PHP Look Back 2006

It’s the beginning a new year, and that means that major PHPcontributor, Derick Rethans reflects on the past year of PHPhappenings. Join him in looking at PHP’s year in review.—by Derick Rethans

Backbone Unraveled

With operating systems popping up left and right forland-based machines, where’s the equivalent for the Web? PHP’s newobject-oriented capabilities and the general gusto for newerversions suggest a right of succession for this level ofapplication development to the online platform. Backbone is thefirst webware to breach this barrier, and creator Johnnie Rose Jr.explains how it works.—by Johnnie, Jr. Rose

The CNZ Framework

Producing good XHTML and HTML code is time-consuming andrepetitive work, and the end product is difficult to maintain. Bydeveloping classes representing complex Web elements that use stylesheets and configuration files effectively, you can be liberatedfrom these tedious tasks, and Lyle Frost explains how to do this ina simple manner.—by Frost Lyle

Dependency Management in PHP

Say “dependency management,” and most people will think”installation packages.” In reality, many activities as diverse asmanaging projects and preparing food (not to mention taking yourmorning shower) can be expressed as a series of interdependenttasks. In this article, php|architect’s publisher, Marco Tabiniwill show you how managing dependencies can be easy, usefuland—if you happen to be the geeky type—fun.—by Marco Tabini

Security Corner: Shared Hosting & PHP

The vast majority of PHP users run their sites andapplications on shared hosting accounts. In many cases, this codemanipulates fairly sensitive data, such as credit card numbers forsmall stores, bulletin boards filled with personal informationwithin user profiles, association user lists etc. In other words,treasure troves of information for a malicious hacker. In thiscolumn, security expert Ilia Alshanetsky explores the dangers posedby shared hosting for sites & applications.—by Ilia Alshanetsky

Test Pattern: Inheritance

Inheritance is a fundamental aspect of object orientedprogramming, yet a difficult one to master. In this month’s TestPattern, Jeff Moore explores some guidelines for usinginheritance.—by Jeff Moore