Drupal is built on the PHP call_user_func() construct. The function has gotten a face lift in PHP 5.2.3 and will be getting further inhanced in PHP 5.3. But will Drupal and other similar applications be able to take advantage of the new power of PHP 5.3 or even PHP 6?
Tips and Tricks  Web Developer  php5  php6

The core model and goal of this project was not to create the next best open source CMS. There are already enough of them. The goal was to build an extensible system that an experienced PHP developer could use to easily create custom, interactive websites that are straightforward enough for anyone to run.
Announcements  Open source  PHP

A Zend PHP academy has been established at the Northern Technology Institute (nti), based at Leeds Metropolitan University’s Old Broadcasting House facility, offering courses covering three levels of ability for open source software (OSS). PHP is used by more than 5 million developers and it drives more than 20 million websites worldwide. It is the most popular OSS programming language for building modern websites which deliver dynamic content, execute ecommerce transactions and build communities to help businesses connect with their customers and improve competitiveness. Zend is the world’s leading provider of PHP technologies, supporting services, training and certification. Zend's founders Andi Gutmans and Zeev Suraski are key contributors to PHP and other OSS projects like Eclipse PDT, a PHP editor, and Zend Framework, the leading PHP application framework. Under the agreement between NTI and Zend, the Zend PHP Academy will deliver PHP courses that have been developed by Zend, including PHPI: Foundations, PHPII: Higher Structures and PHP 5 Certification Training. The courses can be taken individually or as set, and completion of all courses prepares students for a certification examination to become a Zend Certified Engineer (ZCE). There are more than 3,000 ZCEs worldwide, making the program the number one certification for PHP professionals. Head of nti, Linda Broughton, said: “PHP is the language behind more than one third of all websites. It is easy to learn for beginning programmers, but it is also powerful enough to drive some of the biggest websites in the world. “Linking up with Zend allows us to deliver high quality specialist training for the creative and technology driven businesses, whatever their size.” She added: “We are one of only a few providers of Zend PHP accredited training partners in the UK, so this is a really exciting addition to nti’s offering. “It is our goal to provide students and graduates skills that are in high demand in the UK, and to assure employers and customers that trainees who complete courses at nti have the highest level of PHP skills. Our accreditation by Zend provides employers and customers with this quality assurance. “We are aiming to become the number one place in the UK for specialist and accredited training for the digital sector, and with Leeds having such a central location within Britain and superb transport links we believe this is very achievable. “Leeds is regarded as one of best places in the country for doing business, as well as being the fastest growing city in the UK and it is also home to the largest financial centre outside of London. Importantly for us though, is the vast amount of people employed within the IT and digital industries; it is estimated that there are in excess of 250 companies operating across West Yorkshire employing around 14,500 people, with an estimated 33 per cent of internet traffic going through Leeds.” The nti website is at www.ntileeds.co.uk. Linda Broughton can be contacted on 0845 122 1555 or email info@ntileeds.co.uk
Announcements  Developer Zone  PHP  Zend  certification

Xampp seems to be becoming the default PHP development environment. It has in one package everything that is needed for just about any PHP project. What most that download and use Xampp do not do is read the readme.txt. The Xampp readme.txt contains the configuration and installation instructions. Though this is generally not needed because Xampp is so user friendly, PHP developers should read it anyway. Especially if they a beginners. ###### ApacheFriends XAMPP (basic package) version 1.6.6a ###### Apache 2.2.8 MySQL 5.0.51a PHP 5.2.5 + PHP 4.4.8 + PEAR PHP-Switch win32 1.0 (please use the "php-switch.bat") XAMPP Control Version 2.5 from www.nat32.com XAMPP Security 1.0 SQLite 2.8.15 OpenSSL 0.9.8g phpMyAdmin 2.11.4 ADOdb 4.96 Mercury Mail Transport System v4.52 FileZilla FTP Server 0.9.25 Webalizer 2.01-10 Zend Optimizer 3.3.0a eAccelerator 0.9.5.2 for PHP 5.2.5 (comment out in the php.ini) * System Requirements: + 64 MB RAM (RECOMMENDED) + 200 MB free fixed disk + Windows 98, ME + Windows NT, 2000, XP (RECOMMENDED) --------------------------------------------------------------- * QUICK INSTALLATION: [NOTE: Unpack the package to your USB stick or a partition of your choice. There it must be on the highest level like E:\ or W:\. It will build E:\xampp or W:\xampp or something like this. Please do not use the "setup_xampp.bat" for an USB stick installation!] Step 1: Unpack the package into a directory of your choice. Please start the "setup_xampp.bat" and beginning the installation. Note: XAMPP makes no entries in the windows registry and no settings for the system variables. Step 2: If installation ends successfully, start the Apache 2 with "apache_start".bat", MySQL with "mysql_start".bat". Stop the MySQL Server with "mysql_stop.bat". For shutdown the Apache HTTPD, only close the Apache Command (CMD). Step 3: Start your browser and type http://127.0.0.1 or http://localhost in the location bar. You should see our pre-made start page with certain examples and test screens. Step 4: PHP (with mod_php, as *.php, *.php3, *.php4, *.phtml), Perl by default with *.cgi, SSI with *.shtml are all located in => C:\xampp\htdocs\. Examples: - C:\xampp\htdocs\test.php => http://localhost/test.php - C:\xampp\myhome\test.php => http://localhost/myhome/test.php Step 5: XAMPP UNINSTALL? Simply remove the "xampp" Directory. But before please shutdown the apache and mysql. --------------------------------------------------------------- * PASSWORDS: 1) MySQL: User: root Password: (means no password!) 2) FileZilla FTP: User: newuser Password: wampp User: anonymous Password: some@mail.net 3) Mercury: Postmaster: postmaster (postmaster@localhost) Administrator: Admin (admin@localhost) TestUser: newuser Password: wampp 4) WEBDAV: User: wampp Password: xampp --------------------------------------------------------------- * ONLY FOR NT SYSTEMS! (NT4 | Windows 2000 | Windows XP): - \xampp\apache\apache_installservice.bat ===> Install Apache 2 as service - \xampp\apache\apache_uninstallservice.bat ===> Uninstall Apache 2 as service - \xampp\mysql\mysql_installservice.bat ===> Install MySQL as service - \xampp\mysql\mysql_uninstallservice.bat ===> Uninstall MySQL as service ==> After all un- / installations of services, better restart system! ---------------------------------------------------------------- A matter of security (A MUST READ!) As mentioned before, XAMPP is not meant for production use but only for developers in a development environment. The way XAMPP is configured is to be open as possible and allowing the developer anything he/she wants. For development environments this is great but in a production environment it could be fatal. Here a list of missing security in XAMPP: - The MySQL administrator (root) has no password. - The MySQL daemon is accessible via network. - phpMyAdmin is accessible via network. - Examples are accessible via network. To fix most of the security weaknesses simply call the following URL: http://localhost/security/ The root password for MySQL and phpMyAdmin, and also a XAMPP directory protection can being established here. --------------------------------------------------------------- * Apache Notes: (1) In contrast of apache 1.x, you can not stop the apache 2.x with the command "apache -k shutdown". These functions only for an installations as service by NT systems. So, simply close the Apache START command for shutdown. (2) To use the experimental version of mod_auth_mysql remove the # in the httpd.conf. Detailed information about this topic can be found on the left menu of XAMPP, once you started it. (3) To use Mod_Dav load the Modules mod_dav.so + mod_dav_fs.so in the "httpd.conf" by removing the # on the beginning of their lines. Then try http://127.0.0.1:81 (NOT for Microsoft Frontpage, but for Adobe Dreamweaver!) --------------------------------------------------------------- * MYSQL NOTES: (1) The MySQL server can be started by double-clicking (executing) mysql_start.bat. This file can be found in the same folder you installed XAMPP in, most likely this will be C:\xampp\. The exact path to this file is X:\xampp\mysql_start.bat, where "X" indicates the letter of the drive you unpacked XAMPP into. This batch file starts the MySQL server in console mode. The first intialization might take a few minutes. Do not close the DOS window or you'll crash the server! To stop the server, please use mysql_shutdown.bat, which is located in the same directory. (2) To use the MySQL Daemon with "innodb" for better performance, please edit the "my" (or "my.cnf") file in the C:\xampp\mysql\bin directory or for services the c:\my.cnf for windows NT/2000/XP. In there, activate the "innodb_data_file_path=ibdata1:30M" statement. Attention, "innodb" is not recommended for 95/98/ME. To use MySQL as Service for NT / 2000 / XP, simply copy the "my" / "my.cnf" file to "C:\my", or "C:\my.cnf". Please note that this file has to be placed in C:\ (root), other locations are not permitted. Then execute the "mysql_installservice.bat" in the mysql folder. (3) MySQL starts with standard values for the user id and the password. The preset user id is "root", the password is "" (= no password). To access MySQL via PHP with the preset values, you'll have to use the following syntax: mysql_connect("localhost", "root", ""); If you want to set a password for MySQL access, please use of MySQL Admin. To set the passwort "secret" for the user "root", type the following: C:\xampp\mysql\bin\mysqladmin.exe -u root -p secret After changing the password you'll have to reconfigure phpMyAdmin to use the new password, otherwise it won't be able to access the databases. To do that, open the file config.inc.php in \xampp\phpmyadmin\ and edit the following lines: $cfg['Servers'][$i]['user'] = 'root'; // MySQL User $cfg['Servers'][$i]['auth_type'] = 'http'; // HTTP authentification So first the 'root' password is queried by the MySQL server, before phpMyAdmin may access. --------------------------------------------------------------- Have a lot of fun! | Viel Spaß! | Bonne Chance! You can see that somethings like what passwords are used and what PHP packages are available are nice to know before hand. This save you a Google search and possible a newbie post at the forums. Even for veterans it is not easy. I for instance wanted to use PEAR more often but found that wampserver did not have it install by default. So while looking for instructions on how to install it I found that Xampp has PEAR installed as default. Switching to Xampp saves me time and possibly the headache of a failed PEAR install. This is also a reminder to all, take the time to RTFM ( Read the fine manual )!
Developer Zone  PHP  Tutorials

Here's how to team up two of the most popular and powerful platforms for web development together. With the php-java bridge you can build classes and jar files in Java and call them and use their methods in PHP. Use the quick and easy PHP language to bring Java muscle to your web pages.
Tutorials  Web Developer  php-java

You have to see this video to really understand how simple that using Code Igniter is. If you want a PHP framework that does not take a unix systems administrator to setup then try Code Igniter.
Developer Zone  PHP  Video

The SimpleXML extension in PHP5 provides a very simple and easily usable toolset to convert XML to an object that can be processed with normal property selectors and array iterators. You can read, write or iterate over your XML file with ease accessing elements and attributes.
Developer Zone  PHP  Tutorials

Arnold talks about how to persist user authentication without using sessions. The solution is intersesting in that it covers the problem of trying to use sessions over multiple servers. I found this to be a little eye opener because one of the requests for features for FireOrb is that each user should have their own salt so that authentication in Ajax is simpler. vbBulliten does something similar to this and it is very effective.
Developer Zone  PHP  Tips and Tricks

A few months ago a group of PHP web developers decided that it was time to kill PHP4. They started an initiative to have all open source PHP projects to drop PHP4 support and move on to PHP5. Also included in the campaign is a push for web hosting companies to adopt PHP5. The initiative is called goPHP5. Now the time has come to see just how far they have gotten with getting support from the open source PHP world and web hosting companies. February 5, 2008 was the date picked for the changeover and it is now less than 48 hours until the cut-off happens.
Announcements  Open source  PHP

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