• PHP
  • 6 MINUTES READ

Top interview questions to ask while Hiring PHP Developers

  • POSTED ON
  • July 7, 2020
  • POSTED BY
  • Aayan Arif
  • POSTED ON July 7, 2020
  • POSTED BY Aayan Arif

So you’re looking to hire a PHP developer? First off, how familiar are you with the technical aspects of PHP? Because regardless of your experience level, it is vital to have a systematic set of screening questions to assess interviewees’ technical knowledge. From working on back-end development to writing non-encrypted codes for powerful web applications,

So you’re looking to hire a PHP developer? First off, how familiar are you with the technical aspects of PHP? Because regardless of your experience level, it is vital to have a systematic set of screening questions to assess interviewees’ technical knowledge.

From working on back-end development to writing non-encrypted codes for powerful web applications, all the way to providing front-end services, PHP is never not complicated. This is why having a technical resource with a solid background in PHP and excellent skills to execute it is so important!

Want to hire your dream PHP Developer? Ask the Right PHP questions!

It’s recommended to ask questions in a specific, set order to assess the execution credibility of the person you are hiring. If they can’t answer the first few questions, you know you can move on. You should have these questions determined prior to the interview and based on your own research of what the job role you offering demands in terms of skill or knowledge. Below I list some of the top PHP questions to ask your potential PHP developer.

Along with the technical skills, you may want to assess the candidate’s passion for programming, development, and the future. By using the right type of questions you can evaluate their communication skills, along with their ability to demonstrate what is asked of them.

It is especially vital for those IT outsourcing companies who have a reputation to uphold because they are providing their extended services to further clients. So if need be, involve your potential candidate with these questions to identify their level of curiosity and how well they remain acquainted with the latest updates in the industry.

There is no harm in throwing one or two questions their way about their hobbies and what keeps them going (this is interviewing 101).

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So why do developers and recruiters need to know about PHP interview questions?

As I said earlier, the point of this article is to introduce you to the fundamental PHP interview questions that all developers and recruiters should be asking. Whether you’re hiring remotely/online or in-house, these questions will help you develop a technical roadmap to begin your interview with.

In order to write this article, I asked our developers to share what they believed were the most important questions a PHP developer should know. Interestingly, they came up with both basic and advanced-level questions, which is simply a testament to how broad and tricky PHP can be.

So here is a compilation of all PHP interview questions our developers compiled.

NOTE: These questions and exercises are as equally beneficial to the employee as the interviewer. I highly recommend potential job candidates review the questions below – your interviewer could be reading this right now as well.

Top interview questions and answers to hire PHP developers

Without further delay (what is this an online recipe?), here are the top PHP interview questions, suggested by our incredibly talented and highly skilled PHP developers.

u003cstrongu003eWhy was PHP 6 not released?u003c/strongu003e

Due to the development problems with Unicode support (a major part of PHP 6)

u003cstrongu003eWhen do you use ‘@’?u003c/strongu003e

The “@” command is used to suppress error reporting. The @ symbol is used to control the PHP errors. It makes PHP suppress any error messages (notice, warning, fatal, etc) generated by the associated expression

u003cstrongu003eWhere are sessions stored in PHP?u003c/strongu003e

PHP sessions are stored on the server generally in text files in a temp directory of the server. That particular file is not accessible from the outside world

u003cstrongu003eHow I can block suspicious IP addresses in laravel applications?u003c/strongu003e

Simply create a custom middleware and use laravel throttle middleware (pre-defined). Check the rate limit of visitor access If the user/visitor exceeded the defined limit immediately put the IP address into the database and check-in custom middleware for each HTTP request.

u003cstrongu003eWhy are migrations important?u003c/strongu003e

Migrations are DB VCS and important because they allow you to share applications by maintaining database consistency. Without migration, it is difficult to share any Laravel application. It also allows you to sync the database.

u003cstrongu003eWhat is laravel reverse routing?u003c/strongu003e

Reverse routing is the process of generating the URL that would lead to a route, given a symbolic reference to the route. u003cbru003eu003cstrongu003eExample:u003c/strongu003eu003cbru003e1 {{ route(‘route-name’) }}

u003cstrongu003eHow I can run a background process in laravel? Like generating PDFs, sending bulk emails…etc.u003c/strongu003e

Use laravel queue for multiple tasks. Dispatch job in the queue. When the job is done send the email notification. If you want to display progress in the front-end then use push notification services for real-time updates.

u003cstrongu003eHow we can build modular applications in laravel?u003c/strongu003e

By using custom packages or travel-modules packages, we can build modular applications in laravel.

u003cstrongu003eWhich one is more u003c/strongu003eefficient for complex database queryu003cstrongu003e executions ORM or Query Builder? Compare both.u003c/strongu003e

Query builder is efficient for complex database queries. ORM is a good solution for processing a single entity in a CRUD manner.u003cbru003eu003cstrongu003eComparison:u003c/strongu003eu003cbru003e1- Eloquent ORM (Execution time: 1.41 s, Queries Executed: 1000)u003cbru003e2- Query Builder (Execution time: 938 ms, Queries Executed: 1000)

u003cstrongu003eWhat is Type juggle in PHP?u003c/strongu003e

In order to declare a variable in PHP, the type of the variable is not required. The data type is determined by the value/context of the variable. If an integer value is assigned to the variable $num, then the variable $num is of the type integer. If the string value is assigned to the variable $str, the variable $str is of the typed string.

u003cstrongu003eWhat is hoisting in JavaScript?u003c/strongu003e

Hoisting is the JavaScript interpreter’s action of moving all variable and function declarations to the top of the current scope. However, only the actual declarations are hoisted. Any assignments are left where they are.

u003cstrongu003eWhat is 12-factor application development?u003c/strongu003e

The Twelve-Factor App methodology is a methodology for building software-as-a-service applications. The 12-Factor App methodology provides a solid framework for organizing your project in order to maintain a healthy and scale-able application. These 12 principles each apply to a subset of your application and will guide you in finding the ideal way to manage your application as a whole. Such as:u003cbru003e1. Codebaseu003cbru003e2. Dependenciesu003cbru003e3. Configurationu003cbru003e4. Backing Servicesu003cbru003e5. Build, release, runu003cbru003e6. Processesu003cbru003e7. Port Bindingu003cbru003e8. Concurrencyu003cbru003e9. Disposabilityu003cbru003e10. Dev/prod parityu003cbru003e11. Logsu003cbru003e12. Admin Processes

u003cstrongu003eWhat is an auto-commit in MySQL?u003c/strongu003e

It’s an environment variable. By default, auto-commit is set to 1. When auto-commit is set to 1, you cannot run transactions with any of the MySQL table types. In this mode, MySQL treats every SQL statement as its own transaction. To use groups of statements as transactions you need to turn the auto-commit mode off.

u003cstrongu003eWhat are the list() and compact() functions in PHP and what is the difference? (PHP)u003c/strongu003e

The list() function is used to assign values to a list of variables in one operation. It assigns variables as if they were an array.u003cbru003eu003cstrongu003eExampleu003c/strongu003e:u003cbru003eu003cbru003e1 2 3 $info = array(‘coffee’, ‘brown’, ‘caffeine’); // Listing all the variables list($drink, $color, $power) = $info;u003cbru003eu003cbru003eecho u0022$drink is $color and $power makes it special.u003cbru003eu003cbru003eThe compact() function creates an array from variables and their values.u003cbru003eu003cstrongu003eExampleu003c/strongu003e:u003cbru003eu003cbru003e1 2 3 4 5 $firstname = u0022Peteru0022;u003cbru003e$lastname = u0022Griffinu0022;u003cbru003e$age = u002241u0022;u003cbru003e$result = compact(u0022firstnameu0022, u0022lastnameu0022, u0022ageu0022);

u003cstrongu003eWhat is a PSR in the PHP world? (PHP)u003c/strongu003e

Before 2009. There was no uniform method to write code. Some people preferred the Zend framework style of code and some used their own.u003cbru003eIn 2009, a group of people, representing various popular PHP projects came together and formed a recommendation to write and maintain code in a uniform way and it is called PHP Standards Recommendation (PSR).

u003cstrongu003eWhat is the magic method in PHP? Name some magic methods. (PHP)u003c/strongu003e

In PHP, we can define some special functions that will be called automatically. Such functions require no function call to execute the code inside these functions. With this special feature, they can be referred to as magic functions or magic methods. The most popular magic methods are __construct() and __destruct().

u003cstrongu003eWhat are the terms and taxonomy in WordPress? (PHP, WordPress)u003c/strongu003e

The mechanism of grouping things is called taxonomy and items in that group are called terms. For example, the category in WordPress is taxonomy, and items in the category taxonomy, if it is a programming-related website, PHP, C++, Java, Android, or IOS will be called terms.

u003cstrongu003eWhat is an Active Record? (PHP/Laravel/Codeigniter)u003c/strongu003e

An active record pattern is an approach to accessing data in a database. A database table or view is wrapped in a class. So an object instance is tied to a single row in the table. The creation of an object leads to row addition, when that object updates, the row in the database gets updated. Objects can access data of each column of a row as of their property.

u003cstrongu003eWhat are the custom fields in WordPress? (PHP/WordPress)u003c/strongu003e

Custom fields are the extra information attached to the post or page. It is a post/page metadata, which is stored in a post meta table and associated with a post/page and can be accessed anywhere in the theme if provided post/page ID.

Question:u003cstrongu003eDifference Between $name and $$name in PHP? (PHP)u003c/strongu003e

$name is a simple variable whereas $$name is the reference variable which uses the value of the variable $name.u003cbru003eu003cstrongu003eExampleu003c/strongu003e:u003cbru003eu003cbru003e$name=u0022Foou0022;u003cbru003e$$name=u0022Baru0022;u003cbru003eecho $name.u0022u0026lt;br/u0026gt;u0022;u003cbru003eecho $$name.u0022u0026lt;br/u0026gt;u0022;u003cbru003eecho $Foo;u003cbru003eu003cbru003eThe output of the following will beu003cbru003eFoou003cbru003eBaru003cbru003eBaru003cbru003eu003cbru003eHere $Foo is translated as $$name because $name value is Foo. So in simple words, Foo replaces $name with $$name.

Don’t Hesitate to Ask PHP interview questions

We understand that the language is hard to master, but it’s possible and popular. In the developer’s community, it is highly regarded if someone has command over the PHP technology stack. Therefore, companies are always on the look to hunt the best talent and hire a top-notch PHP developer.

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We would encourage you to ask any questions that you might have regarding PHP development services, PHP interview questions, or where to hire the best PHP developer.

So if you are looking to build desktop applications, e-commerce sites, or online stores, hire PHP developers as the world is moving towards online and remote work.

If you have any questions or confusion, please tell us, and don’t forget to ping us at vteams.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Aayan Arif

Content Strategist at vteams - Aayan has over 8 years of experience of working with multiple industries.

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