They’ll be more than just roulette wheels and slot machines in Las Vegas this October as the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino resort plays host to the eleventh ZendCon conference.
More than 50% of the web is powered by PHP and according to Zend, who are the leading provider of enterprise-grade applications for PHP, there are ‘over 250 million PHP applications and websites’ that have been designed and developed by a very active global community of more than five million active PHP developers.
And amongst those five million developers, there are a growing number of IBM i developers who are using it to develop modern web and mobile-based applications on the i.
2015 is a very exciting year in the history of PHP, including:
- The arrival of PHP 7
- Zend Framework 3
- The latest version of the open source content management system, Drupal 8
- The eagerly awaited version of ecommerce platform, Magento 2
Taking place from 19 – 22 October 2015, ZendCon will:
“Feature authoritative keynotes, in-depth technical sessions and pre-conference tutorials that deliver high-value technical content relating to PHP 7, architecture and design, PHP best practices, Magento, Zend Framework, Symfony, Laravel, Drupal, Joomla, and WordPress”.
There are also a host of IBM i-related PHP sessions, which are detailed below.
DB2 and SQL in-depth for PHP on IBM i
A widely regarded expert in PHP on the IBM i, Alan Seiden will be delivering the only IBM i-related tutorial at ZendCon on Monday 19th October.
Recent advances in DB2 and SQL can make PHP applications more secure, efficient, and require less code. In the three-hour session, Seiden’s tutorial will guide attendees through the right way to use DB2 with PHP and take advantage of the enterprise-grade database: DB2 for IBM i.
Topics include:
- RCAC row and column security built into DB2
- techniques to reduce the amount of required boilerplate PHP database code
- new features of DB2 and ibm_db2 that can make life easier for developers
- detailed performance tips, prevention of SQL injection
- library list options
- connecting to IBM i’s DB2 from Windows and Linux
- how to link MySQL-based applications (WordPress, etc.) to DB2
- implementing pagination
- using Zend\Db, and more
Create a welcoming development environment in IBM i
Presented by Seiden again, this session looks at young developers who are now entering the IBM i environment thanks to languages such as PHP but may not be prepared for their new environment. He’ll provide tools and tips to allow developers to work from a UNIX terminal in the manner they may be used to (with minor adjustments) on IBM i.
- create a chroot environment for safe experimentation on IBM i
- install bash shell with tab autocomplete and other familar features
- access DB2 and IBM i operations from the command line
- use familiar editing tools such as vi
- use php-cli efficiently
Into to ZF2 on IBM i
Presented by Stephanie Rabbani, consultant for BCD Software and Quadrant Group (now known together as Fresche Solutions) and IBM i and PHP enthusiast this session looks at why ZF2 is a great fit for your larger PHP projects on IBM i.
Attendees will find out what ZF2 is and pick up some helpful tips, including:
- Understanding MVC
- DB2 integration
- Complex joins for SQL statements
- How to add PDF generation, emailing and graphs
Optimising Zend server performance on IBM i
Presented by James Oberholtzer, this session will introduce IBM i Work Management to the developer and Zend Server administrators. Oberholtzer will explore how the system is configured and managed using IBM i Navigator for i, and the traditional character-based interface.
Strategic modernisation with PHP
Another session delivered by Seiden will explore where to start with IBM i modernisation projects. He’ll inspire attendees with creative examples of modernisation on IBM i that provided a strong return on investment while controlling risk.
Which PHP coding style should IBM i programmers use?
In her second session, Rabbani will look at why PHP is such a great choice for IBM i web application development as it is not only a powerful, open-source language but a relatively easy for RPG programmers to learn.
“There are three PHP coding styles to consider: procedural, object-oriented (OO) and model-view-controller (MVC). Each style has different benefits and varying degrees of difficulty so it’s important to choose the right approach when you get started”.
In this session, attendees will learn:
- The similarities and differences between each PHP coding style
- When and why you should consider advancing to OO or MVC
- The best approach for RPG programmers
Apigility-powered APIs on IBM i
Delivered by Chuk Shirley, Senior Software Developer at Sabel Steel Service, this session will look at future-proofing your business logic by developing web APIs.
“Zend has made the process easier by releasing Apigility, a free and open-source tool that helps us create Zend Framework 2 back-ends ready to be consumed by desktop, mobile, the internet of things, or anything else that comes along”.
Zend server and IBM i administration
Oberholtzer’s second session will show attendees the process to install, configure, and then administer a Zend Server with MySQL installation.
If I was lucky enough to attend ZendCon, there is one session that I would also have liked to hear, even though it is not related to the IBM i, but does cover one of my other interests – eCommerce.
Magneto 2 – An introduction to a modern PHOP-based system
Magento is certainly the most popular eCommerce platform in the UK, so when their development team were set the task of building the major new version, Magento they used some of the best PHP tools such as Composer and PHPUnit. In this session, Joshua Warren will look at the design and architecture of Magento 2.
More about PHP on IBM i
Looking to find out more about PHP on the IBM i, you can download a series of PHP on i guides in our resource centre.
If you are considering developing PHP-based web and mobile applications on the IBM i, or need a little help with your current projects, Proximity has teamed up with BCD Software and Zend to provide JumpStart PHP on i bundles.
These bundles offer significant discounts to help you maximise your investment in your IBM i and can include WebSmart PHP (PHP interactive development environment), Zend Server Professional (provides support for PHP on IBM i) and development services from Proximity to get your staff up to speed with developing in PHP on IBM i and get that first PHP project delivered.
Posted by Paul on 3rd August 2015.