PHP API Development: Creating RESTful Services from Scratch

The book "PHP API Development" is a practical guide for developers who want to master creating modern web services and APIs in PHP. The author, experienced backend engineer Alexey Smirnov, consistently guides the reader from the basics of designing RESTful interfaces to deploying a finished product in production.

What is this book about?

You will learn how to design an API architecture, choose the correct HTTP methods and status codes, organize versioning and error handling. Special attention is given to:

• REST and HATEOAS principles
• Authentication and authorization (JWT, OAuth 2.0, API keys)
• Working with databases via ORM and pure SQL
• Input data validation and exception handling
• API testing using PHPUnit and Postman
• Documentation via OpenAPI/Swagger

Who is this book for?

• Junior and Middle level PHP developers wanting to systematize their knowledge about APIs
• Backend specialists transitioning from monoliths to microservice architecture
• Fullstack developers who need to create server-side parts for SPAs and mobile applications
• Team leads and architects seeking best practices for API design

What will you learn?

• How to build a RESTful API from scratch using pure PHP and popular frameworks (Laravel, Symfony)
• How to protect an API from typical attacks: SQL injection, XSS, CSRF, token guessing
• How to organize caching, pagination, and request filtering
• How to write unit and integration tests for endpoints
• How to document an API so that frontend and mobile developers are happy to use it
• How to deploy an API on a server, configure CI/CD and monitoring

Each chapter contains practical examples with explanations, ready-made code snippets, and links to real projects. At the end of the book, you will create a full-fledged RESTful service for task management with JWT authentication and Swagger documentation support.

The book is suitable both for self-study and for preparing for a PHP developer interview. All examples are tested on PHP 8.x and are compatible with popular frameworks.