script, embedding PHP within HTML, and running it on a local server. You’ll see the difference between static .html files and dynamic .php files and understand how PHP generates content on the fly. Whether you’re brand new to coding or just getting started with PHP, this is the perfect first step into the world of backend development! 💻✨

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Processes and Jobs - Monitor, Kill, Background Jobs, Crontab, SystemD

This video is part of the Linux Crash Course series. This video will cover how to manager processes and jobs. We will cover the following: 1. How to monitor running processes 2. How to kill or stop existing processes 3. Run a script in the background as a job 4. Run a script at a scheduled interval (e.g., once per minute...) using crontab 5. Run a script as a service using systemd Github Repo: https://github.com/rcravens/linux-crash-course