Docker for PHP

You’ve probably heard of Docker already. I won’t spend any time hyping it or trying to get you to migrate your entire production system to it right now. For such a relatively new project, though, it has garnered a good bit of attention and numerous startups are blossoming around it. In this article, I’ll show you how you can start using Docker today for your local development needs. I’ll pose some questions to get you thinking about your current development workflow, and hopefully help you see where Docker can fit in and even replace some of your local tools. by Ben Hosmer

Software Branching Strategies: A Git Overview

Git has become a part of our daily lives as developers. Using branches is now cheaper than ever, but how efficiently are we using this powerful tool? Given that the repository is the common ground where people with so many (sometimes conflicting) responsibilities meet, it is important to employ a branching strategy that makes each of them efficient in performing their duties. by Georgiana Gligor

Build a Local CI with Docker for PHP

If you struggle to find a fast way to test your code against several PHP versions, this article is for you. This step-by-step guide will show you how to build a local test environment with technologies like Docker, Behat, or PHPUnit in less than 10 minutes. by Nicola Pietroluongo

Extensible Applications with Symfony Event Dispatcher

This month we take on another Symfony component: the Event Dispatcher. This article introduces different ways to extend an application, what the Mediator Design Pattern is and how the Symfony Event Dispatcher implements it. by Juan Manuel Torres

Education Station: Get Some Git Extras

You may well be wondering what new, exciting, and interesting repository I’ve found to share with you this month. What is it that I’ve found to make your development workflow even simpler and less complicated than it already is? This month, it’s not one that is strictly related to PHP. Even so, it’s one that can help you do more with less and be more productive on the command line with Git. What is it? by Matthew Setter

Leveling Up: Using Code to Help You Code Better

Last month, we talked about how our code is a liability and how we can determine what problems we need to solve before writing more code. However, liability or not, code is inevitable, so we should always strive to improve our code whenever possible. Fortunately, we have quite a few tools available to help us do that, and this month we’re going to talk about some of them. by David Stockton

Community Corner: Renewal

Looking forward, I see an interesting future for PHP. We have just been given the gift of one of the greatest releases in the history of PHP, PHP 7. So it will be that this column will evolve. As I took over the reins, I thought long and hard about what I wanted to do with it. I think that instead of just using it as an “Old Guy Rant” that I am going to seek out community members who actually have something to say and give them an outlet. by Cal Evans

Security Corner: Defaulting to Secure

There’s a natural tension in writing a new component or library between making it highly adaptable and work well for users out-of-the-box. For us, “works well” means being secure. Undoubtedly, this is a difficult juggling act and this month I’d like to share how security-by-default is important. by Chris Cornutt

Building a Conference Schedule

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I’d like to explain how we at php[architect] select sessions. The process varies for each conference we put on, and it can be drastically different for conferences put on by other people. However, I wanted to describe our “baseline” to be open about it and help other speakers. by Eli White