Many entry level PHP developers want a quick path to glory, a shortcut to "knowing PHP." Too many books and tutorials go straight into a pre-made, awful environment that just wants you to code, with no regard for security, version control, or other absolutely essential practices. This book is aimed at the absolute beginner who wants to start learning PHP, but aims to set you up with a thorough understanding of what makes for a good, modern, adaptable PHP environment before you start diving into PHP itself.

This book will cover a the essential building blocks of a good PHP environment, including covering topics such as:

• The anatomy of a web request
• The importance of a good IDE
• Using Composer for package management
• Version control with Git and GitHub
• Deployment and hosting options
• Using virtual machines
• Build a sample app from scratch and deploy it -- the right way
• And much more!