200-550

Zend - PHP 5.5 Certification Study Guide

23 Interactive Lessons and 197 topics mapped to the official exam objectives
498 Practice Test Questions and 3 Full Length Tests

Beginner Self-paced · 1 year access 4.7/5 (195 Reviews)

23Interactive Lessons

197Topics

498Practice Test Questions

45Videos

96Flashcards

143Glossary of terms

01 / Skills you'll get

What you will be able to do

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The Zend PHP 5.5 is a standalone certification from Zend with the exam code 200-550. The goal of the Zend Certification program is to allow PHP professionals to attain the "Zend Certified Engineer" designation. Zend 200-550 exam provides a measure of technical distinction that employers use to evaluate prospective employees.

Target Career Roles

PHP Developer
Web Administrator
Zend Certified Engineer

02 / Lessons & labs

See exactly what you will learn and practice

Download outline (PDF)

Lessons

23 Interactive Lessons · 197 topics

01 Introducing PHP 5 topics

What Is PHP?
Why Use PHP?
The Evolution of PHP
What's New in PHP 5.5
Summary

02 Your First PHP Script 6 topics

Installing PHP
Other Ways to Run PHP
Creating Your First Script
Summary
Exercise
Exercise Solution

03 PHP Language Basics 7 topics

Using Variables in PHP
Understanding Data Types
Operators and Expressions
Constants
Summary
Exercise
Exercise Solution

04 Decisions and Loops 6 topics

Making Decisions
Doing Repetitive Tasks with Looping
Mixing Decisions and Looping with HTML
Summary
Exercise
Exercise Solution

05 Strings 8 topics

Creating and Accessing Strings
Searching Strings
Replacing Text within Strings
Dealing with Upper- and Lowercase
Formatting Strings
Summary
Exercise
Exercise Solution

06 Arrays 9 topics

The Anatomy of an Array
Creating Arrays
Accessing Array Elements
Looping Through Arrays with foreach
Working with Multidimensional Arrays
Manipulating Arrays, SPL
Summary
Exercise
Exercise Solution

07 Functions 10 topics

What Is a Function?
Why Functions Are Useful
Calling Functions
Working with Variable Functions
Writing Your Own Functions
Working with References
Writing Recursive Functions
Summary
Exercise
Exercise Solution

08 Objects 15 topics

What Is Object-Oriented Programming?
Advantages of OOP
Understanding Basic OOP Concepts
Creating Classes and Objects in PHP
Creating and Using Properties
Working with Methods
Object Overloading with __get(), __set(), and __call()
Using Inheritance to Extend the Power of Objects
Constructors and Destructors
Automatically Loading Class Files
Storing Objects as Strings
Determining an Object's Class, Reflection
Summary
Exercise
Exercise Solution

09 Handling HTML Forms with PHP 10 topics

How HTML Forms Work
Capturing Form Data with PHP
Dealing with Multi-Value Fields
Generating Web Forms with PHP
Storing PHP Variables in Forms
Creating File Upload Forms
Redirecting after a Form Submission
Summary
Exercise
Exercise Solution

10 Preserving State With Query Strings, Cookies, and Sessions 6 topics

Saving State with Query Strings
Working with Cookies
Using PHP Sessions to Store Data
Summary
Exercise
Exercise Solution

11 Working with Files and Directories 11 topics

Understanding Files and Directories
Getting Information on Files
Opening and Closing Files
Reading and Writing to Files
Working with File Permissions
Copying, Renaming, and Deleting Files
Working with Directories
Building a Text Editor
Summary
Exercise
Exercise Solution

12 Introducing Databases and SQL 8 topics

Deciding How to Store Data
Understanding Relational Databases
Setting Up MySQL
A Quick Play with MySQL
Connecting to MySQL from PHP, PDO
Summary
Exercise
Exercise Solution

13 Retrieving Data from MySQL with PHP 6 topics

Setting Up the Book Club Database
Retrieving Data with SELECT
Creating a Member Record Viewer
Summary
Exercise
Exercise Solution

14 Manipulating MySQL Data with PHP 9 topics

Inserting Records
Updating Records
Deleting Records
Building a Member Registration Application
Creating a Members' Area
Creating a Member Manager Application
Summary
Exercise
Exercise Solution

15 Making Your Job Easier with PEAR 7 topics

Installing PEAR Packages
Using a PEAR Package
Creating HTML Tables with the HTML_Table Package
Web Forms the Easy Way with HTML_QuickForm
Summary
Exercise
Exercise Solution

16 PHP and the Outside World 7 topics

Working with Dates and Times
Working with HTTP
Getting Information from the Web Server
Sending Email
Summary
Exercise
Exercise Solution

17 Generating Images with PHP 7 topics

Basics of Computer Graphics
Creating Images
Manipulating Images
Using Text in Images
Summary
Exercise
Exercise Solution

18 String Matching with Regular Expressions 11 topics

Regular Expression
Pattern Matching in PHP
Exploring Regular Expression Syntax
Finding Multiple Matches with preg_match_all()
Searching Arrays with preg_grep()
Replacing Text
Altering Matching Behavior with Pattern Modifiers
Splitting a String with a Regular Expression
Summary
Exercise
Exercise Solution

19 Working with XML 9 topics

XML
XML Document Structure
Reading XML Documents with PHP
Writing and Manipulating XML Documents with PHP
Doing XML the Easy Way with SimpleXML
Working with XSL and XSLT
Summary
Exercise
Exercise Solution

20 Writing High-Quality Code 16 topics

Writing Modular Code
Using Coding Standards for Consistency
Documenting Your Code
Checking Input and Encoding Output
Handling Errors
Separating Application Logic from Presentation Logic
Automated Code Testing with PHPUnit
Security
Configuration and Session Security
Cross-Site Scripting and Cross-Site Request Forgeries
SQL Injection, Remote Code Injection
Email Injection, Filter Input, Escape Output
Secure file uploads, Data storage, SSL
Summary
Exercise
Exercise Solution

21 Appendix A: Configuring PHP 12 topics

About php.ini
php.ini Options
Language Options
Miscellaneous
Resource Limits
Error Handling and Logging
Data Handling
Paths and Directories
File Uploads
Fopen Wrappers
Dynamic Extensions
Module Settings

22 Appendix B: Alternatives to MySQL 6 topics

SQLite
PostgreSQL
dbm-Style Databases
Oracle
ODBC
Other Databases Supported by PHP

23 Appendix C: Using PHP from the Command Line 6 topics

Running Command-Line PHP Scripts
Passing Arguments to Command-Line Scripts
Creating Interactive Scripts
Scheduling PHP Command-Line Scripts
Useful Command-Line Options
Wrapping Up

03 / Exam details

Zend - PHP 5.5 Certification Study Guide Details

Official exam objectives →

Questions 75 (per exam)

Duration 90 minutes (per exam)

Passing Score You will receive a pass/fail grade only. (scaled score)

Exam Fee USD 125 (per exam)

Delivered by The 200-550 exam is administered by Pearson VUE at testing centers worldwide. Click here to find a testing center near you. (in-person or online)

Question Format Multiple choice free-form question for which the... single/multiple choice, performance-based

Practice Tests 498 Practice Questions (mapped to official exam objectives)

Certification 200-550 Zend credential

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04 / FAQs

Questions before you start

What are the prerequisites for this exam?

There are no technical prerequisites for this exam.

What is the exam registration fee?

USD 125

Where do I take the exam?

The 200-550 exam is administered by Pearson VUE at testing centers worldwide. Click here to find a testing center near you.

What is the format of the exam?

Multiple choice
free-form question for which the answer must be typed

How many questions are asked in the exam?

The exam contains 75 questions.

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