Easy PHP Programming

No bug spray can get rid of the many programming bugs that are detected by the parser as you compile the program to come up with the final product. As any programmer knows, program bugs are as sure as the existence of and energy drink by their side, and though most of them may be the result of simple typo’s and other naming problems one can be assured of an unusual one that defies all your efforts and phone calls to buddies. What do you do? Ask the community of course, through the PHP Bugs site where they are compiled as reference for all who use PHP. Read the rest of this entry »

PHP developers and industry leaders are holding this year’s Testfest 2009 in a few months to get people all over the globe to test and review the current RC for approval and review pending full release. Such public or community testing is standard of the many open-source developers who help each other to test out new features and past problems if they were addressed or not. Many of the detected errors would be addressed in the subsequent Full Release. The open-sourced community is made up of leading programmers, developer groups and even companies, all of which work together during testfest. Read the rest of this entry »

Or so they say, with them releasing the software development kit (SDK) for Azure, Microsoft’s cloud services platform. maybe they’ve wised up and have accepted they cannot stand alone in the fast evolving internet and computing industry, most of which have long shifted to open sourced platforms for their web needs. The SDK includes code samples and tools for developers so they can work with Silverlight and IE8, the next generation of browser they have for the long Internet Explorer line. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s only been awhile since PHP 5.2.8 was out and it’s in with the new and out with the old once more:

The PHP development team would like to announce the immediate availability of PHP 5.2.9. This release focuses on improving the stability of the PHP 5.2.x branch with over 50 bug fixes, several of which are security related. All users of PHP are encouraged to upgrade to this release.

The new PHP 5.2.9 has the following fixes and security enhancements:

* Fixed the security issue in imagerotate(), where the background colour is not correctly validated with a non true colour image.
* Fixed a crash regarding extracting in zip when files or directories’ entry names have a relative path.
* Fixed explode() behavior with an empty string that respects the negative limit.
* Fixed a segfault when malformed string is passed on to json_decode().

For more information, you can read more of the details of this latest PHP version here.

The internet is composed of many web sites with most written in PHP, some in python and many other sub languages which are based on other proprietary formats. The heavy use of PHP necessitates the issuance of frequent updates which addresses security issues and flaws that prevents hackers from getting access or control of vulnerable implementations of systems using PHP in Windows. Windows Being the most targeted Operating System makes it very vulnerable but thanks to the open nature of the web, any security flaws that are found are immediately found and announced getting the community on the hunt for an immediate solution.
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Say goodbye to the ‘ol 5.2.7. and say hello to 5.2.8.:

Due to a security bug found in the PHP 5.2.7 release, it has been removed from distribution. The bug affects configurations where magic_quotes_gpc is enabled, because it remains off even when set to on. In the meantime, use PHP 5.2.6 until PHP 5.2.8 is later released.

The PHP Development Team would like to announce the immediate availability of PHP 5.2.8. This release addresses a regression introduced by 5.2.7 in regard to the magic_quotes functionality, which was broken by an incorrect fix to the filter extension. All users who have upgraded to 5.2.7 are encouraged to upgrade to this release. Alternatively you can apply a work-around for the bug by changing “filter.default_flags=0″ in php.ini.

Take out 5.2.7. as soon as possible and use the newest one for security’s sake!

Source

Image Source: img141.imageshack.us

Creating a shopping cart with PHP is, quite amazingly, very simple to do. And if you are able to do it correctly, it could spell a big difference between a very efficient system or just a badly written one. The stock’s details should be stored in the database and the only information that is left is the required information, which is the identification of the product that has been added into the cart. The shopping cart must be accessible and there must be ways to access it. One way to do is, the most popular way, having a click button that says ‘Add To Cart’ on that particular page. What it should be able to do next is to be able to update the products in the shopping cart before a new product range shows up.

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When you type in, a URL in the address bar of your browser, like for example, http://www.fairgound.com and then you click Enter, what you’re actually doing is, you are sending a request to a particular web server that keeps the URL that you typed in and then it gets the contents from the specified location of that particular web page. What you are seeing in the browser is the HTML result of the actual code of the page you requested not the actual code most specially when the page uses server side scripting to show the output of the page. Parsing is the process of converting the actual code to HTML. Parser engines of the web servers are responsible for the conversion. Behind the HTML output that you are seeing in your browser is a maze of long, complex Php code. What happens is you request the URL, the web page is parsed, then server sends back the HTML generated before the server sends the HTML output to your browser.

Image Source:philrandolph.com

Trying to learn a new programming language like PHP can get a bit intimidating, especially if you have never had experience with other programming languages before. But the toughest part is really the starting point. Once you get past that, it is really just a matter of practicing. Being patient and learning the basics one at a time will help you get there. Here are some tips to help you learn simple PHP:

PHP is a language that uses scripting to supplement functions that HTML lacks. With PHP, you can collect and process data. Using this skill, you can create other functions to produce data that is more specialized.

• Get the tools. You will need a text editor.
• Get an FTP. FTP is used to exchange files from your computer to a remote server. We use to this to connect to a LAN or to an Internet site.
• Practice creating files using PHP.

Use online resources and tutorials for added reference.

Image source: www.basicphpprogramming.com

A programmer’s job requires him to keep his eyes focused on the glowing computer screen and keying in data by constantly pounding the keys of the keyboard. Programmers love what they do that it even makes them glued on their seats in front of their PCs which even they admit to be obsessive. But the consequence of their love affair with the computer is the painful overuse injuries that can keep them from doing their fist love—programming— and even simple tasks such as opening a mineral water bottle and turning the doorknob.
Repetitive Strain Injuries are acquired by the overuse of muscles and/or holding them in an unnatural position for a long time.
There are two common repetitive strain injury or RSIs are carpal tunnel syndrome and forearm tendonitis. If untreated, carpal tunnel syndrome can sometimes cause permanent nerve damage, and forearm tendonitis can harm muscles, tendons and ligaments that are essential for repetitive motion.
Standard keyboards require programmers to hold their hand in a fixed and unnatural position that can strain the forearms. Some computer tables may also be too high for them that when they key in data, their wrists are flexed which puts too much pressure on the median nerve. Constant pounding on the keys can cause tiny tears in the muscles and ligaments. In case no adjustments are made, this minor strain and discomfort can eventually lead into disabling injuries that can take months to heal. In some cases, even turning a doorknob produces extreme pain that is cause by hypersensinized nerves on the wrists.
Good news: RSIs are preventable and treatable. Regular breaks from typing, exercises concentrating on the hands, wrists and fingers, maintaining good posture in sitting and proper arm placement at the keyboard and a healthy workplace will go a long way towards preventing them.