PHP PHP 5

Here we are again. This is the tutorial you ve been waiting for! Welcome to the last part of the series Abstract classes in PHP. If you ve already read the previous articles, then you ll know that this series introduces the basics of abstract classes in PHP 4/PHP 5, and illustrates their use and implementation in concrete situations.

Polymorphism is an object-oriented programming concept that can be difficult to understand. This article, the first of a three-part series, walks you through the basics of Polymorphism so that you can make use of it in your own applications. The specific example in this article will show you how to use it with different database systems.

Welcome to the concluding part of the series Using SQLite with PHP 5. As you ll possibly know, PHP 5 comes equipped with a fully-featured RDBMS called SQLite that definitely can make your life as a PHP developer much easier. It s particularly helpful if you want to get rid of MySQL at least for a time while maintaining the data layer of your application completely isolated from the business logic.

In the first article of this two-part series, we examined what is arguably the most significant feature of PHP 5; the significant advances to its object-oriented programming capabilities. Among other topics, I introduced the addition of the final, private, protected, abstract and static method scopes, as well as the new private and protected class member scopes. We also examined the new abstract class and interface features, before concluding th...

If you create object-oriented programs in in PHP 5, you know that their performance can be improved by rationalizing the use of objects. The proxy pattern can help with this task. In this first of a two-part series, you will learn the key points of how to use this pattern with PHP 5.

Welcome to the first of three tutorials in a series that covers network programming in PHP. In this article you will learn how to use some useful PHP networking functions that will help you perform a variety of common networking tasks. To that end, you will build a simple networking query application in PHP 5.

If you re one of those PHP developers that wants to expand your background in pattern-based programming, then this article may suit your needs. Welcome to the second part of the series Understanding the Chain of Responsibility Between PHP Objects. Comprised of three installments, this series goes through the basics of building a chain of responsibility across several PHP objects, and teaches you how to apply this pattern by using copious code s...

Most developers must deal with the job of developing robust data validation for forms on a regular basis. Nobody wants to write the same code over and over, so this article (the first of three in a series) will help you develop an extensible and reusable form validation package. By the end of the article, you will have all the relevant classes that integrate the generator module of the PHP form processor.

In this second part of a three-part series, we take up the topic of server-side validation. By the time you finish this article, you ll have the general guidelines for how to build a form validating class. You ll use some PHP built-in introspection functions, along with regular expressions, to assist you in building this class.

Welcome to the last part of the series Building a PHP 5 form processor. In three parts, this series goes through the development of an extensible form processor package in PHP 5, explaining its benefits and demonstrating its implementation.

If you re starting to delve deeper into object-oriented programming with PHP, and also want to know how to include polymorphic objects into your own scripts, this might be the right opportunity to learn more about this interesting topic. Welcome to the second part of the series that began with Using polymorphism with objects in PHP 5. In three articles, this series provides you with a comprehensive guide on how to take advantage of polymorphism...

If you have ever written an application that primarily parses commands -- and who hasn t? -- keep reading. As is often the case, pattern-based programming makes this task easier. In this first part of a three-part article series, you ll learn the basic concepts surrounding the Interpreter pattern, with plenty of hands-on examples.

In this fourth and final article in the tutorial series, Alejandro Gervasio updates the DBIGenerator class developed in the previous articles. The new version incorporates features in PHP 5, such as member visibility, exceptions, and other useful items.

Welcome to the final part of the series Caching Result Sets in PHP. Hopefully, the last chapter of this tutorial will help you to put together all of the classes developed in the previous part, and demonstrate how the complete caching system can be implemented in a PHP 5 controlled environment.

In this part of the series, you will see in detail an updated version of each class that composes the caching system, for a correct implementation in PHP 5. Also, the Cache class will be modified to work with an array processor class that handles array operations. It should help refresh your memory of techniques related to object-oriented programming.

Are you one of those web developers searching for a comprehensive approach to constructing an expandable website engine with PHP 5? If your answer is a resounding yes, then this series might appeal to you. Welcome to the final part of the series Building an extensible website engine with PHP 5. In two tutorials, this series teaches you how to build a versatile website system which allows you to generate dynamic web documents by using a few simp...

Mastering some of the most popular design patterns with PHP 5 can be sometimes an overwhelming process that requires hard work and experience. However, if you want to tackle the challenge and expand your existing background on them, this article might eventually find a place on your quick reference list.

Working with interpreter classes in PHP 5 can be a useful experience for any PHP developer. Welcome to the final part of the series that began with Building Interpreter Classes with PHP 5. Composed of three educational tutorials, this series teaches you how to implement the interpreter pattern with PHP, by covering not only the corresponding theoretical concepts, but also showing you concrete cases where this pattern can be applied in a useful ...

The abstract factory pattern can be useful if you re developing a PHP application that needs to create diverse objects in multiple contexts. If you re interested in learning the basics of this design pattern, this set of articles might be what you re looking for. Welcome to the second installment of the series Using abstract factory classes in PHP 5. In a step-by-step guide, this series teaches you how to create abstract factory classes in PHP ...

If learning how to incorporate creational design patterns into your own PHP 5 applications is a high-priority topic for you, then this set of comprehensive articles might be what you re looking for. Welcome to the concluding installment of the series Using Bridge Classes with PHP 5. These tutorials will teach you how to implement the bridge pattern in PHP by providing you with many hands-on examples that can be included in your existing and fut...

Are you interested in expanding your existing knowledge of different structural design patterns with PHP 5? Then look no further because you ve come to the right place. Welcome to the second installment of the series Using Bridge Classes with PHP 5. This group of three articles walks you through the basics of how to apply the bridge pattern in PHP-based applications, and it also teaches you how to use bridge objects in real world development en...

Last week, we began our overview of the object-oriented features of PHP 5. This week, we will start discussing design patterns. This article, the second of several parts, is excerpted from chapter two of the book

This is the first part of a three-part series that covers separating logic from presentation in PHP applications. In this article you will learn to develop a template system that is advanced enough to meet the requirements of a majority of applications.

This is the second installment of the series Enforcing object types in PHP. Welcome back. As you ll surely know, this three-part series goes through the basic concepts of object type enforcement in PHP 4/PHP 5. It explores different approaches for checking types of objects to help you avoid possible code contamination when objects of incorrect type are inputted within PHP classes.

Here we are again. Welcome to the last tutorial of the series Enforcing object types in PHP. As this article s title suggests, this series introduces the basics of object type enforcement in PHP, covering some of the most common methods for checking types of objects in both PHP 4 and PHP 5 respectively.

Welcome to the last part of the series Error Handling in PHP. In two parts, this series introduces the basics of error handling in PHP. It demonstrates some of the most common methods for manipulating errors in PHP 4, and explains the implementation of exceptions in PHP 5, particularly in object-oriented environments.

Has your career as PHP developer led you to learn more about the most popular design patterns? If it has, then this series may help you get a better grounding in them. Welcome to the second installment of the series Introducing Visitor Objects in PHP 5. Made up of three articles, this series introduces the key points of how to apply the visitor pattern in PHP, and emphasizes the practical side of the topic by walking you though copious hands-on...

Trying to expand beyond the boundaries of your existing background by learning how to code and use static methods and properties inside your PHP 5 classes? Then look no further. Welcome to the last part of the series Using static members and methods in PHP 5. Made up of two instructive chapters, this series introduces the foundations of using static members and defines static methods in PHP 5-driven development environments.

Unnecessary and balanced instantiation of PHP classes are issues that can be easily solved by using the flyweight design pattern. If you want to learn more about it, you should start reading this article. Welcome to the final part of the series Using the flyweight pattern with PHP 5. As you may have guessed, this series walks you through the implementation of this helpful pattern with PHP, and shows you how to apply it in concrete cases.

Are you interested in learning the foundations of different structural patterns in PHP 5? If your answer is affirmative, then you should start reading this article immediately! Welcome to the last installment of the series Introducing the Facade Pattern in PHP 5. In two consecutive articles, this series shows you how to create and use facade classes in PHP-based development environments.

The bridge class, or what s commonly known as the bridge pattern, lets you create a class with its abstract functionality and implementation residing on different class hierarchies. This lets you decouple the class from its concrete application. This article, the first of three parts, introduces you to the bridge pattern and its uses.

In this article, the first of a three-part series, you will be introduced to the basics of creating directors and builder objects with PHP 5. As usual, there will be copious examples to help you quickly start using the builder pattern in your own PHP projects.

The mediator design pattern can help you achieve and maintain synchronization between a group of PHP classes. In this first of a two-part series, you ll be introduced to the mediator pattern, how it functions, and how it can help you with your application development.

In the first article of a three-part series, you will learn the basics of using the simplexml extension that comes with PHP 5. This library is primarily focused on parsing simple XML files, and can save you a lot of work.

Static properties and methods can be quite useful in a range of situations, not merely for constructing a Singleton class. This article, the first in a two-part series, introduces the basic concepts of static properties and methods, using plenty of hands-on examples.

The composite pattern is one of the less commonly used patterns in PHP 5. Nevertheless, in certain situations, it is very helpful. This article, the first one in a two-part series, will introduce you to the basic concepts of the composite pattern.

The facade pattern may be one of the less well known patterns in PHP, but it definitely has its uses. In this first article of a two-part series, you ll learn the basics of how the facade pattern works, illustrated with numerous examples.

Among the considerable variety of structural design patterns that can be implemented with PHP 4 (and PHP 5, by the way), there s one in particular that deserves special attention. It s easy to apply in the context of a given web application, and it offers remarkable functionality when it comes to preventing the unnecessary instantiation of different classes. This two-part series covers that pattern.

Although the article s title may seem a bit intimidating, the truth is that things are much simpler than you think. Like many other programming languages, PHP also allows you to construct and use visitor objects with minor hassles. But, before I go deeper into the subject, first let s ask ourselves the following question: what are visitor objects, after all?

In this article, the first part of a series, you ll learn the basics of applying the command pattern with PHP 5. As always, plenty of hands-on examples are included.

PHP5 is not yet official but the development versions are already usable (and unstable!) so we can start to learn and practice the new features of the upcoming version of PHP. In this article I will focus in three major new features of PHP5:. The new object model Exceptions Namespaces First of all a couple of disclaimers: Some of the techniques described in this article can be done with PHP4, but are presented anyway to make the whole article mo...

If you use PHP 5 to build web-based applications that access a database, you might want to consider SQLite. A lighter option than MySQL, this database may still suit your purposes if you don t need all of MySQL s bells and whistles. This three-part series covers many of SQLite s most useful features.

Welcome to the final part of the series Iterators in the Simplest Sense. In this set of articles, you ll learn the basic concepts of iterators in PHP 4 and PHP 5. The overall learning experience is strongly focused on the practical sense of the topic, so you can start quickly using iterators within your own PHP applications.

Are you looking forward to learning about loading XML data strings, as well as searching and accessing nodes? Then this is the tutorial you ve been waiting for since last week! Welcome to the second part of the series Working with simpleXML in PHP 5. This three-part series introduces the most important features of the simpleXML extension that comes with PHP 5, and shows by several hands-on examples how to implement the handy set of XML-parsin...

The DirectoryIterator class is an important part of the Standard PHP Library (SPL). Among other things, it lets you traverse any specified directory with a regular foreach loop. In this first article of a three-part series, some of the most relevant methods that come with the DirectoryIterator class are covered.

Among the huge variety of design patterns that can be easily implemented in PHP 5, the interpreter is one that might be particularly interesting to you. It allows you to build effortlessly the so-called parser layers. Welcome to the second installment of the series that began with Building Interpreter Classes with PHP 5. Made up of three parts, this series introduces the core concepts on this useful pattern, and also complements its theory with...

Are you one of those PHP developers who wants to expand your background in design patterns by learning an additional one? If your answer is affirmative, then this series might be appealing to you. It will teach you, in three educational tutorials, how to create and implement command objects with PHP 5.

Are you looking for an approachable guide on how to use the mediator design pattern in PHP 5? If you answered yes, then you should take a look at this group of articles. Welcome to the final part of the series that began with Introducing Mediator Classes in PHP 5. This series takes you through building mediator classes with PHP, and shows you how to use this useful pattern with copious code samples.

This chapter is excerpted from Object-Oriented PHP: Concepts, Techniques, and Code from NoStarch Press. PHP 3 was released in mid-1998. Some basic object-oriented (OO) capabilities were included, more or less as an afterthought, to provide new ways of accessing arrays.1 No significant changes were made to the object model when version 4 was released in mid-2000. The basics of object-oriented programming (OOP) were there--you could create a clas...

A fine implementation of the object-overloading paradigm has found its way into PHP version 5. This article explores the possibilities of the overload methods __call(), __set(), and __get(). After explaining the basic theory of overloading, it dives straight into the topic by using two practical examples: first, implementing persistable classes, and second, figuring out a way to realize dynamic getter and setter methods. If you do not yet know wh...

Last week, we discussed design patterns and polymorphism. This week, we examine overloading and more. This article, the last of four parts, is excerpted from chapter two of the book

Welcome to the last installment of the series Overloading classes in PHP. Comprised of three tutorials, this series shows you how to overload your classes whether you re using PHP 4 or PHP 5, and explains in detail the implementation of the __set() , __get() and __call() methods, in order to overload property accesses and method calls respectively.

PHP 5 s official release occurred on July 13th with a complete re-haul of object-oriented programming features and improved MySQL functions. These are sure to be great additions to the package for PHP developers. However, many of the changes to PHP are hinting to something that may not necessarily be something PHP developers will like down the road.

This article explains what polymorphism is and how it applies to object oriented design in particular. It also explains the pros and cons of polymorphism when working with certain versions of PHP.

This article continues a series on PHP5 OOP. In the first article, PHP 5 OOP: Interfaces Abstract Classes and the Adapter Pattern, I presented an interface for abstracting database access from the actual database. In the second article, PHP 5 OOP: Protecting Data With Visibility , I showed how to expand upon the functionality built in the first article in order to show how to protect your data using visibility modifiers. In this article you will ...

PHP 5 made significant improvements on the Object Orientated programming model of PHP 4 bringing it more in line with languages such as Visual Basic .NET and Java. The improved object model in PHP 5 makes developing applications using OOP much easier and gives you the programmer, greater flexibility. In this series of articles I will demonstrate the new features of the PHP 5 object and show you how to create a database abstraction layer similar t...

This article continues the discussion of using PHP to create a database abstraction layer by using the OOP features of PHP. In the prior article, PHP 5 OOP: Interfaces Abstract Classes and the Adapter Pattern, I presented an interface for abstracting database access from the actual database. The article also presented code for accessing a database. In this article you will learn to expand upon the functionality you built from the first article in...

This article concludes a series on PHP5 OOP. In the first article, PHP 5 OOP: Interfaces Abstract Classes and the Adapter Pattern, I presented an interface for abstracting database access from the actual database. In the second article, PHP 5 OOP: Protecting Data With Visibility, I showed how to expand upon the functionality built in the first article in order to show how to protect your data using visibility modifiers. In the third article, ...

If you re looking for a friendly guide on how to implement the template design pattern with PHP 5, then this group of articles might be what you need. Welcome to the final installment of the series that began with Working with template classes in PHP 5. As the title indicates, this series steps you through creating template classes in PHP-controlled development environments, and also shows you how to use this rather uncommon pattern i...

Over the last ten years, eBay has emerged as a platform where people can buy and sell practically anything. With more than 135 million users worldwide, eBay is a thriving online marketplace. Best of all, eBay isn t constrained by HTML. By using eBay s web services APIs, members of the eBay Developers Program can hook into the eBay platform using XML to integrate eBay into their own applications. // ); //]] Like many web services, the eBay API co...

Want to learn how to get the most out of the simpleXML extension that comes bundled with PHP 5? Welcome to the last part of the series Working with simpleXML in PHP 5. In three tutorials, this series covers topics ranging from the basics of parsing XML files with this library, to performing advanced tasks, such as searching, extracting and replacing nodes, and interoperating with the XML DOM.

Building a dynamic website with a database backend is something that nearly every PHP programmer will need to do, usually sooner rather than later. If you haven t done it yet (or even if you have), this two-part article series will show you how to develop a website engine that can generate pages on the fly from a simple database structure.

PHP has the drawback of not supporting events. Fortunately, a basic structure can be built to support events in PHP 5. This article tackles that problem with some proof of concept code.

You have probably used the factory design pattern before. An abstract factory pattern helps you make sure you re creating the correct objects for your application according to the context. This article, the first one in a three-part series, gives you a taste of what you can do with the abstract factory pattern. As always, it includes plenty of examples.

While PHP 4 was the first version to offer Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) capabilities, many considered the feature to be poorly designed and more an afterthought than anything else. PHP 5 resolves many of the version 4 OOP inconsistencies, not to mention greatly enhances the language s object-oriented capabilities. While you re still free to program using a procedural methodology, those of you with object oriented backgrounds will certainly f...

This article will demonstrate the power of three-tier development in PHP 5, using PEAR::DB_DataObject for the business logic and Smarty for display logic. I assume that you have some familiarity with HTML, Smarty, PEAR::DB_DataObject, MySQL, and PHP 5. If you d like to brush up on your knowledge, the following articles explain some of the theory: // ); //]] a

In this final part of the series on user-defined interfaces in PHP 5, Alejandro puts all of the classes created in the previous articles together to work as a page generator. This allows complex page generation to be translated into a more flexible process through an object-based solution.

In this second part of the series, you will learn the basics of object-oriented web page generation through the use of (X)HTML widgets. You will also see how objects implement the HTMLRenderer interface to explicitly define its functionality by using the toHTML() method.

PHP5 takes users increasingly in the direction of object-oriented programming. The Standard PHP Library (SPL) is a new item that helps developers both with the creation of OOP applications and the maintenance of standardization. The SPL enables developers to work with user-defined interfaces. In this article, the first of a series, Alejandro Gervasio uses examples to introduce you to working with these interfaces, which can keep you from having t...

Welcome to the third part of the series User-defined interfaces in PHP5. In four parts, this series explains the use of interfaces in PHP5, highlighting their advantages and illustrating their implementation in real applications.

Any PHP developer who has worked with pattern-based programming in PHP for a while knows that the abstract factory pattern is useful for building classes that return (to client code) objects whose type depend on the content where they re used. Welcome to the final installment of the series Using abstract factory classes in PHP 5. If you re interested in learning the key concepts of this helpful pattern, this three-part series will tea...

Welcome to part two of the series Separating logic from presentation. Comprised of three articles, this series walks you through the development of an extensible template processor in PHP 5, which you might find quite useful for separating the logic of your PHP applications from their visual presentation.

If you re one of those PHP developers who want to explore the package of classes that come bundled with the Standard PHP Library (SPL), then fear not, because you re at the right place. Welcome to the concluding part of the series A Close Look at the DirectoryIterator Class in PHP 5. In three parts, this series introduces the most important methods attached to this class, and shows you how to use them by mean of extensive hands-on examples.

XML is great, but I ve constantly wondered why it s so difficult to parse. Most languages provide you with three options: SAX, DOM, and XSLT. Each has its own problems: // ); //]] SAX s event-based design forces you to track elements manually, by pushing and popping them on and off of a stack. DOM is bulky and cumbersome. While comprehensive, it takes seven lines just to read hello. XSLT? If I wanted to program in a functional language,...

If you were looking for an approachable guide on how to create and use command objects with PHP 5, then look no further, because your search is over. Welcome to the final part of the series Creating command objects with PHP 5. Comprised of three comprehensive tutorials, this series walks you through the basics of how to apply the command pattern in PHP, and it accompanies its corresponding theory with numerous code samples.

Are you one of those PHP developers looking for a tight and powerful RDBMS, other than MySQL, in order to build your next database-driven website? Then hopefully your search is finished. Welcome to the second installment of the series Using SQLite with PHP 5. Comprised of three articles, this series walks you through the implementation of the most important methods that come bundled with SQLite and shows you how to use them with numerous practi...

If you re looking for brand new material to help you expand your background in using design patterns with PHP 5, then hopefully this article will suit your needs. Welcome to the final installment of the series Introducing Visitor Objects in PHP 5. Composed of three chapters, this series walks you through the key points of creating and using visitor objects with PHP 5, and teaches you how to use them in the context of real-world applications.

If you re a PHP developer who wants to learn how to take advantage of polymorphism to build more efficient and robust object-oriented applications, then this group of articles might be what you need. Welcome to the final part of the series that started with Using Polymorphism with Objects in PHP 5. Comprised of three tutorials, this series shows you how to create polymorphic classes with PHP; it also teaches you how to use them in rea...

The long anticipated PHP 5 release comes with a slew of new features aimed at simplifying development with PHP. With PHP 5 comes the introduction of exception handling, the Standard PHP Library (SPL), enhanced support for XML, reflection, and quite a few enhancements to the object oriented features of the language. PHP 5 also offers a sizable list of new functions, many of which will not be covered in this article but are available in the manual.

Most PHP installations out there are still running PHP 4.x. PHP 5.0 has been out a while, and PHP 5.1.1 has just been released. For those of you who haven t yet upgraded, this month I look at some of the changes you can expect to find in the newer versions of PHP, as well as a preview of what you can look forward to in PHP 6. Changes in PHP 5.0 As befits an entirely new version number, there are substantial differences between PHP 4 and PHP 5. M...

PHP 5, which was released earlier this week, is the first major release of PHP in years to focus on new features. // ); //]] While one of the key goals behind PHP 3 was increasing PHP/FI 2.0 s performance and efficiency, at the same time it introduced a whole new set of functionality. That was back in 1998. PHP 4 provided another speed burst, as it introduced the Zend Engine. However, the majority of PHP 4 s changes were behind the scenes. Those...

If you re a strong advocate of using pattern-based programming for developing your PHP applications, then this pair of comprehensive tutorials might find a place on your quick reference list. Welcome to the concluding part of the series Building Proxy Classes with PHP 5. In two parts, this series introduces the foundations of how to apply the proxy pattern with PHP 5, and it accompanies the corresponding theory with extensive code samples.

Are you a PHP developer who wants to improve your skills in pattern-based programming in PHP? If the answer to this question is an emphatic yes, then you should begin reading this article now! Welcome to the final part of the series Implementing the composite pattern with PHP 5. Comprised of two instructive tutorials, this series walks you through the basic concepts of this important design pattern, and shows you how to apply it with some educa...

A template class is a base class with some special abilities. First, it concretely implements one or more algorithms; second, it can determine which subclasses should use these algorithms. This article is the first part of a two-part series that introduces you to the basic concepts of this design pattern.

What are the tools and processes that I used to write Learning PHP 5? // ); //]] Each chapter (and appendix) is its own file, formatted with the Docbook Lite XML dialect. I used XEmacs to edit the files. XEmacs s xml-mode provides helpful assistance with well-formedness checking and context-sensitive tag insertion. It also works with XEmacs font-lock mode to make tags, attributes, and other XML goodies appear in pretty colors for easier readabi...