New Security Consortium

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If you are interested in security, you may want to check out the new [url=http://phpsec.org/]PHP Security Consortium[/url]. They [url=http://phpsec.org/about/news/31jan2005.html]describe the group[/url] on their site:
[quote] An international group of PHP experts today announced the official launch of the PHP Security Consortium (PHPSC), a group whose mission is to promote secure programming practices within the PHP community through education and exposition while maintaining high ethical standards.[/quote]

They only have [url=http://phpsec.org/articles/]one article[/url] so far, but I’m hoping that will change soon. Anyone know who all is in this besides “an International group of PHP Experts”? I see Chris Shiflett and Andi….but can’t seem to find a members list.

Ah, well…here’s hoping!

Posted in PHP

Zend’s PHP 101: Bugging Out

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An article was posted out on Zend.com yesterday discussing the full range of error handling options that PHP provides. I bring it up because it is just so perfectly related to [url=http://www.kcpug.org/site/modules/news/article.php?storyid=7]January’s Meeting[/url]. In January, we discussed PHP 5’s new try/catch/exception logic; and only talked about the rest as the “old way.” Of course, the truth is…even in PHP 5 most everything you work with still uses the other (IMHO) “lesser” concepts.

If you are like me, and most of your development is still in PHP 4; or, if you are interested in the other error handing options that PHP provides, be sure to read [url=http://www.zend.com/php5/abs/php101-12.php]Bugging Out[/url].

Here’s to Please, Love and error-free PHP!

Posted in PHP

Fun with SimpleXML

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Ok, I’ve read about SimpleXML. I’ve looked at examples, and articles, and books and said…”Oh, that’s nice.” But tonight, I decided to whip up a quick and dirty RSS parser with it.

It took about 5 minutes (not that it does much), and I had a very simple rss feed reader for my bookmarks on [url=http://del.icio.us]del.icio.us[/url]. When I was done, all I could say: “Oh, that’s REALLY nice!”

Read on for a simple simpleXML example, some links and more.

As far as the code goes:
[code]
under the root tag.
foreach( $xml->item as $item ){
echo “

HOWTO : Writing a book review

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[i]Our friend Janet Crosbie over at Apress has written up a nice resource for those of you struggling to write a book review. In it she provides ideas, links and examples that any reader may find helpful in preparing their review. Read on for more!

If you would like to post a Book Review on our site, simply log in, select submit news from the Main Menu and type away. You can set the topic if you like, or just let me set it when I go to approve it.

Thank you Janet, for putting this together for us![/i]

Apress encourages user group members to write book reviews that are comfortable and fun to write. We realize that time may be limited for working professionals, so we appreciate any thoughtful and constructive reviews of our books.

We suggest posting book reviews wherever relevant: Amazon, Slashdot, your blog, your buddy’s blog, Barnes and Noble, JavaRanch, or your user group’s site-just to name a handful.

Whenever possible, a review should mention chapter features, describing one or several chapters at a time. Additional topics might include:

  • How will this book help you with your work (or hobbies)?
  • What sets it apart from other books you’ve read?
  • Would you recommend it? To whom?
  • What was your favorite chapter or section?

Many reviewers enjoy sharing what worked (or didn’t work so well) for them in our books. And review length is up to the writer-we typically see reviews that range from a paragraph to a few pages. Here are a few examples:

If you want to challenge yourself, take a look at some examples of [b]Slashdot reviews[/b]:

  • [url=http://books.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/09/30/180221&tid=156&tid=126&tid=95&tid=6]Web Standards Solutions[/url]
  • [url=http://books.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/10/13/1815209&tid=192&tid=6]Foundations of Python Network Programming[/url]

If you’re more limited on time, follow the example of some [b]Amazon customer reviews[/b]:

  • [url=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1590593308]Cross-Platform .NET Development: Using Mono, Portable.NET, and Microsoft .NET[/url]
  • [url=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1893115518/]Beginning PHP 5 and MySQL: From Novice to Professional[/url]

Here are some fine examples of reviews posted on [b]User Group sites[/b]:

  • http://www.denvervisualstudio.net/Reviews/Books2004/Book10052004.htm
  • http://www.mainebytes.org/bookreviews.asp
  • http://oakland.pm.org/reviews/apress_perlbeg.html
  • http://www.denverjug.org/reviews/DecompilingJava.jsp

And some [b]Blogs that feature book reviews[/b]:

  • http://codegeneration.net/br_list.php?search=publisher&id=7
  • http://www.adboyd.com/reviews/apress/CubeFarm.html
  • http://www.crazedfanboy.com/npcr/popculturereview222.html
  • http://msmvps.com/williamryan/archive/2004/12/21/26681.aspx

January 2005 – The Exceptional Exception (Updated)

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In PHP 4, dealing with errors can be a little combersome. But, with PHP 5, we get the power of exceptions…and all the clean code they have to offer.

You can check out [url=http://www.kcpug.org/doghouse/2005_jan/exceptions_20050115.swf] the slides[/url] from our presentation or the [url=http://www.php.net/exceptions]examples and documentation[/url] on php.net.

Dynamically Typed : OOP and Performance

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Once again, Harry Fuecks says something on [url=http://www.sitepoint.com/blog-view.php?blogid=9]his blog[/url] that makes me think: “Of course! That’s Brilliant!” This time, he tries to debunk the age-old wisdom that an OOP implementation is slower than it’s procedural counterpart.

Of course, this is a correct statement…but, [url=http://www.sitepoint.com/blog-post-view.php?id=223760]as Harry points out[/url]; only if you don’t take advantage of some of the things OOP helps you do. Of course, even your proceduralists out there could read this and think up ways to implement his ideas in functions…so everyone should at least take a peak.