🔐 PHP Strong Password Generator

A simple yet powerful PHP-based password generator that creates secure and customizable passwords based on user-defined criteria.

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Tech Stack
• Features
• Project Structure
• How It Works
• Security Considerations
• Requirements
• Installation
• Author
• License
• Future Improvements

Overview 🧩

PHP Strong Password Generator allows users to generate secure and fully customizable passwords directly from a web interface.
Users can define:

• Desired password length
• Inclusion of uppercase letters
• Inclusion of numbers
• Inclusion of special characters

Passwords are generated using a custom algorithm and displayed on a dedicated results page for a clean user experience.

This project was built as an educational exercise to practice PHP logic separation, session handling, and UI integration.

Tech Stack 🧠

• Language: PHP 8.1+
• Frontend: HTML5, CSS3
• Server: PHP Built-in / Apache
• Data handling: PHP Sessions

Features ⚙️

✅ Generates passwords with customizable options
✅ Uses a Fisher–Yates shuffle algorithm for extra randomness
✅ Modular structure (functions.php, index.php, result.php)
✅ Securely stores data in session
✅ Lightweight, dependency-free PHP project

Project Structure 🧱

php-strong-password-generator/
├── js (JavaScript files folder)
├── screenshots (README screenshots folder)
├── README.md (Project documentation)
├── functions.php (Contains the password generation logic)
├── index.php (Main page with password generation form)
├── result.php (Displays the generated password)
└── style.css (File for styling the webapp)

How It Works 🧮

1. The user selects password length and optional character sets.

2. The data is sent via GET to the backend.

// index.php 

// Stores user's password length request
$userChosenLength = $_GET['pwLength'] ?? null;
        
// Converting the string into a number
if($userChosenLength != null){
    
    $pwLength = intval($userChosenLength);
}

// Storing user preferences
$pwGotUpperCase = $_GET['upper'] ?? '';
$pwGotNumbers = $_GET['num'] ?? '';
$pwGotSpecial = $_GET['special'] ?? '';

3. passwordGenerator processes the request and generates the password:

   • Always includes lowercase letters.
   • Optionally includes uppercase letters, numbers, and/or special characters.
   • Randomizes the result using the Fisher–Yates algorithm.

4. The generated password is stored in a PHP session.

// index.php 

// When the preferences are set
if (isset($userChosenLength) && $pwLength >= 8 && $pwLength <= 24) {
    
    // Stores the generated password after passing the requests
    $pw = passwordGenerator( $pwLength, $pwGotUpperCase, $pwGotNumbers, $pwGotSpecial );
    
    // Password is sent to the result page
    $_SESSION['pwd'] = $pw;

    // User is redirected
    header('Location: ./result.php');

    exit;
}

5. The user is redirected to result.php to view the password.

6. The user can generate a new password, and can copy the generated one for easier use.

Security Considerations 🔒

• The password generation happens entirely on the server, ensuring no client-side exposure.
• Passwords are not logged or stored permanently — only kept in session during runtime.
• For production-grade implementations, consider adding:
  • HTTPS enforcement
  • CSRF protection on form submission
  • Rate limiting for API endpoints

Requirements 💻

PHP 8.1+

Local server (e.g., XAMPP, MAMP, Laragon, or PHP built-in server)

Installation 🧰

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/coluccifrancesco/php-strong-password-generator.git

2. Move into the project folder:

cd php-strong-password-generator

3. Run a local PHP server:

php -S localhost:8000

4. Open your browser and visit:

http://localhost:8000

Author 🧑‍💻

Francesco Colucci
📍 Italy
💼 GitHub Profile
👨🏻‍💼 LinkedIn Profile
🖋️ Student & Web Developer passionate about PHP, security, and clean UI design.

License 📄

This project is released under the MIT License. You are free to use, modify, and distribute it, provided the original author is credited.

Future Improvements 🌟

• Password strength indicator (frontend) 💪🏻

• Implement API endpoint for external password requests 💻

• Add dark/light theme toggle 🌗

• Docker container for local development 🐋