PHP Professional Standards & Competencies 2

Question 1

Which PSR standard defines the basic coding style guide for PHP (indentation, line length, etc.)?

Accepted Answer

PSR-2

Answer

PSR-2 is the coding style guide that extends PSR-1 with rules for indentation, braces, spaces, and line length.

Question 2

What is the purpose of a `.editorconfig` file in a PHP project?

Accepted Answer

Enforce consistent editor settings across different editors and IDEs

Answer

An `.editorconfig` file specifies formatting rules (indent style, charset, line endings) that compatible editors automatically apply.

Question 3

When writing a library intended for public consumption, which versioning strategy should you follow for its releases?

Accepted Answer

Follow Semantic Versioning (SemVer) with MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH

Answer

Semantic Versioning communicates breaking changes (MAJOR), new features (MINOR), and bug fixes (PATCH) clearly to downstream consumers.

Question 4

Which tool is the de facto standard for static analysis of PHP code to catch type errors and potential bugs before runtime?

Accepted Answer

PHPStan

Answer

PHPStan performs static analysis at configurable strictness levels (0–9) to find bugs without executing the code.

Question 5

In a professional PHP project, where should database credentials and API keys be stored?

Accepted Answer

In environment variables or a `.env` file excluded from version control

Answer

Secrets must be kept out of source control; environment variables or a local `.env` file (gitignored) are the standard approach.

PHP - PHP Programming Language Practice Test