In part one of a new series on the SitePoint PHP blog Bruno Skvorc looks at the right way to start a PHP package using a set of guidelines that have evolved recently in well-structured, well-tested PHP packages.

In recent years, good standards for PHP package design have popped up, in no small part due to Composer, Packagist, The League and, most recently, The Checklist. Putting all these in a practical list we can follow here, but avoiding any tight coupling with The League (since our package won’t be submitted there – it’s specifically made for a third party API provider and as such very limited in context).

The list of rules includes topics like having a license selected, using PSR-4 autoloading and having in-depth code comments. Bruno uses these as a foundation and starts in on the creation of a package. He uses the PHP League skeleton structure to create the files and folders for a basic package. From there he updates the contents with details for his Diffbot example and installing other needed software libraries. The rest of the post is broken up into the two remaining steps and examples under each: sticking with the PSR-2 guidelines and planning for the structure of the package.

In this new post Phil Sturgeon looks at two movements in the PHP community that are doing positive things for the language and the community as a whole - the Framework Interoperability Group (PHP-FIG) and the more recent "PHP The Right Way" initiative.

Don't worry guys, this isn't another PHP apologist or PHP hater blog. We've all had enough of those recently. This is a quick heads up on two projects that are doing what they can to make the PHP ecosystem a better place.

He talks a bit about some of the recent work that the PHP-FIG has done, the new standards that were approved by the group (PSR-1 & PSR-2) as well as the launch of a dedicated website for the project, complete with a handy FAQ. He also points out the PHP The Right Way site and the loads of community contributions that have come in around it. There's guidelines for things like dependency management, security, testing, deployment and lots more. If you haven't gotten a chance to check out this resource, it's definitely work a look!