A Piece of Cake

What’s all this buzz about MVC frameworks? Why should Ichoose one above the other? Why look into something else when mycurrent setup works just fine? By the time you get to the end ofthis article, we hope there’ll be a few of you who will trade inyour bread-and-butter development for a piece of Cake.—by John David Anderson

Database Design for PHP Programmers

While PHP can do a lot of great things by itself, it can domuch more when you add a relational database. Whether you useMySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, MicroSoft SQL Server or SQLite, the wayyou design your schema and build your tables has a big impact onthe abilities of your application. By the same token, mistakes inyour database structure can be very difficult to fix or overcome. Alittle bit of careful planning can go a long way.—by Mac Newbold

Playing Nice With… Google

There are a number of Web-based applications springing up,and along with them a broad range of Web services and APIs. Can themove from the desktop to the Web really change our workingparadigm? In many areas, it already has. Should this mean anythingto you, as a PHP developer? Sure. Take Google services, forexample…—by Jeof Oyster

SPL: Special Patrol Llama

No, you’re right, that isn’t what SPL really stands for. SPLis an acroynm for the Standard PHP Library, which either says a lotto you or not very much at all. It’s a powerful tool, but ifphp.net feedback is anything to go by you’re probably not using it.That’s a shame. SPL offers a range of useful interfaces and classesthat can empower your objects and speed your development. Let php|atraining expert Paul Reinheimer educate you in the ways of the OOelite.—by Paul Reinheimer

Editorial: An Unnatural Habit

Open-source software is fun, inexpensive… and oddlyaddictive.—by Steph Fox

Design Pattern: The Delegating Imposter

The whole point of design patterns is that they can beadapted to resolve specific coding problems. Fast forward to a punon the name of this column, ‘Test Pattern’; how could establisheddesign patterns usefully be manipulated to test existing OOcode?—by Matt Zandstra

exit(0): Songs of a Canuck Winter

An ode to Canada, its beautiful landscape, its great people,and its impossibly expensive postal service.—by Marco Tabini