Site News: Blast from the Past - One Year Ago in PHP

Here's what was popular in the PHP community one year ago today:

• Reddit.com: Zend2 vs Symfony2
  
• MaltBlue.com: Use RouteMatch in Zend Framework 2 For Easy Routing
  
• Inviqa techPortal: Functionally Testing You Application Using Mink
  
• Phil Sturgeon: Testing and Contributing with Composer Packages
  
• PHPMaster.com: Crop and Resize Images with ImageMagick
  
• Sameer Borate: Efficiently Replicating RETS data to MySQL
  
• NetTuts.com: HTTP: The Protocol Every Web Developer Must Know - Part 2
  
• Reddit.com: How to progress my PHP skills?
  
• Chris Hartjes: Testing Smells - Try/catch
  
• Site News: Popular Posts for the Week of 05.03.2013
  
• Francesca Krihely: On the Developer Experience
  
• PHPMaster.com: An Introduction to Ctype Functions
  
• Community News: Latest PEAR Releases for 04.29.2013
  
• Rob Allen: Injecting configuration into a ZF2 controller
  
• Alvaro Videla: Using RabbitMQ in Unit Tests
  

Community News: Packagist Latest Releases for 05.01.2014

Recent releases from the Packagist:

• srtfisher/lockdown-wp-admin (2.2-beta1)
  WordPress Plugin to hide login and admin URLs when not logged into WordPress.
  
  
  
• tomcorbett/opentok-laravel (v1.0.0)
  A laravel bundle for the OpenTok PHP SDK
  
  
  
• squizlabs/php_codesniffer (2.0.0a2, 1.5.3)
  PHP_CodeSniffer tokenises PHP, JavaScript and CSS files and detects violations of a defined set of coding standards.
  
  
  
• travi/framework (0.7.0)
  web framework
  
  
  
• felds/code-generator-bundle (v0.1.0)
  Generate random strings.
  
  
  
• hashbang/reflib (v1.1.3)
  PHP module for managing a variety of citation reference libraries
  
  
  
• stevethomas/paypal-ipn (v1.0.1, v1.0.0)
  A composer compatible PHP >=5.3.0 PayPal IPN Listener.
  
  
  
• thefox/phpcsrs (v1.2.0, v1.1.0, v1.0.0, v0.1.0, v0.0.0)
  TheFox' PHPCS Ruleset
  
  
  
• ciims-modules/install (2.0.4)
  The installation module for CiiMS
  
  
  
• codeception/codeception (2.0.0-RC)
  BDD-style testing framework
  
  
  
• erusev/parsedown (1.0.0-rc.4, 1.0.0-rc.3)
  Parser for Markdown.
  
  
  
• netglue/zf2-money-module (0.1.1)
  ZF2 Module that bundles Sebastian Bergmans money library and at some point will do other things too...
  
  
  
• rocker/server (1.3.0)
  Boilerplate that helps you write RESTful web services on top of Slim framework (https://github.com/victorjonsson/PHP-Rocker#php-rocker)
  
  
  
• smalot/magento-client (v0.5.2)
  Magento API Client (SOAP v1). Allows wrappers for each call, dependency injections and code completion.
  
  
  
• thefox/hashcash (v1.2.0)
  Hashcash implementation in PHP.
  
  
  
• thefox/utilities (v1.0.1, v1.0.0)
  Collection of usefull PHP utilities.
  
  
  
• hirevoice/neo4jphp-ogm (v0.5.0)
  Doctrine2-style entity mapper for Neo4j graph database
  
  
  
• byscripts/static-entity (0.1.4, 0.1.3, 0.1.2)
  Provide some kind of static entities
  
  
  
• graham-campbell/htmlmin (v1.1.1)
  HTMLMin Is A Simple HTML Minifier For Laravel 4.1
  
  
  
• amnah/yii2-user (2.0.0-alpha2)
  Yii 2 user authentication module
  
  
  
• jenssegers/rollbar (v1.1.0)
  Rollbar error monitoring integration for Laravel projects
  
  
  
• dreamfactory/lib-php-common-platform (1.5.11, 1.5.10)
  DreamFactory Services Platform(tm) Components Library/SDK for PHP
  
  
  
• thn/twitter-bundle (v1.0.1)
  Symfony FOSTwitterBundle
  
  
  
• opis/http-routing (2.1.2)
  Extendable and fully serializable HTTP routing library for PHP 5.3+
  
  
  
• lavender/lavender (v0.3.0, v0.2.1)
  jade-esque templates for PHP 5.3
  
  
  
• laracasts/validation (1.0.2, 1.0.1, 1.0)
  Easy validation for Laravel applications.
  
  
  
• easyframework/collections (v2.0.0)
  Easy Framework Collection Component
  
  
  
• enko/morecms (0.0.2)
  A simple flat file CMS based on Symfony2 components.
  
  
  
• irestful/bookidentifiers (14.04.30)
  
  
  
  
• kalaomer/knot (v1.1.0)
  Array Object for PHP
  
  
  
• zfcampus/zf-deploy (1.0.0-beta3)
  Deployment tool for ZF2 application
  
  
  
• condenast/pangea (1.1.67)
  
  
  
  
• zfcampus/zf-console (1.0.0-beta3)
  Library for creating and dispatching console commands
  
  
  
• zfcampus/zf-apigility-admin (1.0.0-beta3)
  Apigility Admin module
  
  
  
• vube/vagrant-boxer (0.1.1, 0.1.0)
  Create re-usable base boxes for Vagrant
  
  
  
• psi/news4ward_mostread (2.0.0)
  Read hit counter for News4ward
  
  
  
• phpmentors/validator-bundle (v0.0.3, v0.0.2, v0.0.1)
  Extra Validator for Symfony
  
  
  
• mapshub/t-cache (v1.0)
  Library that provides caching table data for fast search and indexing
  
  
  
• webfactory/exceptions-bundle (4.0.0)
  A simple controller to display error pages during development plus some building blocks for more user-friendly error pages.
  
  
  
• sonata-project/seo-bundle (1.1.7)
  Symfony SonataSeoBundle
  
  
  
• algolia/algoliasearch-client-php (1.1.9)
  Algolia Search API Client for PHP
  
  
  
• irestful/concreteentitycontrollers (13.11.28)
  
  
  
  
• kleiram/axon (v0.1.0)
  Easy torrent search engine using multiple torrent sites
  
  
  
• myclabs/acl (1.1.0)
  ACL library for Doctrine
  
  
  
• dingo/api (v0.2.0)
  A RESTful API package for the Laravel framework.
  
  
  
• tanker/tanker (v1.1.0)
  Tanker is an object container with singleton pattern realization
  
  
  
• anahkiasen/fakable (1.1.1)
  Allows the creation and seeding of fake Eloquent models
  
  
  
• arcavias/arcavias-core (2014.03.3)
  e-commerce framework for web shops, portals and market places
  
  
  
• clippings/composer-init (0.2.2, 0.2.1)
  Initialize a composer package based on a template package
  
  
  
• brighttalk/acs-query-builder-bundle (0.1.0)
  Integration of Amazon Cloud Search Query Builder library into the symfony2 framework
  
  
  
• irestful/productidentifiers (14.04.30)
  
  
  
  
• concerto/comms (v0.1)
  Library for Inter-Process Communications using Unix domain sockets.
  
  
  
• freyskeyd/laravel-phantom (0.0.3, 0.0.2)
  
  
  
  
• mathiasverraes/magictree (0.4.1)
  DSL for building trees
  
  
  
• cargomedia/cm (1.17.0)
  
  
  
  
• freemany/fy (v0.0.1)
  
  
  
  
• justimmo/php-sdk (1.0.4)
  PHP-SDK for the JUSTIMMO API
  
  
  
• symfony-cmf/menu-bundle (1.1.0-RC3)
  Symfony CMF Menu Bundle
  
  
  
• ipcmedia/flipboard-rss-feed (1.0.4)
  Flipboard RSS Feed
  
  
  
• phundament/p3extensions (0.18.0)
  Phundament 3 Core Extensions
  
  
  
• phpunit/phpunit (4.0.19, 3.7.37)
  The PHP Unit Testing framework.
  
  
  
• ibrows/association-resolver-bundle (1.0.4)
  Resolve relations over annotations
  
  
  
• ibrows/be-simple-deployment-bundle (1.1.4)
  Symfony2 applications deployment made easy
  
  
  
• shvetsgroup/parallelrunner (v1.0)
  Parallel runner extension for Behat
  
  
  
• ibrows/php-airbrake-bundle (1.0.9)
  This helps binds the php-airbrake module into a Symfony2 bundle for easy use with the framework.
  
  
  
• ibrows/simplecms-bundle (4.1.2)
  Symfony Simple CMS Bundle
  
  
  
• ibrows/import-bundle (1.1.6)
  Manage generic Import over annotations
  
  
  
• ibrows/annotation-reader (1.0.4)
  Base Annotation-Reader as enhanced Doctrine Annotation Reader
  
  
  
• ibrows/sonata-translation-bundle (1.0.7)
  Integration of lexik translation into sonata admin
  
  
  
• hisorange/browser-detect (1.0.1)
  Browser & Mobile detection package for Laravel 4.
  
  
  
• ibrows/wizard-annotation-bundle (1.0.4)
  Simple wizard for a controller with validation methods
  
  
  
• clippings/env-backup (0.2.5)
  Backup/restore environment variables: globals, static vars, configs
  
  
  
• phpmd/phpmd (2.0.0-beta.7)
  Official version of PHPMD handled with Composer.
  
  
  
• tdt/triples (v1.0.0)
  
  
  
  
• g4/tasker (0.5.3)
  Application asynchronous tasks manager and runner, cron-like PHP implementation
  
  
  
• appsco/component-assertion-voter (1.0.0-RC1)
  
  
  
  
• pauldevelop/library-persistance (0.0.2, 0.0.1)
  Library to handle persistance.
  
  
  
• league/flysystem (0.4.2)
  Filesystem abstraction, but easy.
  
  
  
• tweedegolf/symfony-okoa (v0.10.2, v0.10.1, v0.10.0)
  Symfony okoa base project
  
  
  
• felixkiss/database (v0.4.0)
  A simple wrapper around PDO
  
  
  
• amcsi/amysql (v1.1.1)
  A MySQL(i) wrapper for PHP 5.2 and higher with useful tools and no extension dependencies.
  
  
  
• yohang/finite (1.0.2)
  A simple PHP5.3+ Finite State Machine
  
  
  
• kunstmaan/form-bundle (v2.3.11)
  Managing forms, fields and their submissions by the user is a key functionality missing in most platforms. By leveraging the KunstmaanPagePartBundle system in the KunstmaanFormBundle users gain an easy way to create and manage the form on their website, again without having to worry about the technical side of things.
  
  
  
• byscripts/form-handler-bundle (0.5.0)
  A simple bundle to handle form submission to lighten the controllers
  
  
  
• pauldevelop/library-modeling-entities (0.0.3, 0.0.2, 0.0.1)
  Library to model entities.
  
  
  
• vivify-ideas/acl (v1.0.0-RC6)
  ACL component for Laravel 4
  
  
  
• phpunit/php-code-coverage (2.0.6)
  Library that provides collection, processing, and rendering functionality for PHP code coverage information.
  
  
  
• concerto/http-resolver (v0.1)
  Library for manipulating and resolving HTTP requests using regular expressions.
  
  
  
• hostnet/entity-plugin-lib (1.2.1)
  Installer for all the Hostnet Doctrine entity libraries
  
  
  
• asoc/dadatata-bundle (0.2.0)
  Preconfigured filters and variators.
  
  
  
• mpalourdio/mpa-custom-doctrine-hydrator (0.1.0)
  Simple Doctrine ORM Factory module that handles DateTime hydration
  
  
  
• bit3/contao-meta-palettes (1.6.1)
  MetaPalettes extension for Contao OpenSource CMS
  
  
  
• innova/path-bundle (v1.3.1)
  Claroline Path Bundle
  
  
  
• claroline/net-theme-bundle (1.0.3)
  claroline.net theme
  
  
  
• mysqldump-factory/mysqldump-factory (2.0.0)
  Fully tested, mysqldump factory for PHP 5.2.17, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5
  
  
  
• mpalourdio/mpa-firephp-wrapper (0.1.0)
  Lightweight ZF2 module that wraps firephp. Provides a view helper and a controller plugin. Easily configurable and usable
  
  
  
• studio4s/bedrock (1.2.3)
  A modern WordPress stack
  
  
  

PHP.net: PHP 5.5.12 release

The PHP development group has officially released the latest version of the language in the 5.5.x series - PHP 5.5.12:

The PHP Development Team announces the immediate availability of PHP 5.5.12. This release fixes several bugs against PHP 5.5.11, as well as CVE-2014-0185 regarding PHP-FPM. All PHP users are encouraged to upgrade to this new version.

Among the bugs fixed in this release are things around cURL support, DateTime functionality, Fileinfo and Json handling. The PHP-FPM issue (CVE-2014-0185) relates to a possible issue in the FPM functionality that would allow for possible privilege escalation due to insecure default configuration. It is highly recommended that PHP-FPM users update to this latest version immediately. As always you can download this latest version from the main download page or for Windows users, windows.php.net.

Link: http://www.php.net/archive/2014.php#id2014-04-30-1

Francesca Krihely: Why Free Software Isn't Free

Francesca Krihely has a new post today taking about one of the realities of using open source software. While the cost of it might be "free", in truth it isn't.

Why is it so hard to move off your old FOSS tools to new FOSS tools? Free and open software is changing the world, and has been for quite some time. While the price of open source software is usually $0 there are a number of hidden costs associated with building on top of new FOSS tools. The hidden cost is what makes community your biggest asset in open source.

She gives a more "real world" kind of situation where a company has a lot of legacy technology in place from years of work. She points out that moving to the latest technology has both benefits and drawbacks (including the "opportunity cost of moving slower" because of the shift). There's an emphasis put on the community around projects too. Without a vibrant community around it, even the best, most well-written code out there is going to stagnate. For a company that's relying on it for their product, that's almost not worth the risk.

Link: http://francescak.me/blog/2014/04/30/why-free-software-isnt-free/

Three Devs & A Maybe Podcast: Exception and Error Handling

In the latest episode of the Three Devs and a Maybe podcast Michael Budd, Fraser Hart, Lewis Cains and Edd Mann look at error and exception handling in PHP applications.

In this weeks show we introduce error handling, focusing on how exceptions are used. Initially touching on a brief history of exception's origins, we move on to highlight how languages such as PHP and JavaScript implement them. We round up the chat with a 'pros and cons' breakdown and a fun-packed quiz.

You can listen to this latest episode either through the in-page player or by downloading the mp3 directly. You can also subscribe if you like what you hear and want more great episodes.

Link: http://threedevsandamaybe.com/posts/exception-and-error-handling/

Loosely Coupled Podcast: Episode 3: Conference Conversations

The Loosely Coupled podcast, with hosts Matt Frost and Jeff Carouth, has posted it's latest episode - Episode #3: Conference Conversations. This episode was recorded live at this year's Lone Star PHP conference.

Episode 3 of the Loosely Coupled podcast was recorded live at Lone Star PHP. Since we were at a conference, we decided to do a meta episode about conference experiences and speaking at conferences. This episode covers information from how Jeff and Matt got involved with the conference community all the way through some advice on submitting your first talks. If you have never been to a conference, find a way to get to one soon. It's more than just the presentations.

Topics covered include PHPWomen, PHP Mentoring, Derick Rethans and NomadPHP. If you want to listen to this latest episode you can use the in-page player or you can download the mp3 directly.

Link: http://looselycoupled.info/blog/2014/04/30/episode-3-conference-conversations/

Community News: Recent posts from PHP Quickfix

Recent posts from the PHP Quickfix site:

• Amazing & fresh WordPress hacks | CatsWhoCode.com
  #wordpress #hack #list