PHP Development Track — Step 4
PHP Solutions Engineer
SOLID Principles, Design Patterns, Docker & CI/CD Pipelines
Course Overview
The PHP Solutions Engineer programme is the expert capstone of the PHP Development Track. It focuses on the engineering practices that separate a capable developer from one who can design and own entire systems: SOLID principles, design patterns, dependency injection, event-driven architecture, and automated deployment pipelines.
Students graduate able to architect scalable PHP systems, containerise applications with Docker, and ship to production via automated CI/CD — the skills demanded at senior and lead developer level.
Learning Outcomes
- Apply all five SOLID principles to PHP class and module design
- Implement common design patterns: Factory, Repository, Observer, Strategy, Decorator
- Build and wire a dependency injection container from scratch
- Design event-driven systems using PHP event dispatchers
- Containerise PHP applications with Docker and Docker Compose
- Set up and maintain a CI/CD pipeline with GitHub Actions
- Deliver a production-grade PHP system with automated tests and deployments
Curriculum
- Single Responsibility, Open/Closed, Liskov Substitution
- Interface Segregation and Dependency Inversion
- Refactoring existing code to SOLID patterns
- Clean Architecture layers in a PHP project
- Creational: Factory, Abstract Factory, Singleton
- Structural: Decorator, Adapter, Facade
- Behavioural: Observer, Strategy, Command
- Repository pattern for data access abstraction
- Building a DI container from scratch
- Constructor vs setter vs interface injection
- Event dispatchers and listeners in PHP
- Decoupling components with domain events
- Docker fundamentals: images, containers, volumes
- Writing Dockerfiles for PHP-FPM + Nginx
- Docker Compose for multi-service environments
- Environment configuration and secrets management
- GitHub Actions: lint, test, build, and deploy pipeline
- Zero-downtime deployment strategies
- Capstone: architect, build, containerise, and ship a complete PHP system
- Code review and architecture presentation
Assessments & Grading
| Assessment | Type | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Module Exercises | Practical pattern implementations | 15% |
| Design Pattern Assignment | Refactoring task | 20% |
| Docker & CI/CD Setup | Working pipeline submission | 25% |
| Capstone Project | Architected system + presentation | 40% |
Certificate on completion
Pinuno Academy certificate awarded to graduates who meet the assessment requirements.
Prerequisites
- Completion of PHP Framework Developer or equivalent
- Solid OOP PHP — classes, interfaces, traits, namespaces
- Familiarity with a PHP framework (Yii2, Laravel, or similar)
You need a PHP environment to complete the exercises. Two free options — choose based on your device and connection speed.
Who Should Attend
- Graduates of PHP Framework Developer seeking expert-level skills
- Developers aiming for senior or lead PHP roles
- Freelancers who want to deliver enterprise-grade systems
- Anyone who needs to own a system from architecture to production