Advanced PHP · Lesson 5 of 10

Composer

Manage PHP dependencies and project scripts with Composer.

Lesson

Composer installs libraries declared in composer.json and records exact dependency versions in composer.lock. Commit the lock file for applications so deployments resolve the same versions. Review dependency updates and use maintained packages; do not edit vendor files directly. Composer scripts can standardize routine project commands. Further guidance Make failure behavior explicit at system boundaries: validate decoded data, handle expected exceptions, and log diagnostics without exposing them to visitors. Keep dependencies locked and current, use a consistent namespace/autoloading scheme, and test error paths as well as successful responses. Practice task: Create a fresh example for Composer. Predict the result before running it, then change one input and explain why the result changes. Test a normal case and one boundary or invalid case where it applies. Compare your output with the example and note one rule you would use in a real project.

Code examples

Composer

JSON

{
  "scripts": {
    "test": "php artisan test"
  }
}

Expected output

Run the configured script with composer test

Key points

Manage PHP dependencies and project scripts with Composer.
Handle expected errors explicitly without exposing diagnostics.
Keep dependency and runtime configuration reproducible.

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