PHP Digest from Zfort Group

New Releases

1. Zend Framework 2.0.2 – This release fixes a problem with the "Router" service that influenced URL generation.
2. PHPUnit 3.7 – A small set of changes. Reports on the percentage of code covered with tests are redesigned (PHP_CodeCoverage).
3. A New Class “Locator” Is Presented in Codeception 1.1.4 – The post describes how to combine more than one item for location using both CSS tags and XPath selectors. It also shows how to use the "tabindex" method to simulate the movement through page items using the "Tab" button. And besides, there is a small code example that shows how to determine an element by the value of its "href" attribute.
4. Ext4Yii 1.1 Is Available – Along with numerous improvements and fixes TreeGrid component is introduced in this version.

PHP

1. Introduction to PHP 5.4.7 – Everything you wanted to know about the new version of PHP is in the slides from Ilia Alshanetsky, author of “php | architect's Guide to PHP Security” bestseller.
2. Binary Parsing with PHP – In the post the author tells about unpacking a line "in the style of C" (getting the ASCII value of each character), and shows how this should not be done in PHP using ord. Instead, the author uses the "unpack", bitwise operators and bindec to work with the actual binary data of a line.
3. The Reason Why Singleton Is a “Problem” with PHPUnit – An interesting thinking on the problems of components testing with the help of one of the most popular patterns for development – PHPUnit.

Links for Education

1. Building Your Own URL Shortener – Creating a simple tool for URL converting into short and easy-to-use form (like for Twitter). A structure of a simple database for storage of the links is described between short and full references. PHP code for creating a random hash that matches the link and code to reduce it are presented too. Of course, there is a PHP code for the reverse transformation – from a short into the full.
2. Hands-On Unit Testing With PHPUnit – If you are a beginner in unit testing then this screencast is a good way to start studying it further. The author uses Laravel framework as the base to demonstrate TDD approach.
3. An Introduction to Zend Framework 2 for a Zend Framework 1 Developer – The article describes three main differences between two versions of Zend Framework. Namely they are: support of namespaces instead of the long awkward names of classes, the modular approach and using of bootstrapping.
4. Webinar: Working with ZendForm in ZF2 – Completely redesigned Form component is presented in ZF2, which allows you to simplify the processing of forms in web applications. You will learn how to use ZendForm to render forms and validate data using filters. The configuration of form elements and data filters, error handling and the rendering with view helpers are discussed.
5. Creating Yii Applications with Composer – How to manage dependencies in your Yii application in the simplest way.

CMS News

1. WordPress 3.5 Beta Is Available.

1. Cookie Compliance – will help you make your site relevant to the new rules for cookies regulation in the EU.
2. WP Debug Robot – unobtrusive debugging instrument for WordPress, which uses UDP.
3. Automatic Post Tagger – automatically adds user-specified tags to a post.
4. SiteFeedback.com Feedback Tab – allows you to add a tab with reviews at the bottom of the website's page.
5. WP Glossary – allows you to create online glossary with terms.
6. Yet Another Related Posts Plugin – shows a list of recommended posts based on a unique algorythm.
7. Facebook – fully integrates your site with social features of Facebook.
8. qTranslate – adds a multi-language support on your website.