How easy is it to develop agile applications using PHP?

The development of agile software seems to be a difficult task if one is not familiar with specific frameworks that are designed for this purpose. In such cases, indulging oneself in building complex software applications may turn out to be a highly time consuming affair. In-depth knowledge of appropriate frameworks powered with proper utilization help in the faster development of agile applications.

What Should You Know about PHP Net Enhancement?

As a dynamic programming language, PHP can be used for both server side scripting and general contexts. The developers can create a variety of web applications by combining PHP and HTML code. So it becomes easier for them to reduce development time and efforts by using a variety of frameworks and templating engines. At the same time, the programmers also have option to use several PHP Net enhancements to optimize the performance of their application without writing lengthy and complex code. Each developer must know some of commonly used PHP enhancements to deliver richer user experience.

Tips to keep your PHP code well documented

Right now, PHP can be considered as the most popular language in the world of web development. Some sites like Facebook, Wikipedia, etc as well as some of the biggest open source projects of the world, like Drupal and WordPress, use this language. In this language, there are no fixed rules as such; the content can be almost anything but the actual codes as well as tags are most important. Due to its permissive nature, common mistakes may be made, which may pose problems in the behavior of the program. The key here, is to make the codes clean, easy readable as well as well documented. So, here are some tips which will make sure that the ultimate code turns out to be perfectly documented and functional.

Naming of classes, functions along with variables- The code pieces can be named in whichever way you want. This factor should be used to your full advantage so that the code is kept understandable. Always make sure that clear names are chosen instead of making up strange abbreviations or using names which may be ambiguous. There is no need for you to be scared of making typos when using longer names; as it is you will be warned by your IDE about inconsistencies like unused variables in the code. Proper naming will surely help you figure out whatever goes on in the code.

Method visibility- Method visibility is another concept worth noting. If you want to write an object-oriented code that is high in quality then the class methods should be assigned with proper visibility. This helps show the code representing the part of logic which should be inside the class; this must not be exposed to the other classes that are there in application. It also exposes some class methods for public access, which helps us call from outside the specific class, so that communication with other application parts may be maintained. Codes including properly-set method visibility, aid other developers to quickly find out the working method of the class developed by you. Anybody will be able to figure out the few public methods that can be referred to in the code. The logic that private class methods handle and which should not be touched, is also noticed easily. Again, your IDE interprets such hints. The editor used by you, in all probability, will be able to show you class methods enlisted as well as their visibility.

Type hinting- Interface/ class names or callable/ array keywords may be put next to function parameter. This restricts the making of wrong function call. However, anyone who reads the code will be able to use it as important information. The function body does not have to be examined to know about calling of the function.

Importance of comments- If a complex script is developed but there are no comments, an error might come up when someone wants to reuse it some time after. In this case, it will take a huge amount of time to fix the problem since just trying to understand the code it will turn out to be a time-consuming task. Here comments can help since they are not only extended but almost all developers understand them. All docs can be seen at conclusion but there will be some specific special parameters that will start with @. During this format, a tool may be used so that the documentation may be exported as a html, pdf or another file even from IDE that is been currently used. Comments act as additional explanation which helps people know whatever is going on.

Over-commenting the code- The code should be properly documented through comments in the scripts but there is no need for commenting in each single line. The source code's complicated parts should have comments so that they may be revisited later to remember everything but the simple things like MySQL connection should not have comments. Most times, good codes are self-explanatory.

Apart from these tips, inserting custom text in doc block will also help by serving as function or class documentation. This will be a good option, if documentation for the project has to be made available from outside the code. So, be patient and incorporate these tips which will help you become better developer with time.

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PHP key features that makes web app development smoother, faster & easier

PHP means PHP Hypertext Preprocessor and is HTML's embedded scripting language like JSP or ASP, combining elements of Java, Perl and C. Many programmers and companies use this language as daily coding ritual; the code snippets as well as the open source frameworks help the developers. However, understanding the base PHP classes, functions and methods is a huge advantage. Here's taking a close look at some of the key features of the language which will make web application development easier, smoother as well as faster.

json_decode and json_encode- PHP has two extreme functions by using JSON or JavaScript Object Notation strings which is a standard that is text based and normally functions for sending and receiving of data with simple, easily legible structure. There are two functions which can help you manipulate the data from and to JSON. When utilizing json_encode the first argument is set as the data and then this converted data string will be returned by PHP, then used for output on API or even included in HTML template so that the JavaScript code can read it. json_decode is its opposite.

PDO Class- PHP Data Object or PDO is exclusively used for connection with MySQL databases by providing a good layer of abstraction around database driver sets. This essentially means that no matter what database is being used, with PDO support the same functions can be used for the performing of the same database actions. The code becomes more portable for using the web application on a variety of databases without any additional development time. Several standardized functions are provided by PDO Class like creation prepared statements, creating transactions and allowing escape variables if the need so arises.

Glob () for file-finding- Glob() may be referred to as scandir() function's more capable version. This allows you to search files with the use of patterns. Multiple types of files can be fetched by using this as well. In fact the files can be actually returned with path according to the query generated. For full path of each, the realpath() function can be called on returned values.

Generating unique IDs- Sometimes there arise certain situations which might warrant the generation of unique strings. To achieve that people often use the function md5() which is not really meant for that. Instead of that a PHP function called uniqid() may be used for that. Several characters at first may seem to be similar despite the strings being unique; this is attributed to the relation with server time and generated string. A good side effect to this is that each newly generated id comes in alphabetical order which aids in the sorting. Chances of duplicacy can be reduced by passing second parameter or prefix so that entropy can be increased. Nevertheless the strings generated by the function will be much shorter than md5(), saving a lot of space for you.

Unit testing- Automated code testing within the app is enabled through this. For all major projects some unit testing may be added. All reviewed PHP frameworks either use PHPUnit that is like the de facto testing suite for PHP or have their very own methods for unit testing.

Templating- This is the way codes can be organized within views. It attempts to find out the best way for code organization within the view. Before MVC frameworks a good solution was Smarty Template.

The features given are just the tip of the iceberg. PHP results in endless possibilities which may be best harnessed only if the features can be grasped fully. The learning curve may be steep and long but truly worthwhile. PHP can form a good foundation for ecommerce systems, bespoke platforms, content management systems, etc. Being armed with PHP and its features, will help you tackle the new challenges that the web development world brings to you everyday.

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Why Is LAMP The Best Choice For Dynamic Web Development?

The development platform LAMP helps in determining the efficiency of an application. It contains safe Linux base, dependable MySQL database, open source scripting language and a popular Apache web server. Moreover, it allows developers to create a website at economic price ranges. Developers have increasingly started using it, intending to develop dynamic web applications. It is a software bundle or stack which stands for Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP, Perl or Python. Opting for this development platform can be a good strategy for any organization with a web presence.

Why LAMP is a popular choice

For developers, web application development using this technology is the preferred option for creating a stable, reliable and highly efficient application. Using LAMP stack as its open source can be adapted to suit a given requirement quickly and easily.

Free technology

The greatest advantage of LAMP is that it does not involve license cost. While creating a site, if you opt for WAMP (Windows, Apache, MySQL, Perl/Python/PHP), you have to pay licensing fee to Microsoft. However, LAMP discounts this requirement. Therefore, with this application platform, you can develop effective sites at moderate prices.

Easy to code

It offers easy coding by ensuring that coding is relatively bug free. You do not need to go through a time consuming and exhaustive process of fixing the bugs.

Secured

This software enables web developers to enjoy the secured advantages of Linux. Therefore, in addition to affordable price, you can enjoy security as well. Linux distribution system is accessible in different versions and hence a web developer may opt for the one that best meets his requirement.

Easy deployment

For many developers, developing a web application becomes a tricky practice, especially when it is difficult to easily integrate the programming language with the database and server. With LAMP, there are no such problems as PHP is a standard Apache module. Therefore, deploying LAMP web applications becomes easier.

Delivers the best scripting language

LAMP development comes with several scripting languages including Pearl, Python and PHP. While creating a site, PHP is mostly preferred as it is an advanced scripting language. Furthermore, it is compatible even with the most complicated sites.

A dependable web server

LAMP renders users a stable as well as reliable web server in the form of Apache. According to many web developers, Apache is an excellent open source web server with easy usability. You can use it to connect any dynamic website with the web world. It also possesses a strong community which is meant to clarify problematic issues to users.

Offers flexibility and support

There are many reasons behind the popularity of LAMP development and these include easy customization and simple structure. People using this application are aware that it involves relatively simpler coding structure. Additionally, it offers powerful community support. In case a developer faces any difficulty, the large community is there to extend every support required. For all these reasons, people prefer using LAMP, instead of WAMP or MAMP.

Local Development

Another huge benefit of using LAMP stack lies in the fact that a developer can build an application locally and then deploy it onto the web.

LAMP is extremely popular, however it is not possible for all developers to optimize its use. Hence, you need to choose the right kind of developer who is well experienced and expert in using the LAMP stack. This development platform ascertains the efficiency of an application. Choosing a wrong platform means the resultant application will not entirely match the client's specifications. In recent times, businesses are looking for the type of application that is able to fast track their business processes with desired growth. To make this happen, they need a software that can easily be integrated into their existing IT infrastructure and one that can be trusted to deliver high performance.

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Tips to build PHP applications on Windows

Within a very short span of time PHP has emerged as a popular web programming language. According to many reports, over 20 millions websites and web applications use this open source programming language. The rapidly growing popularity of the web development language also compels many programmers to switch to PHP development. The programmers familiar with widely used Microsoft products like Visual Studio and SQL Server often find it a daunting challenge to migrate to PHP development. However, these developers have several options to set up PHP development environment on their PCs. The right environment will further make it easier for programmers to build robust web application by using an IDE and PHP interpreter.

Tips to Rapidly Built PHP Applications on Windows

Compare Different Options

You have a number of options to avail PHP for windows. But it is always important to determine the version of PHP you want to use before choosing an option. The simplest way is to download and install software applications like the PHP Binary Interpreter and NetBeans 7.2.1 IDE. Also, you can consider using an .MSI installer, if you are planning to use versions older than PHP 5.3.0. Also, you need to understand the exact steps to configure the environment by extracting content of from these ZIP files.

Use the Built-in Web Server

The PHP 5.4+ comes with a built-in web server. The web server comes with features to facilitate local development without requiring any specific configuration. Also, you can consider using a set of customized development tools like Zend Server, Microsoft Web Platform Installer, WAMP and XAMPP. These tools will enable you to set up and run the Windows development framework in a quick and hassle-free way. The tools will further allow you to avail the advantages of a web server along with MySQL. However, it is also important understand the key differences between using these tools on Windows and Linux.

Avail the Advantages of IIS7

You can even consider developing the Windows development environment by availing the features of IIS7. These features will further contribute towards optimizing the stability and performance of the production system on Windows. IIS7 is also designed with a GUI plug-in called phpmanager that can be used to configure and manage the application development environment in a much simpler manner. At the same time, you can also use the built-in FastCGI features to configure PHP as a handler. Microsoft has further enabled developers to access additional resources and tutorials.

Know the Bugs while Running the Application

Often developers have to deploy a PHP application, developed on Windows, on non-Windows platforms like Linux. The change in running environment will results in creation on strange bugs. Therefore, you must note the changes in the versions of PHP and operating systems. Also, you can consider using a virtual machine to handle the differences between deployment platforms. There are also several software applications that make it easier for you to setup a virtual environment by following a set of simple steps. For instance, Vagrant allows you to create a virtual environment to run the PHP application by following few steps. Similarly, you can use the provisioning software provided by Puppet or chef to set up and customize the virtual machine manually according to the needs of your project.

When you plan to develop PHP applications on Windows, it becomes essential to understand how to set up the development environment properly. You may also have to put some amount of time and effort to create the right environment. But you can start developing the PHP application in no time after setting up the environment on Windows by using customized tools.

You can hire php programmers from top companies in India who can help you build products within allocated budgets and time schedules.

We provide php application development services. If you would like to discuss with an expert php developer from our team, please get in touch with us at Mindfire Solutions.

The Growing Trend of Offshore PHP Development

Recently there has been tremendous growth in the trend of offshore web development and India is one of the major IT hubs offering offshore development of sites at an economic rate. Once businesses think of creating a website for their organization, the prime thing to be considered is the technology which is being leveraged to develop the site and whether it is cost-effective, efficient and makes room for fast development. Considering all these factors, PHP is one of the widely used and most popular scripting language that web developers use for building any web application, be it a simple website or intricate applications such as social networking sites, forums, e-commerce websites and so on.

PHP is highly suitable for web development because it provides great deal of security and renders support to all databases. Considering the present scenario, the client wants to have web applications built of the software applications that incorporate feasible licensing fees, are strong in nature, offers copyright and are capable of being operated across a range of operating systems. Services are required at reasonable prices wherein the developers do not need to consider any external source for writing codes.

Advantages of PHP Web Development

As compared to the other programming languages, like Java and ASP.Net, web development using PHP has a number of benefits, a few of which are discussed below:

• Increased usability and efficiency: PHP offers unparalleled efficiency and usability so far as web development is concerned.
  
• Data processing: A website when developed using PHP operates conveniently and incorporates rapid data processing capabilities.
  
• Compatible: PHP based websites are compatible with every OS system such as UNIX, Windows and so on.
  
• HTML: PHP is capable of being uploaded into HTML and this is one of the greatest benefits.
  
• Cost-effectiveness: Design, development, modification and customization of PHP based sites are quite feasible with respect to the cost involved. Almost all the web development service providers offer PHP-oriented services such as web application development, CMS development, website design and the like.
  
• Easy to Understand: As compared to other available scripting languages, PHP offers convenient comprehension owing to its simple techniques and features.
  
• Integration: This scripting language can be easily integrated with the major web applications.

Going for Offshore PHP Web Development

Today a large number of companies prefer to opt for offshore PHP development as it brings in many benefits.

• Talented and Skilled Resources: Developers belonging to countries such as India are immensely talented and are well acclaimed for coming up with interactive and eye-catchy websites. Outsourcing of PHP development in such countries delivers world-class solutions for all project requisites. Web marketing solutions are also offered in order to further boost the website’s visibility on search engines.
  
• Reasonable prices: Developing countries such as India are going through revolutionary changes and are capable of providing IT services at a highly affordable rate. Since the cost of labor is comparatively cheap, this enables the companies to deliver outstanding solutions at lucrative prices. There are companies which even allow you to outsource PHP developer working for long-term or short-term for your project.
  
• Outstanding Tailor-made Solutions: Through offshore PHP development, you can avail services from PHP developers with years of experience in the domain, which empowers them to comprehend your business needs in an efficient manner and deliver suitable solutions.
  
• Timely Solutions: By outsourcing your web development process to a company offering offshore PHP development services, you will be able to save a lot of time. Since they work with a team of talented and experienced professionals, they would be able to render high quality solutions within time.

Offshore PHP development is indeed a rage nowadays and outsourcing your PHP projects to leading organizations can offer you exceptional web solutions without a great deal of in-house effort. A good company will always ensure effective and clear communication with the project developer and manager to understand every requirement and deliver the project successfully.

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Qualitative Website Development using Zend Framework

A deeper insight into the PHP community and you find that this huge developer base is divided into two categories. There are those developers who choose the normal “out-of-box” PHP and there are the others who swear by their favorite frameworks. So whether you are in for the plain vanilla PHP or you support the frameworks way of doing things, it is all a matter of choice.

A PHP framework can be called a good one if it helps the developer spend lesser time on trying to improve the security, help him make websites that are subsequently easier to upgrade and should also significantly reduce the time spent on building websites and web applications.

So the question arises that why should one use Zend Framework specifically for developing a qualitative website. Zend is currently the PHP framework of choice for enterprise businesses. One can say this with certainty because there is a high demand in the market for “Zend PHP certified” developers. But just going by the job boards does not make Zend popular, it is also a complete package of  advanced features, plugins and free optional downloads. And Zend was built by the makers of PHP. Need we say more?

Here are some Zend products which make it so popular amongst the developer group.

The first product is the Zend Server, a web application server meant for PHP applications that are crucial from a business point of view. The zend Server helps develop applications faster by offering a consistent, supported, and up-to-date PHP stack which includes in-built PHP caching APIs and Zend Framework built in.The Zend Server also contributes towards rapid and consistent deployment getting applications out into production faster and more reliably. Its ability to optimize application performance, faster problem resolution and scalability to handle load makes it a favourite amongst enterprise users.

The second product is Zend-Right scale cloud solution which is the only solution that enables a business to easily manage a PHP runtime environment in the cloud. Not only does it help deploy PHP applications in the cloud and providing on-demand provisioning coupled with automatic scaling, but also is an enterprise grade secure PHP stack with high availability in the cloud.

The third product from the PHP stable is the Zend studio which is a development environment exclusively for professionals that includes PHP code editing, debugging, profiling, unit testing, diagnostics and more. Thus using the Zend Studio ensures developing and maintaining faster code, quicker problem resolution, cloud-enabled platform and availability of team-oriented development features to increase team collaboration.

Finally the Zend Guard which is the most popular PHP encoding and obfuscation product on the market. Using the Zend Guard protects the PHP application from unlicensed use and reverse engineering thus protecting the intellectual property which is threatened by the increase in availability of commercial applications in PHP.

The products by themselves would not be of much use if you lack a technology partner to make the best use of all these wonderful Zend products to build your PHP application just the way you want it built. Mindfire Solutions, a custom PHP development company from India has more than 10 years of PHP application development experience and is perfectly equipped with a team of Zend certified engineers.

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Why do we use frameworks in PHP development?

It helps a lot to understand why we use frameworks in PHP development before zeroing in on a particular framework. A PHP Framework forms the basis of the platform that allows software developers to develop web applications. Hence it provides the detailed structure to develop an application.

The advantages of using a PHP Framework are manifold. First of all it helps save time. Secondly, it helps avoid the need to produce repetitive code, and thus helps the developer go for Rapid Application Development (RAD). Therefore one can always imagine how difficult it would be not to have a PHP Framework in place. These difficulties manifest while producing applications because the developer has to repeatedly code a lot of PHP. Notwithstanding the above fact, it also becomes imperative for the developer to execute the connection between his database and the application that he has been trying to develop from scratch. In these circumstances using a PHP framework makes custom PHP development easier by ensuring that this connection remains intact.

Essentially, PHP development is based on the Model View Controller (MVC) fundamentals which is an architectural pattern featured in a number of popular programming languages. The MVC architecture helps separate the domain logic from the user interface. Hence it is often quoted that, the key to understanding PHP Frameworks better comes through a thorough knowledge about the MVC architecture.

Although it may seem very convenient to pick up the most popular PHP framework in the market, it is also quite important not to get confused with what you need your framework to do and the features that are already bundled in the framework. Not every PHP Framework offers the same support for databases, communities, and an easy to follow user guide. At the same time if you are an end user company and you would like to build a content management system for your company using PHP, then you would obviously require some expert counsel from a professional PHP development company. When you are at this juncture of the software development phase then you can always approach Mindfire Solutions to address your PHP development needs. With over 10 years of custom PHP development experience along with deep expertise in the numerous PHP frameworks widely available in the market, Mindfire Solutions can be your ideal software development partner to help you from start to finish of your project. Not only will it help you decide judiciously on the framework to be used, it will undertake with utmost professionalism all the tasks that are essential towards the completion of the project.

Mindfire Solutions is a 12-year old leading Software Development and IT services company with a strong track record of working with SMBs like you who are present across geographies. Our 750+ spirited software engineers located across three advanced development centres in India have collectively executed more than 1000 projects for our 300+ client base. Along with a guaranteed Mindfire promise of unparalleled quality, we also have 100 hours risk free trial* for new clients.