Top PHP Interview Questions [2023]

PHP is the most widely used open-source, server-side scripting language in web development. A general-purpose language, PHP is used to create dynamic websites and applications. Interviewing PHP candidates commonly consists of basic and advanced questions to assess technical ability. We sourced these questions from the PHP community based on developers’ own interview experience and what our clients found important to ask.

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PHP Interview Questions

These are the types of questions typically asked during PHP interviews. We created them to help you test your understanding of the popular programming language, or guide your initial technical screening with PHP candidates.

What is an anonymous function?
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What is the purpose of the function `header()`?
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What is a `trait`?
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Why is autoload important?
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How does object comparison works in PHP?
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What's visibility?
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What are type casts, and how do you use them? What cast types are valid in PHP?
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What's the difference between `define` and `const`?
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Why is setting `session.use_only_cookies` to `1` is a good step to protect against which kind of attack?
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Why do type hints, or type declarations, avoid error-prone scripts?
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What are the usages of scope resolution operator (`::`)?
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Why is the `@` operator used?
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This list isn't exhaustive, and interviewing typically includes an assessment of soft skills and technical ability through a take-home assignment or live coding exercise. You can learn more about hiring here.

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