Weblog

I’ve been working with Zend Framework 2 for a while now, trying to learn it and map its concepts to those from Zend Framework 1. One of the things that hasn’t changed is the framework’s support for security - it still has a bunch of useful components which let you protect your PHP application from SQL injection, XSS, CSRF, spam, and brute-force password hacking. You don’t need to be using Zend Framework either - the framework is loosely coupled, so you can use the components on a standalone basis. If you’re not familiar with framework-based development, this gives you all the benefits of components like Zend\InputFilter and Zend\Escaper without the additional overhead and learning curve. ...

I’ve been waiting to try out jQuery Mobile for a while and a few weeks ago, I finally got the chance. I hooked jQuery Mobile up with the Google Tasks API and built a simple to-do list application that works on tablet and smartphone browsers. The application exposes most of the basic functionality of Google Tasks, allowing you to add new to-do lists, create tasks, attach due dates and mark tasks as complete. ...

As promised, IBM developerWorks has now published the second part of my article on Sentry 2. In this concluding segment, I dive into the Sentry 2 permission model, explaining how to create groups, assign users and permissions to them, and use permission checks to selectively enable application functions. Also on the menu: find out how to harden your application with login throttling and temporary user deactivation, and integrate Sentry 2 with third-party authentication services like Google and Twitter. ...

If you build Web applications, there are a few things you can’t dodge coding: a user registration workflow, a password reset workflow, a login and logout system, and so on. Since these workflows aren’t likely to change much from one project to another, why not package them all up in a set of classes and use the time you save on something more constructive (blowing up some Protoss bases, maybe?) ...

IBM developerWorks has just published my article on using Doctrine 2.3 with the Zend Framework. Doctrine is a well-known PHP Object-Relational Mapping (ORM) tool for querying and manipulating database content by using objects. It can be integrated with Zend Framework to inject database content into a PHP Web application. The article discusses how to create Doctrine entities and load and use them within Zend Framework 1.x and 2.x action controllers. Readers of my book “Zend Framework: A Beginner’s Guide” will find this article very useful, as it provides updated steps for getting Doctrine and Zend Framework playing nice with each other. ...

IBM developerWorks has published the second part of my article on integrating the Instagram API with a PHP application. This concluding segment examines Instagram’s OAuth support, demonstrates how to access protected Instagram feeds, and introduces two third-party PHP libraries that ease Instagram API access. Read the full article here.

IBM developerWorks has published my article on integrating the Instagram API with a PHP application. In case you didn’t already know, Instagram is a popular photo-sharing service that enables users to take photos with their smartphone and share them with others through the Web. The article examines the Instagram REST API in detail, using it with the Zend_Http_Client library to rapidly build and deploy PHP Web applications to search for and retrieve Instagram photos by tag, location and keyword. ...

IBM developerWorks has just published my article on creating REST applications with the Slim PHP micro-framework. Slim is one of the new breed of PHP micro-frameworks, inspired by Sinatra. It enables rapid web application development and prototyping without the performance overhead and learning curve of full-fledged frameworks. The article examines Slim in detail, using it to rapidly build and deploy a REST API with support for authentication and multiple request/response formats. Read the full article here. You can also view slides from my presentation on this topic here. ...

I’ll be speaking at the first meeting of the Mumbai MySQL/PHP User Group (MMPUG) tomorrow. High Performance XQuery Processing in PHP with Zorba (Wed Nov 27 2012 at 18:30) This session introduces the Zorba XQuery processor and PHP extension, and explains how to use it to add advanced XQuery processing to a PHP application. It will be based heavily on an article I’ve previously written for IBM developerWorks. If you’re in Mumbai tomorrow, please drop by, grab a cup of coffee and say hello! ...

My article on using the PHP Content Repository (PHPCR) to interact with JCR content has just been published by php|architect magazine. PHPCR is an adaptation of the JCR standard which can be used to connect a PHP application with a JCR-compliant repository, such as the one used by the Java-based Magnolia CMS. The article explains how PHPCR makes it possible to build PHP applications that interact with content stored in Java/JCR-based products, without needing specialized Java knowledge or training. ...