On the Acquia blog they've posted another in their guest post series, this time from Richard Miller, a Senior Technical Consultant with SensioLabs (the people behind the Symfony framework). In this new post he talks about how the performance of PHP is getting better and why.

PHP is not the fastest language in which we could write web applications, yet we continue to do so for many other reasons. Pure speed of a language is rarely the main deciding factor for many projects. [...] So why worry about the speed of the language at all? Well, application architecture is improving and we are finding ways to avoid all those other bottlenecks. [...] Trying to gain speed through profiling and optimising code can be a long and tedious process. Thankfully, improvements in the speed of the language itself give us an improvement in these other areas for free.

He looks at "a brief history" of the language and the major milestones that have lead to the biggest performance gains over the years. He also talks about some of the alternatives out there to "normal PHP" for execution including the HHVM and HippyVM projects. He ends the post with a warning, though - be careful of fragmentation and separation of the community based on these different tools and embrace things like the language specification to keep things on an even keel.

Peter Aba has put together a a set of visualizations around the popularity of various PHP projects using the phpmetrics tool. He decided to run it against several projects he knows of and share the results.

I came across a new tool called phpmetrics. It can be used for, what a surprise, calculating and displaying metrics for php. I fell in love with this cute little tool in an instance and decided to run it on some php projects that I consider important. I’m aware of the fact that the list is currently far from complete, but it’s probably still worth a look. I especially love the “maintenability” (sic!) reports, I find those big red spots just as disgusting as I find ugly code the same.

He's broken it up into a few different sections with lots of different projects under each:

• Frameworks
• CMS
• E-commerce
• Development tools

There's also an "Other" (and "Backfire") category that contains the results for the results of phpmetrics itself. He also includes a few issues he ran across during the processing of the metrics, some with the phpmetrics tool itself and some with the libraries themselves.

The Loosely Coupled podcast has released their latest episode, Episode #5: Side Projects hosted by PHP community members Jeff Carouth and Matt Frost.

In this episode Matt and Jeff talk about how and why you should consider getting involved in side projects. Despite the jovial subtitle, “Getting a little side action,” participating in development outside of your normal development routine is beneficial to you as a developer as well as to your employer or clients. They further expand on the topic by talking about non-code-related side projects such as podcasts, discussion groups, or even writing.

They point out one application that's a good starting point if you're not sure where to get involved: the PHP Mentoring Mentor App. You can listen to this latest episode either using the in-page player or by downloading the mp3 directly. If you like what you hear, consider subscribe to their feed too.

David Goodwin has posted a new book review of a PHP book offered by Packt Publishing (released Sept 22, 2007) - "PHP Web 2.0 Mashup Projects" by Shu-Wai Chow.

Some time ago, Packt publishing sent me this book to review. Here it is, being somewhat overdue!

He talks about the book's contents - the different chapters detailing the different services' APIs, the protocols that are used to talk to those services and the data formats your scripts would have to be able to talk in to communicate. He recommends the book to those looking to get started with mashups specifically, but warns that in some places the book tends to "reinvent the wheel" rather than using classes/packages that already exist.

As mentioned in a new post to the CodeIgniter blog today, they've added several new features and enhancements to their (recently relaunched) website.

Besides other small enhancements, they've added to main features:

• a new bug tracking system to make reporting and managing bugs simpler
• the project page to help keep track of websites out there using the framework. If you are, submit yours to be included.

Be sure to check out all of the great content on the rest of the site too with great info like a user guide to help you get started, forums to find help, and even some video tutorials to make learning the framework even easier.

As mentioned in a new post to the CodeIgniter blog today, they've added several new features and enhancements to their (recently relaunched) website.

Besides other small enhancements, they've added to main features:

• a new bug tracking system to make reporting and managing bugs simpler
• the project page to help keep track of websites out there using the framework. If you are, submit yours to be included.

Be sure to check out all of the great content on the rest of the site too with great info like a user guide to help you get started, forums to find help, and even some video tutorials to make learning the framework even easier.

Company	Dutch Open Projects BV (DOP)
Location	Leusden, The Netherlands
Title	PHP Developer
Summary	As a PHP Developer you are working in a variety of self-steering Project teams. You will take an active part in developing, building and implementing custom built applications for a variety of customers and a diversity of products and services. Customer satisfaction is key in doing our business right the first time and we expect you to have the same mind setting. Within the application product range we offer for example websites, components and custom built (web based) applications. Also DOP makes use of a full suite of Open Source/Open Standards Software such as CRM, administrative/logistics tools and a full range of web shop applications. All with custom built front-end interfaces, databases en external connections as required. Finally maintenance and expanding of existing (ASP) applications is part of the job description. This is a position in our Leusden-based office. What are we looking for? Intellectual and working capacity on Bachelor level. Demonstrable by completed or nearly completed degree on Bachelor's level or acquired by traceable (self study/hobby/working) experience; You are able to showing some of your (self study/hobby/working) combined PHP/MySQL/(X)HTML/CSS projects; You are keen on the Open Source Community. Possibly you are already an active member of Open Source Communities?; Candidates with an understanding of one or more of the following techniques: Linux, Kubuntu, Subversion, AJAX, Joomla!, Symfony, PHP5, Zend Studio, Table-less lay-lout and Tux; Experience with PostgreSQL or Oracle is a plus; What do we offer? An informal working culture; Professional self-steering project teams; Development with Zend Studio; Possibility of acquiring your Zend (PHP5) certificate; Growth and guidance to becoming a genuine PHP Guru; Working in a forest environment with our own swimming pool; Remunerate according to knowledge and level of experience. Are you feeling appealed to working in this professional but informal Open Source/Open Standards Organization with a bunch of geek colleagues and interesting products? Please contact us. We will gladly have an appointment with you giving you the possibility to talk to your future team members.
Link	More Information

Company	Dutch Open Projects BV (DOP)
Location	Leusden, The Netherlands
Title	PHP Developer
Summary	As a PHP Developer you are working in a variety of self-steering Project teams. You will take an active part in developing, building and implementing custom built applications for a variety of customers and a diversity of products and services. Customer satisfaction is key in doing our business right the first time and we expect you to have the same mind setting. Within the application product range we offer for example websites, components and custom built (web based) applications. Also DOP makes use of a full suite of Open Source/Open Standards Software such as CRM, administrative/logistics tools and a full range of web shop applications. All with custom built front-end interfaces, databases en external connections as required. Finally maintenance and expanding of existing (ASP) applications is part of the job description. This is a position in our Leusden-based office. What are we looking for? Intellectual and working capacity on Bachelor level. Demonstrable by completed or nearly completed degree on Bachelor's level or acquired by traceable (self study/hobby/working) experience; You are able to showing some of your (self study/hobby/working) combined PHP/MySQL/(X)HTML/CSS projects; You are keen on the Open Source Community. Possibly you are already an active member of Open Source Communities?; Candidates with an understanding of one or more of the following techniques: Linux, Kubuntu, Subversion, AJAX, Joomla!, Symfony, PHP5, Zend Studio, Table-less lay-lout and Tux; Experience with PostgreSQL or Oracle is a plus; What do we offer? An informal working culture; Professional self-steering project teams; Development with Zend Studio; Possibility of acquiring your Zend (PHP5) certificate; Growth and guidance to becoming a genuine PHP Guru; Working in a forest environment with our own swimming pool; Remunerate according to knowledge and level of experience. Are you feeling appealed to working in this professional but informal Open Source/Open Standards Organization with a bunch of geek colleagues and interesting products? Please contact us. We will gladly have an appointment with you giving you the possibility to talk to your future team members.
Link	More Information

Paul Jones will be one of the presenters at this year's php/db|works Conference happening up in Toronto this week and he's offering a teaser of his talk (here's the synopsis) for those interested - "Organizing Your PHP Projects".

Fans of Henry Hazlitt's "Economics in One Lesson" will recognize the kind of talk I have in store, although I don't have the time available to expound in detail the way Hazlitt does. The talk will consist of a one-sentence lesson for you to remember when deciding how to organize your PHP project, whether it's a library, an application, a CMS, or a framework. I'll then explain how to apply the One Lesson in your project, and the various follow-on effects the One Lesson will have on your project organization.

He also jokes that he'll be the only presenter to use references to livestock, Jimmy Hoffa, and Mir as a part of the talk. He's even included a slide of the presentation for even more info.

Paul Jones will be one of the presenters at this year's php/db|works Conference happening up in Toronto this week and he's offering a teaser of his talk (here's the synopsis) for those interested - "Organizing Your PHP Projects".

Fans of Henry Hazlitt's "Economics in One Lesson" will recognize the kind of talk I have in store, although I don't have the time available to expound in detail the way Hazlitt does. The talk will consist of a one-sentence lesson for you to remember when deciding how to organize your PHP project, whether it's a library, an application, a CMS, or a framework. I'll then explain how to apply the One Lesson in your project, and the various follow-on effects the One Lesson will have on your project organization.

He also jokes that he'll be the only presenter to use references to livestock, Jimmy Hoffa, and Mir as a part of the talk. He's even included a slide of the presentation for even more info.