PHP Research & Evidence-Based Practice 3

Question 1

Which built-in PHP function helps developers research the structure and properties of an unknown object at runtime?

Accepted Answer

var_dump()

Answer

var_dump() outputs detailed type and value information for variables including objects, making it ideal for runtime inspection.

Question 2

In PHP, which PSR standard defines the coding style guidelines most commonly referenced in research and best-practice documentation?

Accepted Answer

PSR-1 and PSR-12

Answer

PSR-1 establishes basic coding standards and PSR-12 (which superseded PSR-2) defines extended coding style guidelines for PHP.

Question 3

Which command-line tool allows PHP developers to search the official documentation and function signatures directly from the terminal?

Accepted Answer

pman

Answer

pman (PHP manual) is a command-line tool that provides access to PHP documentation in man-page format from the terminal.

Question 4

What does the PHP function get_defined_functions() return that is useful for researching available functions in a PHP environment?

Accepted Answer

An associative array of internal and user-defined functions

Answer

get_defined_functions() returns an array with 'internal' and 'user' keys listing all functions available in the current PHP environment.

Question 5

When reviewing PHP library dependencies for security vulnerabilities, which tool is the industry standard for scanning composer.lock files?

Accepted Answer

composer audit

Answer

The 'composer audit' command checks the composer.lock file against the PHP Security Advisories Database and reports known vulnerabilities.

PHP - PHP Programming Language Practice Test