PHP Beyond the Web

by Rob Aley

Overview

Use your existing web-based PHP skills to write all types of software: CLI scripts, desktop software, network servers, and more. This book gives you the tools, techniques, and background necessary to write just about any type of software you can think of, using the PHP you know.

PHP Beyond the Web shows you how to take your knowledge of PHP development for the web and utilise it with a much wider range of software systems. Enjoy the benefits of PHP after reading this book: save money by redeploying existing skills, not learning new ones; save time and increase productivity by using a high-level language; and make money by providing your clients a full-stack service (not just websites).

PHP is no longer just a great scripting language for websites, it's now a powerful general-purpose programming language. Expand your use of PHP into your back-end systems, server software, data processing services, desktop interfaces, and more.

What You'll Learn

• Write interactive shell scripts
• Work with system daemons
• Write desktop software
• Build network servers
• Interface with electronics using PHP and the Raspberry Pi
• Manage performance, deployment, licensing, and system interaction
• Discover the software tools for development and get other great sources of technical information and help

Who This Book Is For

Experienced PHP programmers or experienced programmers interested in leveraging PHP outside the web development context.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781484224809
Publisher:	Apress
Publication date:	12/16/2016
Edition description:	1st ed.
Pages:	206
Product dimensions:	7.01(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.02(d)

About the Author

Rob Aley has been programming commercially and academically in a variety of programming languages, with over 10 years of PHP experience, since graduating in Computer Science from the University of Leeds in 1999,

Having had a varied career working in industries from coffee to condoms, as well as doing freelance software development, Rob is now a “Database Programmer” at the University of Oxford working in healthcare related data analysis. He uses PHP almost exclusively now, out of choice.

When he's not working or writing books, he spends time with his wife, three young children, and most importantly his cat.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Getting away from the Web - the basics
3. Understanding the CLI SAPI, and why you need to
4. Development tools
5. User facing software
6. System software
7. Interacting with other software
8. Talking to the system
9. Performance & stability - profiling and improving
10. Distribution and deployment issues
Appendix A : Compiling and installing PHP and its extensions
Appendix B : File & data format libraries for PHP
Appendix C : Sources of help
Appendix D : Interesting libraries, tools, articles and projects
Appendix E : Integrated Development Environments for PHP
Afterword: Where now?