Zend Framework University

IBM and Zend have been working very hard to deliver a new Open Source toolkit called XML Service. This project is now implemented in the latest version of Zend Server and Zend Server Community Edition for accessing IBM i specific resources like HLL Programs (RPG & COBOL), Data Areas, Data Queues, Spooled files and much more. Coupled with a compatibility layer which makes the transition to the new toolkit virtually painless for existing PHP applications, this new solution ushers in a new era of PHP and IBM i integration. Mike will explore the Object Oriented model of the new toolkit as well as the existing Compatibility Wrapper that will intercept requests made by the existing i5 function calls and handle them via XML Service. Then Mike will also delve into the process of integrating Open Source applications on IBM i which can save IBM i shops the time and trouble of spinning up additional servers to satisfy day to day requests like company intranets. Open source applications, classes and functions will be reviewed live on a Power Systems server running IBM i in the cloud.

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Following in the trail blazed by the likes of Cal Evans and Chris Cornutt, I decided to post a list of the posts on this blog that have received the most traffic this year along with some related commentary. However, in the spirit of Charles St. Michael, I decided to up the number of posts from 3 to 10. So, here we go:

10. Building PHP-GTK with Cairo Support on Ubuntu Jaunty – 2009-04-25

Very interesting that this post was in the running at all. It’s over two years old, goes back 5 Ubuntu versions, and deals with PHP 5.3.0RC1 (current is 5.4.0RC4) and PHP-GTK when Cairo support was relatively new. (There’s now a separate PECL extension for it now.) If you want to learn more about this, you should definitely check out Elizabeth Smith and Michael Maclean.

9. Renaming a DOMNode in PHP – 2010-02-09

It seems this isn’t as uncommon a problem as I would have thought. Sadly, in the 22 months that have passed since I authored the post, it seems the DOM extension hasn’t been updated further to support the DOM 3.0 standard or the renameNode() method mentioned in this post.

8. PHP_CodeSniffer Article in php|architect – 2011-04-28

It’s nice to see this post get attention even if was just a brief hand-waving to point people to the article, which is one of two I wrote for php|architect Magazine this year. It’s also nice to see that despite being seen by some as a more menial facet of quality assurance, other people consider it important enough to read the article and take something away from it.

7. ‘New SPL Features in PHP 5.3′ Hits php|architect – 2011-02-01

Another post that was just hand-waving to an article that dealt with a topic I saw as underrated. The article followed my php|tek 2010 session and preceded a Zend webinar this year on the same topic.

6. Process Isolation in PHPUnit – 2010-08-19

Between views and comments, it seems I wasn’t the only one who ran into this head-scratcher. However, if memory serves, I think there are plans to remove this feature from PHPUnit in future versions.

5. Node.js: A Beginner’s Perspective – 2010-10-19

The post is about a year old now, and sadly I haven’t done anything of merit with Node.js since (though I hope to change that), but it seems the community is still as vibrant and growing as it ever was. Heck, you can even integrate PHP-FPM with Node via FCGI now. Node is definitely a technology to continue keeping your eye on if you don’t already use it.

4. PHPUnit and Xdebug on Ubuntu Karmic – 2010-01-03

It’s surprising that this post is still relevant since there have been four Ubuntu releases since the version that this post deals with. I’ve since moved over to Fedora 16, at least for now, and it seems to address most of my regular needs. I may look at other distributions like Mint later on.

3. Models in Zend Framework – 2010-03-26

Even though it’s over a year old now, I think this post gets the traffic it does because there’s not really one prescribed way to build models and because the existing documentation describes a number of components that can be used to build models, but doesn’t really offer specific guidance on how to approach it. Bit of a double-edged sword, I suppose.

2. New SPL Features in PHP 5.3 – 2010-05-20

I published this post on the same day that I gave my session on the topic at php|tek 2010. It’s one of more longer and content-richer posts and I’ve updated it on occasion as I’ve had cause to update the benchmarks that go along with it. Good to see that interest in SPL seems to be rising.

1. Database Testing with PHPUnit and MySQL – 2010-01-04

While I love that this post is driving as much traffic to my blog as it is, I do want to get around to contributing related documentation to the PHPUnit project. Hopefully that will happen soon. In the meantime, you can also read more about this topic in the Testing chapter of my most recent book.

So, one big take-away from this post has been that most of my high-traffic posts were written last year rather than this year. I can’t say it’s very surprising since, looking back, a number of my posts from this year were of the hand-waving variety. I’m hoping to publish more content-rich posts more frequently in 2012. I won’t call it a resolution, because I’d likely be jinxing myself in the process, but I will say that I’ll make my best attempt.

Best wishes to everyone in the new year.

Four teams of 5 people each have been very hard at work developing a PHP based application to the specifications of one lucky customer. They kicked the project off in early September and are meeting with the customer and some “special” members of the PHP and IBM i community to evaluate the offerings. Then, after careful review and team presentations the customer will select a winner. Don’t miss the exciting culmination of the activities with a live webcast hosted by Zend’s Mike Pavlak and SEMIUG’s Laura Ubelhor. There are sure to be some very interesting approaches to a typical business application and many surprises during the event!

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In this webinar, PHPBenelux co-founder Michelangelo van Dam takes this a step further by testing services, work flows and performance. Looking to raise the bar on quality? Let this session be the push you need to improve your Zend Framework projects.

Presenter – Michelangelo van Dam

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I started these series on Zend Framework Apps on Windows Azure and maybe it’s nice to know I’ll be at the PHPBenelux Conference 2012 Microsoft Hackathon where I’ll be joined by Windows Azure MVP Maarten Balliauw, Katrien De Graeve and Craig Kitterman of Microsoft and offer you the opportunity to hack on the PHP tools Microsoft and partners have developped to integrate your apps on the various Microsoft platforms.

Even if you have no knowledge of any of Microsoft’s PHP solutions you’re more then happy to join us and see how you can build applications so they can be distributed with the Web Platform Installer for running on Windows IIS servers.

Or maybe you just ended up with a new job in a company that only runs Windows Servers. We’ll explain what you need to do so your applications run smoothly on these Microsoft IIS infrastructures.

And of course we’ll have a look at Windows Azure, the cloud solution of Microsoft that allows you to develop PHP apps for the future. With grandmasters Maarten Balliauw and Craig Kitterman it’s going to be an experience comparable to Alice in Wonderland. Are you ready to see how deep the Microsoft PHP tunnel runs?

Get your tickets now for the PHPBenelux Conference 2012 and join us to hack and learn more of all the Microsoft PHP tools and blow away your teammates and competitors with awesome applications.