Simple PHP Examples (SPE)

Copyright (C) 2015-2025 Mark Constable [email protected] (MIT License)

A progressive PHP 8.5 micro-framework tutorial in 10 chapters. Each chapter builds on the previous, demonstrating modern PHP features and design patterns. No Bootstrap - uses custom minimal CSS.

Video Tutorials

Watch the complete tutorial series on YouTube - 10 chapters with AI narration covering all framework features.

Requirements

• PHP 8.5+ (for pipe operator |>)
• Composer (for chapters 05-09)

Quick Start

git clone https://github.com/markc/spe
cd spe
composer install
php -S localhost:8000

Open http://localhost:8000 to see the chapter index.

For individual chapters with PSR-4 autoloading:

cd 09-Blog/public && php -S localhost:8080

Chapters

#	Name	Description	Key Feature
01	Simple	Single-file anonymous class	Pipe operator basics
02	Styled	Custom CSS, dark mode	Toast notifications
03	Plugins	Plugin architecture	CRUDL pattern
04	Themes	Model/View separation	Multiple layouts
05	Autoload	PSR-4 autoloading	Composer integration
06	Session	Session management	State persistence
07	PDO	Database access	SQLite + QueryType enum
08	Users	User management	Full CRUDL operations
09	Blog	Complete CMS	Auth, Blog, Docs, Categories
10	YouTube	YouTube Manager	OAuth, API, Shared Services

PHP 8.x Features

PHP 8.1

• First-class callables: array_keys(...), http_build_query(...)
• Enums: enum QueryType { case All; case One; case Column; }
• Readonly properties

PHP 8.2

• Readonly classes: readonly class Init
• true, false, null as standalone types

PHP 8.3

• Typed class constants: private const string DEFAULT = 'home'
• Typed array constants: private const array OPTIONS = [...]
• #[\Override] attribute

PHP 8.4

• Asymmetric visibility: public private(set) string $prop
• new without parentheses

PHP 8.5

• Pipe operator: $value |> trim(...) |> strtolower(...)
• Chained transformations with first-class callables

Architecture

URL: ?o=Home&m=list&t=TopNav

o = Object/Plugin name
m = Method/Action (CRUDL: create, read, update, delete, list)
t = Theme (Simple, TopNav, SideBar)

Request Flow

1. index.php creates Init(new Ctx)
2. Init processes URL parameters and checks auth
3. {Plugin}Model->$method() returns data array
4. {Plugin}View->$method() renders HTML (or falls back to Theme)
5. Init->__toString() outputs response

Directory Structure (chapters 05-09)

XX-Chapter/
├── public/
│   └── index.php          # Entry point
└── src/
    ├── Core/              # Framework classes
    ├── Plugins/           # Feature plugins (Model + View)
    └── Themes/            # Layout themes

Styling

No Bootstrap! Uses custom spe.css (~270 lines):

• CSS variables for light/dark theming
• @media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) automatic dark mode
• Manual toggle via localStorage
• Responsive layouts (TopNav, SideBar)
• Dropdown menus with fade animation
• Toast notifications
• Blog card grid and prose styling

Key Patterns

<?php declare(strict_types=1);
// Copyright (C) 2015-2025 Mark Constable <[email protected]> (MIT License)

// PHP 8.3 Typed constant
private const string DEFAULT = 'home';

// PHP 8.4 Asymmetric visibility
public private(set) string $page;

// PHP 8.5 Pipe operator for transformation chains
$value = $input
    |> trim(...)
    |> (fn($s) => filter_var($s, FILTER_SANITIZE_URL))
    |> (fn($v) => $v ?: self::DEFAULT);

// First-class callable with pipe
$nav = $pages
    |> array_keys(...)
    |> (fn($k) => array_map(fn($n) => "<a href=\"?m=$n\">$n</a>", $k))
    |> (fn($a) => implode(' | ', $a));

// PHP 8.3 Override attribute
#[\Override] public function list(): array {
    return ['head' => 'Home', 'main' => 'Welcome'];
}

Shared Assets

All chapters 02-10 use shared CSS/JS from the project root:

• /spe.css - Complete styling with CSS variables
• /spe.js - Theme toggle, toast notifications, dropdown handling

Chapter 01-Simple has no external dependencies (inline minimal styles only).

Chapter 10-YouTube requires Google API credentials in ~/.config/google/client_secret.json.

License

MIT License - See individual file headers for copyright notices.