On the Zend Developer Zone there's a new post talking about a webinar Zend is hosting showing you how they created a "software flight recorder" with the combination of Adobe Flex and PHP.

Tasked with building a software flight recorder for Zend Server 5.0 (the new release of its popular PHP web application server), Zend chose Adobe Flex. Join this webinar by Adobe and Zend to learn what made The PHP Company opt for Flex, see a live demo, and hear lessons learned from one PHP/Flex development project. You'll find out how Flex and PHP can be used together to enhance your application.

You can catch it at one of two times (or both if you really want to, I suppose) - February 3rd at 6am PST or February 4th at 9am PST.

They're free to attend, so stop by and see what the Zend Server software has to offer that could save you and your developers a lot of time and hassle in the future.

If you've ever been frustrated by trying to track down browser bugs (especially on platforms you may not have access to) Brian Teeman has a tip on a site you can use to make your life a little bit easier.

With every web browser on the planet rendering differently it's a constant battle ensuring that your beautifully and painstakingly designed web site looks just as gorgeous on all browsers. Personally I build a site entirely using Firefox and only at the end of the build process do I look at it in other browsers, curse and swear and then start to fix issues.

One of the next best things to having local installations is the Adobe BrowserLab (registration required). It allows you to view the pages of a given site in either two browsers side-by-side or "onion skinned" overlaying each other to see the exact differences. The tool does not, however, allow you to interact with the sites, so it's best used for display-only problems.

As the Zend Developer Zone points out Mihai Corlan of Adobe has written up a lengthy tutorial about Flex, specifically targeted towards PHP developers.

I want to share with you some of the things that are specific to Flex in relation to PHP. At the same time I want to introduce Flex by comparing it with PHP whenever this comparison makes sense. Thus this article is for: PHP developers that want to learn more about Flex and Action Script 3 than a simple definition can provide [or] developers that have already made their first attempt at coding a Flex application and want a broader, deeper understanding.

The tutorial starts from the basics for those not acquainted - what is flex, why you should care about it - and moves quickly through MXML, Actionscript3 and examples with each. He includes an example showing a simple user authentication script and how to interface that with a PHP backend.

The SitePoint Web Tech blog is holding a contest to win copies of Adobe's Flex Builder software. All you have to do to enter is take a quiz!

Our latest Adobe-sponsored giveaway is live, and up for grabs this time are copies of Flex Builder 3. Just read our brand new article, Pimp Your PHP App With Flex - then take the quiz to enter the draw! You've got 7 days to take the quiz. Enter your details and you'll be in the running to win one of three copies of Adobe Flex Builder 3.

The tutorial looks at creating a first application with a Flex front end and a PHP backend - a script that accesses an API that returns either an XML or JSON formatted message.

PHPBuilder.com has posted the second part of their series on creating a sample application - a time tracking app - with PHP and Adobe Air.

Welcome back. In part 1 of this series, you created some PHP remote services and the Clocked! widget application. Part 2 covers PHP administration and completion of the timer widget.

They're developing a Flex-based application (rather than the HTML/Javascript combo that can also be used with Air) so they'll be doing their work in Flex Builder. They set up a few placeholder functions like getClients, getProjects and getProjectsResult as well as support for the ticket and timer objects. Add in a few interface items like dropdowns for client and project selection and a start/stop button and you have the basic app laid out. The PHP interface to all of this Flex code comes in the next article of the series.

Andi Gutmans mentions a program Adobe is starting up concerning Flex and PHP and they're looking for some developers to get in on it.

In this upcoming version [of Flex Builder], a significant new set of features are being introduced to accelerate creation of data-centric applications with PHP on the server-side leveraging Zend Framework and Zend AMF. Prior to the public Beta later in the year, Adobe would like to invite a select group of PHP developers into a private pre-release program for Flex Builder.

The group would get a sneak peek at the upcoming features, work with the development team and help to make the product into something the community really can use. If you'd like to get in on the program, fill out this survey and they'll get in touch with you with more information.

On PHPBuilder.com today there's a new tutorial by Richard Bates that will walk you through the creation of a simple time tracking application that combines the Adobe Air and PHP technologies to make a simple desktop client.

The scenario calls for a lightweight, cross-platform desktop application that does its job and stays out of the users' way. It also needs a powerful management interface that can be accessed from anywhere. To address both needs, you first create a desktop application for AIR that leverages PHP back-end services for persistent storage and extra horsepower. Then, you create a simple and quick PHP/Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) browser-based interface for management and output applications.

The Air client is really just a frontend to the PHP backend located on the server (so there's no need to install PHP locally too). The system is based around a few objects - the Client, a Project, a time-tracking Ticket and an Invoice for the time spent. To make things simpler, he uses an instance of the Zend Framework to do most of the heavy lifting on the backend.

The rest of this article sets up the backend scripts - creating the service interface and making some of the initial methods (like getClients and logIn). The next part in the series will get into the actual Air application.

On the Zend Developer Zone today Richard Bates has posted his method for combining the Zend Framework with the Adobe Flash platform (Flex) to create richer and more powerful applications.

One of the most useful concepts in software development is the practice of creating modular, reusable code. As a developer, you're likely familiar with the heartache of reinventing the wheel. Doing so is certainly sometimes necessary, but when it isn't, you would be well served by using plug-and-play components. [...] And, as of version 1.7, Zend Framework includes an extension for native Adobe Action Message Format (AMF) communication between Adobe Flash Platform applications and PHP.

Using this AMF support, Richard shows how to create a sample Flex application that stores data into a backend database, validates that the user is "real" (via a CAPTCHA) and lets the organizer of the event know that new information has been added to the application. You can see the basic workflow here. There's plenty of screenshots, code and explanations to walk you through every step of the way.

On the Adobe Developer Connection site Richard Bates has recently posted a tutorial covering the integration of PHP and Flex as developed in Zend Studio/Flex Builder.

Tight integration between Flex and a server-side language means that your users will have an intuitive, engaging user experience with all the functionality they need. For developers, tight integration between PHP and the Flex development environments can provide big benefits by ensuring a smoother workflow for coding, debugging, and managing a project. You can make the most of such a unified environment by using Adobe Flex Builder and Zend Studio for Eclipse together.

He starts with the basics - installing everything and getting it all up and running, then making a sample "Hello World" application on both the PHP (backend) and the Flex (frontend) sides. Included in the tutorial is a look at sending XML out to the Flex application from PHP.

Alessandro Crugnola has posted an update on the future of the AMFPHP project (an interface between Adobe's Flex products and PHP) and how it relates to the work being done on the Zend Framework's Zend_Amf component.

But after the partnership between Zend and Adobe things started to change and amfphp started to move forward to the Zend Framework... and in fact many developers were afraid about the real future of amfphp. But, as Wade said, the amfphp core will remain separated from the framework implementation ( a framework which I will never use however ), in order to have a shared core and 2 different branches for the implementation.

He notes, though, that he might be being a bit skeptical, but doesn't see things working out in their favor and that Zend_Amf will "win out" over the AMFPHP project and get the larger share of the backing from the larger companies.