php[architect] magazine has shared a column from their July 2017 issue, "Education Station" by Matthew Setter, looking at the use of Period for date and time handling.

For the longest time, I’ve enjoyed using PHP’s DateTime library. I’ve always found it to be relatively straightforward in creating DateTime objects for use with various applications I’ve written.

However, one thing that isn’t very simple, nor intuitive, is the ability to create time ranges—especially ones requiring some degree of sophistication, such as fiscal quarters, for financial reporting requirements. [...] It’s for [code reuse] reasons that I’m going to spend the [end] of the column introducing Period, a Time range API for PHP, maintained by The League of Extraordinary Packages.

He starts off by showing how to do things "the hard way" with the built-in PHP DateTime handling and how difficult it can be to work with ranges. In his example he tries to get the dates for a "quarter", a portion of a year usually used for business reporting purposes. He works through some of the issues he faced during the date calculations and things lie leap years and odd date ranges. He then introduces Period as a way to help solve some of these problems. He lists out the main goals of the project, installing the package and using it to get the same "quarter" dates as his attempt before.

If you've ever wanted to get into the world of Zend Expressive and haven't known where to start, Matthew Setter is offering something that might just fit the bill. He's announced a new course and book that introduces you to the framework and the essentials to get up and running quickly.

Perhaps you've not seen the news on Twitter, Facebook, or the mailing list. If so, you may not know that I'm actively working on a new book and course about Zend Expressive.

It's called: Zend Expressive Essentials.

Ever since ZendCon 2016, I've been thinking about turning my Zend Expressive talk into a book and course. I had a load of reasons both for and against. But I just couldn't shake the excitement around doing so. And have decided to do it!

His post talks about some of what the course and book will cover, providing a solid foundation for getting up to speed with Zend Expressive. The course/book is coming soon so you can subscribe for more information as updates are released.

The Free the Geek podcast, hosted by Matthew Setter, has posted their twentieth episode - Talking About Finding Balance As A Freelancer :

In this episode we pick up where we left off in episode 19, with a slight segway. But, instead of starting to look at how to use Twitter, and other social media tools, let’s talk about something more important.

In this episode let’s talk about finding perspective and balance. There’s quite a bit to cover, but I tried to condense it to the essentials. Today, let’s talk about finding a balance between the amount of work you have, the quality of said work, and the amount you get paid for it.

He includes a series of questions you can ask yourself to determine if freelancing is right for you and what you need to expect going in (as far as needs and wants). You can listen to this latest episode either through the in-page audio player or by downloading the mp3 directly. If you enjoy the show be sure to subscribe to their feed and follow them on Twitter to get the latest updates on new shows as they're released.

The Free the Geek podcast is back with its latest episode from host Matthew Setter. In episode #19 Matt talks about several topics including Donald Trump, Brexit and some advice on getting started as a freelancer.

n this episode I decided to go a little off track and have a bit of a rant, a bit of an “letting go” session in light of the recent US election and Brexit. I’m no fan of either, and I share why in the first half of the episode.

In part two, the more serious part of the episode, I share my key learnings on how to get started as a freelancer, the essential things that you need to know. Everything from how to find the right path, to the key apps you need, to some of the core steps you need to take.

Grab your favourite beverage and your comfy chair, and get ready for a rousing fireside chat.

You can listen to this latest episode either using the in-page audio player or by downloading the mp3 directly. If you enjoy the show and want to hear more episodes as they're released, be sure to subscribe to their feed and get new show info as its posted.

The Free the Geek podcast hosted by PHP community member Matthew Setter has posted its latest episode. In this new show Matthew talks with Matt Turland about conferences and mental health.

In this episode I wonderful chat with Matthew Turland about what it’s like speaking at conferences and mental health - especially within the IT community.

It’s a chat which I feel privileged to have had, primarily because it can be such a sensitive topic for so many people around the world. Matthew was very kind to open up to me and share with me some of his struggles, and how he’s dealt with them over the years.

He also shared a host of links to some excellent resources, should you or someone you know, be in the same position; links which you can find in the related links section.

You can listen to this latest episode either through the in-page audio player or by downloading the mp3 directly. If you enjoy the show and want to hear more chats with members of the PHP community, be sure to subscribe to their feed and follow the show on Twitter to get the latest updates when new episodes are released.

The Voices of the ElePHPant podcast, hosted by PHP community member Cal Evans, has posted their latest episode. In this latest show Cal talks with Matthew Setter, host of his own podcast Free the Geek.

They talk about Matthew's recently selected international talk(s) - one about documenting projects and using Zend/Db to generate SQL. They also cover some of the work Matthew is doing with Pluralsight covering the Zend/Db component and introducing everything about it (not just the content of his talk). Finally, they mention Matthew's own podcast, Free the Geek, and why he decided to do it.

You can listen to this latest interview either through the in-page audio player or by downloading the mp3 directly. If you enjoy the show, be sure to subscribe to their feed or follow them on Twitter to get information on the latest episodes as they're released.