Build Real PHP Apps
Practical Project-Based PHP Training
Learn PHP by building a complete, production-ready web application from scratch — no frameworks, just real world skills.
About This Course
From the very first lesson, you’ll apply core PHP concepts in context. You’ll explore how all the moving parts of a full application fit together — from routing requests and managing state, to interacting with data and handling authentication — so you understand both how and why things are done.
This isn’t a surface-level tutorial series. It’s structured so that each piece you add reinforces what came before and prepares you for what comes next, just like real software development.
💥 What You’ll Build & Learn
As the project evolves throughout the series, you’ll implement real features and see how PHP works in practice, including:
- MVC and custom routing — organize your code and control app flow
- Database integration — insert, update, and query data with confidence
- Sessions & state management — keep track of users and data across requests
- Authentication basics — build secure login and registration workflows
- Form handling & validation — process input safely and elegantly
- Reusable components & maintainable structure — write code you can build on
- Deployment considerations — prepare your app for real-world hosting
By the end of the course, you won’t just understand PHP syntax — you’ll understand how to apply PHP to solve real problems, structure professional applications, and maintain code over time.
👉 Who This Course Is For
This course is ideal for:
- Developers who know the basics of PHP but want real-world experience
- Programmers who’ve learned concepts in isolation and want to connect the dots
- Anyone ready to move beyond toy examples into real application development
- Developers who want to build maintainable, real-world PHP applications without relying on heavy frameworks
If you’re looking for quick tips or isolated feature demos, this isn’t the right fit.
If you want depth, continuity, and real engineering context, you’re in the right place.
🎬 Course Format
- 9 structured modules
- 30 long-form videos
- 7+ hours of in-depth instruction
- Practical project-based progression — see how features interact
- Clear lessons with real workflows — no superficial shortcuts
- Core PHP fundamentals applied in context — not just theory
- Immediate access to all lessons
The videos are intentionally long-form, allowing ideas to be fully explained and implemented — because real understanding doesn’t happen in five-minute clips.
Ready to take your PHP skills to the next level? Join me in this practical, hands-on series! ⚡
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Course Roadmap
Most PHP tutorials focus on isolated concepts — a form here, a database query there — without showing how everything fits together. This series takes a different approach.
In Pragmatic PHP, you’ll build a real, working web application step by step. Each module builds directly on the previous one, introducing new concepts only when they’re needed and immediately applying them in context. This mirrors how real applications are developed — incrementally, intentionally, and with maintainability in mind.
Rather than jumping between unrelated examples, you’ll see how routing, controllers, views, sessions, and data all work together inside a cohesive application.
Below is the full module breakdown, showing how the project evolves as new capabilities are added.
Meet Your Instructor
Hi, I’m Bob Cravens — a software developer, consultant, and educator with years of experience building and maintaining real-world web applications.
I run a technology consulting company where I help clients design, build, and evolve production systems. That experience directly shapes how I teach. The patterns, tradeoffs, and decisions you’ll see in this course aren’t theoretical — they’re the same ones I use when building software that has to be understood, maintained, and extended over time.
I created Pragmatic PHP because I’ve seen too many PHP tutorials focus on isolated features or outdated patterns without ever showing how a complete application actually comes together. Knowing syntax is one thing. Knowing how to structure, evolve, and maintain a working application is something else entirely.
In this series, I teach PHP the same way I use it professionally — by building something real, making intentional design decisions, and explaining not just what to do, but why it’s done that way. You’ll see tradeoffs, common mistakes, and practical techniques that don’t always show up in short, polished examples.
My goal isn’t to rush through topics or overwhelm you with abstractions. It’s to help you develop a clear mental model of how PHP applications work — so you can approach your own projects with confidence and clarity.
If you’ve ever felt stuck between “beginner tutorials” and “real applications,” this series was built for you.
If you want to get in touch, shoot me an email bob.cravens@tekfoundry.com.
Why This Series?
Most PHP tutorials fall into one of two categories: they either focus on disconnected examples with no real context, or they jump straight into frameworks without explaining what’s happening underneath.
That approach leaves many developers stuck — able to follow along, but unsure how to build or maintain a real application on their own.
Pragmatic PHP was created to solve that problem.
This series is intentionally long-form and project-based. Instead of rushing through concepts, we slow down and build a complete application step by step. You’ll see how decisions are made, how pieces fit together, and how real applications evolve over time.
By working without a framework, you’ll develop a strong understanding of PHP fundamentals — routing, application structure, sessions, data handling, and authentication — so you’re not just copying patterns, but actually understanding them. That foundation makes frameworks easier to learn later, not harder.
This series isn’t designed for quick wins or surface-level familiarity. It’s designed for developers who want clarity, confidence, and the ability to build real PHP applications from scratch.
If you’ve ever felt like you “know PHP” but still struggle to put everything together, this series was built for you.
Ready to start watching?
Monthly Plan — Watch 30 videos in this series today.
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196 total TekCasts videos
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Monthly Plan
Access all released content as new videos are published. Perfect if you’re learning at a steady pace.
Yearly Plan
Instant access to all videos in every series, including unreleased content. No waiting—build at your pace.
Forever Plan
Pay once and get instant access to everything— all current and future series, forever.