Enterprise PHP

WebProject 2.2 Released, Real project management for real businesses

2010-12-24T19:13:11Z

web2Project is a Free Open Source business-oriented Project Management System (PMS) powered by PHP and RIA, providing an interactive and effective way of managing projects via a web browser.

Some of the key features of web2Project are:

* A secure web-based infrastructure capable of managing any number of projects, companies, departments and users;
* A one-stop shop for all project information to avoid confusion and reduce risks;
* Role-based permission system to give the Project Manager fine-grained control over sensitive data;
* Project and group-wide Gantt Charts;
* A unified calendar - with iCalendar support - showing all relevant tasks and events;
* A modular infrastructure which allows the addition or removal of modules to customize the features according to your requirements.

The 2.2 release came with a bunch of useful updates for the Project Managers, System Admins, Developers, and General Users. Released under GPL license.

Elgg, Open Source PHP Social Networking Engine

2010-08-30T14:29:23Z

Elgg is an award-winning open source social networking engine that provides a robust framework on which to build all kinds of social environments, from a campus wide social network for your university, school or college or an internal collaborative platform for your organization through to a brand-building communications tool for your company and its clients. If you are looking to create your own social application, want to build and run a site for your organization, or introduce a social layer into your technology stack, Elgg is a great choice.

Elgg highlighted features :

- Powerful Data Model: Elgg provides a powerful data model making the creation of different entities simple, yet flexible.
- Activity Streams: The granular activity stream API ensures your plugins can push the required content to your users.
- Plugin API: Use Elgg's powerful plugin API to build and add your required features.
- User Management: Elgg handles your user management and relationship requirements.
- Access controls: All objects in Elgg can have an access control level applied making granular access permissions possible.
- Web Services API: Expose functionality through the REST API by building a plugin and then either publish the API for other developers to build clients or provide your own.

Tons of plugins available in gallery to extend Elgg functionalities. Elgg run on a LAMP stack and require MySQL 5+, PHP5.2+ installed as Apache module. Released under the GPLv2.

Zend Technologies Partners with Carahsoft in Government Sector

2010-08-09T21:28:20Z

Carahsoft to Offer Zend PHP Web Application Development and Management Solutions on its GSA Schedule

Cupertino, CA, August 9, 2010 - Zend Technologies, the PHP Company, today announced a new partnership with Carahsoft Technology Corp., a government IT solutions provider. With this partnership, Carahsoft will market and sell Zend PHP Web application development and management software to federal, state, and local government agencies through Carahsoft's General Services Administration (GSA) schedule. Zend provides IT organizations with a complete, proven and supported PHP solution used to develop and manage applications for Web and Cloud computing environments.

"We expect Carahsoft to quickly put Zend Technologies in front of government agencies at a time when PHP is gaining ground in large-scale and mission-critical applications," said Glenn Hasen, SVP Worldwide Field Operations at Zend Technologies. "Our software is ideal for government as it delivers ease of use, scalability, performance and reliability without the high costs, technology constraints or lengthy implementations often imposed by conventional software products."

Zend Launches Unlimited Subscription Model for Businesses Using PHP

2010-07-29T23:58:15Z

Zend Agreements Disrupt Traditional Enterprise Licensing Models with 'All-you-can-eat' Subscriptions to PHP Solutions Deployed On-Premise or in the Cloud, Starting at $50,000

CUPERTINO, Calif. - July 29, 2010 - Zend Technologies, the PHP Company, today announced a simpler and safer way for IT organizations to acquire and adopt its solutions for development and management of business-critical PHP applications on-premise or in the Cloud. The Zend Unlimited Subscription offer addresses growing market demand for more flexible, reliable and cost-effective application infrastructures, and provides an unlimited number of subscriptions to Zend's software and technical support services at a low annual subscription starting at $50,000.

With PHP established as the platform of choice for Web applications, IT organizations have come to expect the highest level of productivity, reliability and performance while retaining the cost benefits of PHP. The increased adoption of cloud computing is another factor driving IT managers to prefer licensing models that let them control budgets while reaping the benefits of the Cloud. With the Zend Unlimited Subscription, IT organizations can start additional server instances on demand without worrying about obtaining additional licenses.

Available under the Zend Unlimited Subscription are Zend's software solutions for developing, running and managing PHP Web applications:

Zend Server - enterprise-grade PHP Web application server
Zend Server Cluster Manager - management of multi-server PHP application deployments
Zend Studio - the leading PHP integrated development environment (IDE) for professional developers
Technical support - up to 24x7x365 phone support, PHP stack updates, and security hot fixes

Zend Server Cluster Manager & High Available PHP Apps

2010-06-25T21:28:22Z

Zend Technologies announced two days ago the availability of Zend Server Cluster Manager, a solution that extends the benefits of the Zend Server Web application server across large-scale PHP deployments.

Zend Server provides an enterprise-ready PHP stack that delivers performance optimization, application monitoring, problem diagnostics, job queuing and more. With Zend Server Cluster Manager, Web operations teams can centrally monitor and manage multiple Zend Server instances to ensure high availability and improved scalability of applications.

Zend Server Cluster Manager fully supports Cloud deployments, allowing IT managers to easily add or take down PHP servers, monitor multiple PHP servers running in the Cloud, isolate performance bottlenecks or errors with built-in code tracing capability, and ensure consistent PHP configuration across a large number of clustered servers.

Speed up your PHP website, a consultant's guide

2010-04-27T08:11:50Z

Yesterday a friend was requesting a MYSQL/PHP Consultant to speed up his websites, and today I was reading few comments and solutions on his facebook : Use APC, mem_cache for PHP, mysql query caching, use nginx instead of Apache, Use mysqli extension instead of adodb or mysql extension ... etc. Of course all of these could be solutions, but unless you have previously located what the problem really is.

A website could be slow for many reasons, and to be able to fix it and make it run faster you have to first find problem. What you will need to know is :

1- Understand the business :

Before looking into PHP or MySQL, have a first look at the website(s) and answer these two questions :

- What is slow
- Why is it slow

Look at the page size, images, video, flash, ... your issue might be in the client side and everything else might be good.
Use a tool like Firefox web developer extension and disable everything : CSS, Javascript, Images... and load the page as html to feel the difference.
The business here is NOT the business logic behind the website, it's the interface that people use to interact with the website. If everything looks okay, you can go for further server-side investigations.

Opendelight PHP Framework for Enterprise-grade Web Application Development

2010-04-27T07:57:52Z

PHP appeals to developers and software architects due to its agile nature and support for quick application development. However, possibility of procedural development and lack of inbuilt object model attract huge criticism. Since last several years, many efforts are on to create development frameworks to enforce correct development paradigm and to undertake requisite measures for building robust application architecture. In spite of all these, there is a huge gap between the available tools and industry requirements. The release of Opendelight is expected to shorten this gap.

Opendelight uses the popular MVC (Model-View-Controller) pattern at the core of its technical architecture, and RBAC (Role-Based Access Control) to create an object model for interaction between application and users using it. The framework provides an inbuilt object model that enforces full-fledged object-oriented development. But this has been envisaged fully for PHP-based development unlike other frameworks, most of which are inspired by frameworks in other programming languages. The framework cuts features in different front to look minimalist and to enforce a strict development paradigm for enterprise-grade application development.

Zend, Adobe and the best path to RIAs

2010-03-24T06:18:12Z

Adobe announced the availability of Adobe Flash Builder 4 and Flex 4 to improve rich Internet application (RIA) development for developers, enterprise IT departments and independent software providers in the rapidly growing PHP community, and Zend is part of the story.

"By including Zend Framework within Flash Builder 4, we are allowing enterprise PHP developers to easily introspect PHP classes using the powerful new data-centric development capabilities within Flash Builder," said Bryant Macy, director of product marketing at Adobe. "Building RIAs just got easier for PHP developers with Zend technologies and the Flash Platform."

Using the Adobe Flash Platform with PHP

Zend and Adobe have been working together to deliver an integrated solution for building rich Internet applications based on the Adobe Flash Platform, including Flex 4 and Adobe Flash Builder 4. Adobe Flash Builder 4 and Zend Studio 7 are both based on Eclipse version 3.5, providing PHP developers with one Integrated Development Environment for developing and debugging both the front- and back-ends of PHP and Flex-based applications.

Zend Framework AMF Support

Zend Framework with Action Message Format support (Zend AMF) is bundled with Adobe Flash Builder 4, providing an open, binary, high-speed format for rapid client-server data exchange. Zend AMF also helps ensure scalability of RIAs, especially as data load increases, while simultaneously reducing development time

Zend Announces General Availability of Zend Server 5.0

2010-02-24T17:07:56Z

Zend Server 5.0 Reduces Problem Resolution Time by up to 50 Percent; Adds Job Queue for Improved End-user Experience; Includes Support for PHP 5.3

Cupertino, CA -- February 24, 2010 -- Zend Technologies, the PHP Company, today announced the general availability of Zend Server 5.0, a major new version of the company's PHP Web application server. New Code Tracing technology in Zend Server 5.0 enables PHP developers and administrators to slash problem resolution time by up to 50%. For the first time, users have visibility into the behavior of their code in production environments, with the ability to pinpoint the root cause of application issues quickly and eliminate the time-consuming and sometimes near impossible task of recreating problems in order to resolve them.

"Zend Server 5.0 is a huge step forward for businesses running business-critical PHP Web applications," said Andi Gutmans, CEO and co-founder at Zend. "With this new version we are delivering application monitoring and diagnostics as part of the base application server at no additional cost. The new Code Tracing technology revolutionizes how businesses can reduce time spent on problem resolution. This and other enhancements will help businesses deliver reliable high-performance applications and maximize end-user satisfaction while reducing development and management time and costs."

Makara Leverages Virtualization to Simplify Cloud Application Management

2010-02-02T17:12:01Z

Makara's Cloud Application Platform, now available as a developer release, helps developers easily deploy, scale and monitor mission-critical applications in the cloud

REDWOOD CITY, CALIF. - February 2, 2009 - After months under the radar, Makara today unveiled a brand new approach to cloud computing's most difficult problem: application deployment and management. Rather than retrofit system management software designed for traditional application environments to the cloud, Makara's Cloud Application Platform leverages the virtual layer to allow developers to rapidly deploy, scale and monitor applications in cloud environments. The product is freely available today as a developer release at www.makara.com.

"The widespread adoption of cloud computing is hitting a wall in terms of ROI because companies are not able to effectively manage applications, both inside and outside the enterprise, in a cloud environment. No one's going to run mission-critical apps without management, not in the data center and definitely not in the cloud," said Tim Guleri, Managing Director of Sierra Ventures. "Makara's Cloud Application Platform provides that missing link, enabling developers to deploy their apps and make them work with full management capabilities. Makara will get the cloud past the ROI hurdle."

Zend Framework Adds Support for Microsoft Windows Azure

2010-01-30T06:01:42Z

Zend Technologies have just announced version 1.1 of Zend Framework including support for Microsoft Windows Azure cloud services and the Deutsche Telekom Developer Garden platform. The new release also provides documentation and tutorial enhancements.

Microsoft Interoperability team noted on their blog :

With the new Zend Framework 1.10, by simply using the new Zend_Service_WindowsAzure component, developers can easily call Windows Azure APIs from their PHP applications and leverage the storage services, including Blob Storage, Table Storage and Queue Service, offering them a way to accelerate web application development and scale up on demand.
....

Jean Paoli, General Manager Interoperability at Microsoft offered a comment about this announcement: "PHP developers find the Windows Azure platform compelling, Microsoft's decision to contribute PHP-based Windows Azure components to Zend Framework helps demonstrate Microsoft's commitment to openness and interoperability by providing greater choice and opportunity for Microsoft customers and partners."

Elance Work Index Reveals Strong Demand for Qualified PHP Programmers

2009-11-17T05:34:18Z

Businesses Also Increase Online Hiring of Professionals with Translation, Illustration, and Android Application Development Skills

Mountain View, Calif. (November 17, 2009) - The Elance Work Index, which ranks the hottest 100 skills in today's online labor market, today revealed that for the third month in a row PHP (Personal Home Page Tools) captures the number one spot on the Index, placing PHP-skilled professionals as the most sought after independent workers online today.

Elance is also expanding its skill testing platform to augment Elance's existing 250 tests with new "Code Tests" that give technical experts in top programming languages like PHP a way to demonstrate their expertise in writing and debugging actual computer code. To launch the new PHP Code Test, Elance is sponsoring a 14 day "code-off" in PHP for its pool of skilled PHP providers-- offering $250 and a full-year premium membership to each of the coders who score in the Top 10 for PHP programming. The PHP "code-off" begins now and ends at Noon PST on November 30, 2009.

Despite the difficult economic environment, year over year hiring on Elance is up 40% in October and demand for online contractors in areas such as IT, marketing and administrative continues to grow as evidenced by the over 300,000 jobs posted on the site in the last 12 months.

PDF Generation with Zend Framework

2009-10-06T10:49:13Z

Generating print-ready well-formatted PDF documents with PHP is not an easy task. Traditionally, there are two main approaches to PDF generation with PHP. Given sufficient time and patience, both partially get the job done, but still leave a lot to be desired:

HTML-to-PDF: This approach is widely used in mainstream applications. Here an HTML document is programmatically created and converted to a PDF, using one of the many open source libraries ¹. Since HTML, however, is not a page-oriented format (as is PDF), it is impossible to perform a 1-to-1 mapping between HTML and PDF. Typical word processing file format features, such as header and footers, orphans and widows or even page numbers can simply not be represented in HTML.

Programmatic: This approach offers total control of the resulting PDF. However, it requires that the x and y coordinates of every line of text, every geometrical shape and graphic be set from program code ². Not only is this an extremely time-consuming solution, but is also very brittle: Every time a graphical designer changes the layout of a document, a programmer must re-work his or her program code.

VS.Php 2.7 Released with Silverlight Integration

2009-08-04T07:48:34Z

jcx.software released today VS.Php 2.7 for Visual Studio 2008 and Visual Studio 2005. New features in this release :

Silverlight 3 tools intergation
Improved IIS 7 and IIS 7.5 integration
New built-in web server engine
Internet Explorer 8 support including debugging JavaScript
Improved support for editing very large PHP files
Improved smart indenting and document auto indenting functionality
Bootstrapper installer automatically downloads and installs the Visual Studio shell if not present. Available for both 2005 and 2008 editions.

Below the press release :

August 3rd, 2009 - We pleased to announce the release of VS.Php 2.7 for Visual Studio 2008 and Visual Studio 2005. This release introduces a number of new key features and enhacements of existing features.

Silverlight

One of the most exciting new features is Silverlight integration. With VS.Php 2.7, you can develop Silverlight applications and host them in your server side PHP application. VS.Php makes it easy to develop, debug and deploy these types of applications.

With VS.Php 2.7, you can easily debug your server side native PHP application and your client side Silverlight application within a single debugging session. Silverlight and PHP can interact using a number of standard technologies like REST, SOAP and JSON.

Zend Studio 7 Released

2009-08-04T07:43:52Z

Zend Technologies released today version 7 of Zend Studio IDE with support for PHP 5.3 and a reduced memory footprint which make it faster. New features in PHP 5.3 are now supported by ZendStudio including namespaces, late static binding and closures; in addition to bundled PHP executables and debugging capabilities.

The new release provides also enhanced integration with Zend Framework, stronger object oriented capabilities with enhanced editing features, easy integration and support of ZendServer including local deployment for debugging, and finally the use of Eclipse Indexing and caching architecture, a better workspace modeling, and removed unneeded dependencies to speed up the IDE.