PHP Communication & Stakeholder Relations 5

Question 1

Which PHP session function must be called before accessing $_SESSION variables?

Accepted Answer

session_start()

Answer

session_start() initializes the session mechanism and must be called before any output or session variable access.

Question 2

What is the best practice for passing sensitive API keys from a PHP application to external stakeholder APIs?

Accepted Answer

Store them in environment variables and access via getenv()

Answer

Environment variables accessed via getenv() keep secrets out of source code and version control, following the 12-factor app principle.

Question 3

In PHP, which function verifies an HMAC signature on an incoming webhook payload to ensure it came from a trusted source?

Accepted Answer

hash_hmac()

Answer

hash_hmac() generates an HMAC digest that can be compared against the signature provided by the webhook sender to verify authenticity.

Question 4

When a PHP API needs to notify stakeholders of an event in real time without them polling, which technology is most appropriate?

Accepted Answer

Server-Sent Events (SSE) or WebSockets

Answer

Server-Sent Events and WebSockets enable real-time push notifications from a PHP server to connected clients without repeated polling.

Question 5

Which PHP function sets an HTTP cookie that can be used to maintain state between a server and a stakeholder's browser session?

Accepted Answer

setcookie()

Answer

setcookie() sends an HTTP Set-Cookie header and is the standard PHP function for creating browser cookies.

PHP - PHP Programming Language Practice Test