PHP from Zero to Pro: Top YouTube Channels and Courses 2024

Why is PHP Still Relevant? And Where to Learn?

In the world of web development, PHP is like a trusty old Swiss Army knife. Hype chasers don't like it, but 78% of all websites run on it (including Facebook, Wikipedia, and WordPress). If you want to become a backend developer who can solve real problems, not just "do layout in React," — PHP is your choice.

But the problem is that 90% of Russian-language PHP videos are outdated code from 2008, where mysql_connect() is considered normal. We decided to fix this and compiled a top list of YouTube channels and courses that teach modern PHP 8, OOP, PSR standards, and frameworks.

In this article, you'll find not just a list of links, but real code examples you can run immediately, and tips on how to avoid falling into "spaghetti code."

How We Selected the Channels

We reviewed over 50 PHP channels and courses on YouTube. Our selection criteria:

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• Relevance — videos no older than 2 years, using PHP 8.x
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• Content Quality — lively explanations, not monotonous documentation reading
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• Practice — includes code examples, homework, or pet projects
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• Usefulness for Different Levels — from absolute zero to professional growth
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Let's go!

Top 5 YouTube Channels for PHP (Free)

1. PHP School — "Math for Programmers"

The channel's author is a real backend developer with 10 years of experience. He doesn't just show code, but explains why you should write it that way. His playlist on OOP in PHP is especially great.

Example from the video: how NOT to write a constructor:

// Bad\nclass User {\n    public $name;\n    public $age;\n    public function __construct($data) {\n        $this->name = $data[0];\n        $this->age = $data[1];\n    }\n}\n\n// Good\nclass User {\n    public function __construct(\n        private string $name,\n        private int $age\n    ) {}\n}\n

Why this matters: typing and named parameters are PHP 8 standards. The channel breaks this down with real examples.

2. Laravel & PHP from Scratch — "Build Your Blog in 3 Hours"

If you want to quickly move from theory to practice, this channel is for you. The author runs a series called "PHP for Beginners: Writing a Blog Engine". No frameworks, just pure PHP, but with modern approaches (Composer, PSR-4, Twig templating engine).

Code from the routing lesson:

// Simple router in PHP 8\n$router = new Router();\n\n$router->get('/posts', function() {\n    $posts = Post::all();\n    require 'views/posts/index.php';\n});\n\n$router->post('/posts', function() {\n    $post = new Post($_POST);\n    $post->save();\n    header('Location: /posts');\n});\n

Tip: after watching 5-6 lessons, try writing your own mini-framework. It's the best way to understand how Laravel and Symfony work.

3. WebDev with Vova — "PHP 8: New Features"

Short, concise videos (10-15 minutes) about specific PHP 8 features: attributes, named arguments, match expression, enum. Ideal for those who already know the basics and want to level up their skills to a modern standard.

Example with enum (PHP 8.1):

enum Status: string {\n    case Active = 'active';\n    case Inactive = 'inactive';\n    case Pending = 'pending';\n\n    public function label(): string {\n        return match($this) {\n            self::Active => 'Active',\n            self::Inactive => 'Inactive',\n            self::Pending => 'Pending',\n        };\n    }\n}\n\necho Status::Active->label(); // 'Active'\n

4. Backend Developer — "Symfony 6 for Pros"

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