Zend ships Windows-ready PHP
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(InfoWorld) - Zend Technologies plans on Tuesday to announce availability of its PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) distribution tuned for deploying PHP applications on Windows. First detailed in October, with a beta program having begun last month, Zend Core 2.0 offers enhanced Windows performance. Applications will run two to three times faster on Windows with this version of Zend Core, Mark de Visser, Zend chief marketing officer, said. Zend calls itself "the PHP company" and has built its business around the scripting language. PHP is being used in virtually all modern Web sites, de Visser said. "The reason is because for all these types of highly interactive Web sites, there is nothing like PHP," in terms of productivity and the ability to find PHP developers, he said. Version 2.0 of Zend Core is intended to provide a unified front for Windows by enabling developers to both build and then deploy their PHP applications on Windows platforms. Oftentimes, developers have written the applications on Windows but then ran them on Linux. Now, Zend's PHP will run equally well on either Windows or Linux, said de Visser. "We worked with Microsoft to address issues of performance, stability, interaction with Web servers, things like that," de Visser said. Applications can run on Windows 2000 servers now and on the upcoming "Longhorn" version of Windows when that is ready, said de Visser. In addition to Windows and Linux, Mac OS X deployments also are supported with Zend Core 2.0. Zend Core 2.0 is the company's first general release of its software for multiple platforms, said Vishwanath Venugopalan, analyst for enterprise software at The 451 Group. Zend is addressing an enterprise need for a supported, certified implementation of PHP, he said. "PHP is a great open source Web development environment and it's obviously built up a pretty big community," said Venugopalan. "But most enterprises who use PHP today have to download the open source version of PHP and then have to do some additional work to deploy it in their environment," he added. Zend, with its ability to build and deploy on Windows, addresses issues of developers having to deal with subtle differences when an application is built on one platform and deployed on another, Venugopalan said. Also featured in Zend Core 2.0 is Zend Framework, with preconfigured PHP components for building Web applications that perform functions such as database access, Web services interfacing, and search. "Virtually everybody who uses PHP does it to create Web applications," de Visser said. Zend Core 2.0 includes what Zend calls universal database support, with preinstalled drivers to access databases from Oracle, IBM, and MySQL. The MySQL 5.0 Community database is bundled with the package. Future plans call for bolstering Microsoft SQL Server support. Users can run Zend Core with SQL Server now, but with limitations. "It's not what we call enterprise-class yet," de Visser said. Other features of Zend Core 2.0 include the following: * Technical improvements offered as part of the 5.2.1 version of PHP. * Zend Enabler, with improved FastCGI (Common Gateway Interface) for Internet Information Server and support for Windows Vista. FastCGI provides connectivity between PHP and servers. * Zend Network Updater, which lets users apply bug fixes and security patches as they become available. This will offered for free until May 1. * A one-stop installation for the full PHP application stack, including the Web server, database extensions and PHP framework. Although Zend Core 2.0 is free, support is offered with prices starting at $295 per server per year for Web support.
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In a new post to his blog today, Matthew O'Phinney dives in to some of the more advanced features that the Zend_Form component of the Zend Framework has to offer.   I've been working on  for the past few weeks, and it's nearing release readiness. There are a number of features that Cal didn't cover in his DevZone coverage (in part because some of them weren't yet complete) that I'd like to showcase.   These additional features include internationalization, element grouping and array support. He looks at each of these, including some sample code where needed, and shows you how they can be useful to you and your ZF application.
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The Zend Developer Zone has posted an announcement about a new book from php|architect (authored by DevZone's own Cal Evans) - Guide to Programming with the Zend Framework.   This is a project I've been interested in since it's very beginning, mainly because I'm the author of this particular tome. [...] The php|architect web site was a bit more helpful giving a breakdown of the contents of the book and a useful quote.   The book covers topics on the framework like the parts of MVC, web services, authorization, exceptions and even some tutorials to help you get started (including a look at the brand new Zend_Layout class).
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Cal Evans of the Zend Developer Zone has posted a new book review of one of Packt Publishing's latest PHP-related offerings - "PHP Programming with PEAR".    For those who have been living under a virtual rock for a while now, PEAR is the "PHP Extension and Application Repository". In a nutshell, it is a collection of classes, it's a framework, and it's a distribution system. Most importantly though, it's an excellent place to find the classes you need so you don't have to re-invent the wheel. (Ok, beginner's time is over, I promise).   PHP Programming with PEAR, written by Stephen Schmidt, Carsten Lucke, Stoyan Stefanov and Aaron Wormus, takes a look at some important PEAR classes and how you can use them.     He mentions what the book covers (which packages) and highlights some of his favorite bits, including the chapter on web services.
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Here's what was popular in the PHP community one year ago today:Zend Developer Zone: php|works - Day Two WrapupDevShed: Invoice Management in a PHP Invoicing SystemJared White's Blog: Developer Preview 2 of Willowgarden has been released todayZend Developer Zone: php|works - Day One WrapupP&aacute;draic Brady's Blog: PFP II: Return of Patterns For PHPPHPHacks.com: Generate OpenOffice documents with PHPThinkPHP Blog: SQL injections for dummies - and how to fix themILoveJackDaniels.com: Regular Expressions Cheat SheetDevShed: Tracking Website Statistics with PHPJob Posting: Red Ventures Seeks Mid/Sr Web Developer (Charlotte, NC)Scott Mattocks' Blog: PHP-GTK News #22Community News: Senza Limiti Acquires Ajax-based PHP Grid, Plans to Open Source ItAlexander Netkachev's Blog: Installing Propel object persistence layer for Web applicationDevShed: Main Methods of the DirectoryIterator Class in PHP 5Ilia Alshanetsky's Blog: PHP 5.2.0 RC4 Released!
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The Zend Developer Zone has posted the latest episode of their PHP Abstract podcast series with a focus this time on screen scraping (as recorded by Matthew Turland).   Matt has been building PHP applications since 2002. He joined the ranks of PHP-Oracle developers in 2006 when he became a programmer for METHODS Technology Solutions. He contributes to open source projects such as the Zend and Forkr frameworks. [...] We are going to veer off the beaten path today as Matthew talks to us about Screen Scraping.   You can download the mp3 directly or you can  to get this and the most recent episodes.
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Over on the Zend Developer Zone today, there's a newly posted interview with Chris Hartjes a developer and speaker in the PHP community.   I first met Chris Hartjes at php|works in Toronto where he was giving his What Can PHP Learn From Ruby on Rails talk. As I described him in one of my blogs from php|works, he looks like a biker with a laptop. He's large but he's always got a smile on his face and is always available to help if you've got PHP questions. Chris was kind enough to sit down with me and spend some time talking about PHP and his work at VerticalScope . Here's how our conversation went.   They talk about how Chris got into programming (including his first computer), his work with vBulletin, a little MySQL discussion, and some thoughts on PHP6.
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With the date for the Zend/PHP Conference & Expo (October 8-11th, San Francisco) conference growing closer all the time, the more updates the better. The Zend Developer Zone has such an update with more details about the keynote talks, sessions, the "after hours" events and more.   Ok, it's been a few days since I've given a ZendCon update so let's burn a few bytes and talk about what is being planned.   The updates concerning the keynotes are the topics the two speakers will be presenting - Cory Doctorow on "copy machines" and Joel Spolsky with his "Great Software" talk. The sessions for the conference are still mostly the same, but the "after hours" activities have exploded.   Things on the list include a ZCE party on Monday, Happy Hour 2.0 on Tuesday and on Wednesday an all-out karaoke party poolside at the hotel.   There's still plenty of time to register for the event and to get more details on the conference and the whens and wheres, check out the main conference site.
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php|architect (hosts of the upcoming php|works conferenceposted about some extra incentive for you to attend - included in the price of the conference is a chance to take the Zend PHP Certification for free.   We're happy to announce that, as in previous years, all attendees to php|works will have a chance to take the Zend PHP 5 Certification Exam free of charge. More information can be found on our conference pages.   php|works will be happening September 13th and 14th at the Sheraton Gateway in Atlanta, Georgia. For more information on pricing and registration, check out this page on the conference site.
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AS per this announcement on the Zend Developer Zone, Zend has released the latest version of their Zend Core product updating it for PHP 5.2.3.   The Zend Core team has just released PHP 5.2.3 as an automatic update, so you should be able to upgrade your Zend Core environment with the latest PHP Â in one easy step. (Zend Core 2.0.3 Windows packages are also available).   Updates in the latest release include improved Windows performance and reliability, a bundled Zend Framework and universal database support. You can download the latest version from the Zend Core page on the Zend website.
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Rob Allen has posted about a small modification that he made to his Zend Framework setup that allows for a little safer echoing of information out to the View later of an application.   One of my biggest issues with using PHP as the templating engine in View scripts is that the easiest way to echo a variable is the least secure. [...] So, I decided to leverage a post by Mike Naberezny from a while ago about streams. The idea is all his; I just modified it to work with Zend Framework's Zend_View the way I wanted it to.   His method uses a slightly different output format - instead of using a normal echo statement to push out the escaped output, it uses a special syntax using the "@" sign as a shortcut to the call to escape(). He includes the code you'll need to make it work in your ZF install and explain it a bit (including where the real key lies - in stream_popen).
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(InfoWorld) - Eyeing organizations that run business-critical Web applications on the PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) platform, Zend Technologies will offer its Zend Platform 3.0 PHP application server on Monday. Zend Platform bolsters deployments of commercial applications on PHP, Mark de Visser, Zend chief marketing officer, said. New in this version is its availability in three different editions. Versions are offered for smaller organizations, for integrating with Java, and for enterprise-level users. Zend Platform features such capabilities as message-queuing, de Visser said. Virtually all Fortune 500 companies have PHP initiatives, he said. "It's a sizable market opportunity for us," he said. Zend Platform fills a niche for enterprise-level PHP users, Stephen O'Grady, principal analyst at RedMonk, said. The product provides performance, caching, and reliability, he said. "It brings many of the same benefits that [Java] application servers bring to the Java world to the PHP world," O'Grady said. PHP has gotten the nod over Java in some installations because it offers developer productivity and is suitable for SOA, de Visser said. "The scripting languages just lend themselves [to] that," he said. The three specific editions of Zend Platform include: * The PS release, which loosely stands for performance server. Geared toward SMBs, it offers performance improvements and management functions. Capabilities include PHP intelligence to monitor business applications, and code acceleration and dynamic content caching to boost performance. Other features include output compression to reduce bandwidth for better responsiveness, and simplified configuration management. * IS, for integration server, is geared to organizations with application and infrastructure needs. Integration is provided with Java and SNMP infrastructure. Reporting capabilities also are included. A Java bridge interacts with Java objects or J2EE services. Also highlighted is integration with Eclipse Business Intelligence and Reporting Tools for reporting. * ES, for enterprise server, for large organizations that need scalability and reliability. Session-clustering and high availability fail-over are featured. Job queues offer off-line processing for improved interactive responsiveness. A download server offers as much as a tenfold increase in file download speeds. Subscriptions to Zend Platform start at $1,500 per server for the PS release.
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The Zend Developer Zone has posted their latest episode of their PHP Abstract podcast series - an interview with Sean Coates (of php|architect).   Today we are going to do something a little different. I was privileged to attend php|works in Atlanta. While there, between tasks, Sean Coats agreed to sit down with me and talk for a bit. Given his level of participation in php|works I was grateful for any time he was able to spare. Come listen as we talk about his work at php|architect, work on the PHP manual and programming in general. This is the first of a couple of interviews I was able to do at php|works.   As usual, you can grab just the mp3 directly, or you can subscribe to their feed and get this and tons more great PHP-related content (including talks on things like PHP and Oracle, attracting talent and looks at several of the popular frameworks like CodeIgniter, Solar and the Zend Framework).
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The Zend Developer Zone has posted this release announcement for the latest version of Zend's application server - Zend Platform 3.0:   Zend Technologies, the PHP company, today announced the general availability of Zend Platform 3.0. Zend Platform 3.0 is the only PHP application server created specifically to support the management, performance, integration and scalability requirements of organizations that use PHP to run business-critical web applications. Zend Platform improves the end user experience with these web applications by enabling better application responsiveness, reduced application downtime, and richer functionality.   Updates from the previous version include:  Support for PHP 5.2 Zend Optimizer 3.2.3 and Zend Debugger 5.2.4 are included New servers: Performance Mangement Server, Integration Servers & Enterprise Server PHP Configuration Control enhancements Actuate BIRT Reporting integration and more [txt]  You can check out the features and everything about the Zend Platform on it's official page on Zend's website.
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Alison Holloway has a new note on her blog today about the release of the latest version of the Zend Core for Oracle - version 2.0.   Zend have just released a new version of Zend Core for Oracle. This is a prebuilt and tested stack of Apache, PHP and Oracle Instant Client. If you haven't used it before, you will like the easy setup. I promise. [...] Zend Core for Oracle release 2.0 includes PHP 5.2.1, the refactored OCI8 driver, Oracle Instant Client, and an optional Apache HTTP Server 2.2.2.   This new version is supported on OSes like Oracle Enterprise Linux, X86 running Windows XP/2003/Vista and Sun Solaris Sparc 8, 9 10 just to name a few. She also mentions the Underground PHP and Oracle Manual [pdf] as a reference to help you get things running if you're stuck.
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Popular posts from PHPDeveloper.org for the past week:ProDevTips.com: Writing a CMS/Community with Smarty and the Zend Framework: Part 6Nessa's Blog: Using an .htaccess with PHP Compiled as CGIArnold Daniels' Blog: How I PHP: The Output Handler - ContinuedMartynas Jusevicius' Blog: PHP 5 features: Class autoloadingSean Coates' Blog: Actually Solving a Problem (believe it or not)The Northclick Blog: Message Queue Project: First working versionStefan Mischook's Blog: A Question about object properties in PHP ClassesJob Posting: G2 Technology Seeks PHP Developer (Memphis, TN)Rob Allen's Blog: Zend_View: Access the view from a view helperDavid Walsh's Blog: Using PHP Generic Objects To Organize Your Code
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In a new post to his blog today, Paul Jones mentions his podcast for the Zend Developer Zone (a Solar Overview) and provides the script that he worked from to record the show.   In this episode, I'm going to give a brief overview of Solar project and how it helps with the mundane aspects of building applications. Solar is an open-source library and framework for PHP 5; you can read more about it at solarphp.com...   The rest of the show notes includes links to things like Yawp, Solar's built-in localization and it's exception handling code.    Check out more about Solar at Solarphp.com and check out the PHP Abstract podcast episode Paul recorded on the Zend Developer Zone site.