Intermediate Web Development and Backend Basics

About this course

This course features Coursera Coach! A smarter way to learn with interactive, real-time conversations that help you test your knowledge, challenge assumptions, and deepen your understanding as you progress through the course. Master the intersection of frontend and backend web development through this hands-on, project-rich course. You'll explore how WordPress, PHP, MySQL, and APIs work together to create dynamic and responsive websites. By diving into the core components of server-side development, you'll learn how to build interactive experiences, manage data, and structure robust backend logic for scalable web applications. Your journey begins with mastering WordPress—understanding themes, plugins, posts, and more—to build beautiful websites efficiently. Then, you'll transition to PHP, learning the foundational elements such as variables, loops, and forms, all culminating in mini-projects like a contact form and a weather scraper. Next, you'll harness the power of MySQL to store and manage user data, including secure authentication and password storage. You'll also explore APIs by building real-world apps like a Twitter client and a Cat API dashboard. The final stretch introduces you to the Linux command line—covering file manipulation, VIM, and essential shell commands—arming you with key DevOps and server-side skills. This course is ideal for learners who have some HTML/CSS/JS knowledge and are ready to move deeper into backend development. It is best suited for aspiring full-stack developers, freelancers, or anyone looking to build interactive web applications from scratch. By the end of the course, you will be able to build full-featured web applications using WordPress, PHP, MySQL, and APIs, while confidently working with the Linux command line to manage and deploy server-side code.