📝 Advanced PHP Exam Paper (Tough Level)

Subject: Advanced PHP Programming
Time: 3 Hours
Maximum Marks: 100

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📘 Section A – Advanced MCQs (10 × 2 = 20 Marks)

1. What will be the output?

$a = "10abc";
$b = 5;
echo $a + $b;

A) 15
B) 105
C) Error
D) 10abc5
✅ Answer: A

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2. Which function prevents SQL Injection?
   A) mysqli_query()
   B) htmlspecialchars()
   C) prepare() (PDO)
   D) echo()
   ✅ Answer: C

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3. What is the output?

var_dump([] == false);

A) true
B) false
C) error
D) null
✅ Answer: A

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4. Which is fastest output method?
   A) print
   B) echo
   C) printf
   D) var_dump
   ✅ Answer: B

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5. What is the scope of a static variable inside function?
   A) Global
   B) Local but retains value
   C) Block only
   D) Session
   ✅ Answer: B

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6. What does finally guarantee?
   A) Runs only if no error
   B) Runs always
   C) Runs on fatal error only
   D) Skips execution
   ✅ Answer: B

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7. Output?

echo "5" . 2 + 3;

A) 523
B) 10
C) 55
D) Error
✅ Answer: B

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8. Which handles fatal errors indirectly?
   A) try-catch
   B) set_error_handler()
   C) register_shutdown_function()
   D) error_reporting()
   ✅ Answer: C

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9. Which superglobal is immutable?
   A) $_POST
   B) $_GET
   C) $_SERVER
   D) None
   ✅ Answer: D

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10. What does strict_types=1 do?
    A) Converts types automatically
    B) Enforces strict type checking
    C) Disables errors
    D) Improves speed
    ✅ Answer: B

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📗 Section B – Analytical Questions (5 × 4 = 20 Marks)

1. Explain the difference between mysqli and PDO with real-world usage.
2. Analyze:

if ("0" == false) echo "Yes";

Why does this happen?

3. Explain how PHP handles type juggling with examples.
4. What are closures in PHP? Give a real use case.
5. Explain error vs exception vs throwable with hierarchy.

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📙 Section C – Long Programming Questions (4 × 10 = 40 Marks)

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✅ Q1. Build a secure login system with:

• Password hashing
• Session handling
• Input validation

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✅ Q2. Create a REST API in PHP:

• Return JSON
• Handle GET request
• Include error handling

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✅ Q3. Write a PHP script to:

• Upload file
• Validate type & size
• Handle errors

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✅ Q4. Create a custom error handling system:

• Convert errors to exceptions
• Log errors to file
• Show user-friendly message

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💻 Section D – Case Study (1 × 20 = 20 Marks)

🔥 Scenario:

Your PHP website is:

• Showing white screen
• Users report slow performance
• Database queries sometimes fail

Questions:

1. How will you debug the white screen issue?
2. How will you optimize performance?
3. How will you handle database failures?
4. Suggest a complete error-handling strategy.

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🏆 Bonus (Optional – 10 Marks)

Build a mini MVC structure in PHP:

• Routing
• Controller
• View
• Error handling

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🎯 Examiner Expectations (High-Level)

• Clean architecture (MVC mindset)
• Secure coding (XSS, SQL Injection)
• Proper error handling
• Use of modern PHP (PDO, exceptions)
• Real-world thinking

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🔥 Difficulty Level

Section	Level
MCQ	Medium
Analytical	Hard
Coding	Very Hard
Case Study	Expert