Contents

Here’s a quick overview of the contents of this month’s
issue:

• Shining a Light on Solar by Matthew Turland
  It is difficult to have an awareness of the PHP ecosystem without knowing that one of our favorite things to create is web application frameworks. You have probably heard names like symfony, Cake, and Zend Framework come up fairly often. One that may not sound quite as familiar is Solar. This article is the result of dipping a developer’s toes into its waters.
   
• VoicePHP by Yusuf Motiwala
  Voice is one of the main methods of communication, but it has been tough to integrate with web applications, that is, it was difficult until VoicePHP came along.
   
• Xataface: A Better Way to Build a Front-end for Your MySQL Database by Steve Hannah
  This article introduces the Xataface application framework, a PHP framework for building user-friendly front-ends for your MySQL databases.
   
• The sierra-php Framework by Jason Read
  See how to create a blogging application in about 60 lines of PHP code using the sierra-php framework.
   
• The Madeam Framework by Joshua Davey
  Explore Madeam, a small MVC framework designed for simplicity and the new RESTful web. Is it just another framework or a replacement for the one you use now?
   
• Zend Framework by Matthew Weier O’Phinney
  Zend Framework blends a use-at-will component library with a full-stack framework to provide developers with a wide range of tools for developing both new projects and extending existing code bases. Additionally, it provides a set of best practices and coding standards developers may follow to ensure top quality in their solutions.
   
• CodeIgniter: Like a Moth to a Flame by Matthew Turland
  The simplicity, intuitive design, and low barrier to entry of CodeIgniter are reminiscent of PHP itself, but it also shows marks of thoughtful development.
   
• Enterprise PHP: Dealing with Deployment by Ivo Jansch
  No matter how long you spend coding an application, in the end you have to install it on a production server somewhere. Application deployment is a process that can range from simple ftp-ing of files to fully automated updates. This month we’re taking a look at how deployments are done in professional environments.
   
• Security Roundup: (Déjà-Vu, Anyone?) by Arne Blankerts
  With everything we know about XSS, why do sites keep falling victim to attack? Haven’t we learned our lesson?
   
• Collecting Garbage: Part 3 — Performance Considerations by Derick Rethans
  In the previous two parts of this column, we explored PHP’s take on circular-referenced variables and a mechanism that allows PHP to clean up this particular problem with reference counted variable tracking. Of course, the implementation of the garbage collection mechanism in PHP 5.3 has some performance impacts. In this third and last part of the column, we will explore those performance implications.
   
• exit(0): Places, People, Times by Marco Tabini
  In the PHP community, everyone can get involved and play an
  important role.