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Here’s a summary of updates for PHP on Windows for January 2010.

January 2010 – Summary

· PHP 5.2.12 has shipped

· Windows Azure support added in Zend Framework

· FastCGI 1.5 RTW has shipped

· WinCache Extension 1.0.1 for PHP has shipped

PHP Core – PHP 5.2.12 release

The PHP 5.2.12 has been released and is available on http://windows.php.net and is also offered via Web Platform Installer. The release has more than 60 bug fixes, some of which are security related.

Further details about the PHP 5.2.12 release can be found in the release announcement, and the full list of changes are available in the ChangeLog.

FastCGI Extension 1.5 for IIS 6.0 and IIS 5.1

IIS team has released to web FastCGI Extension 1.5 for IIS 6.0 and IIS 5.1. This version is based on FastCGI Extension 1.0 and it adds several important improvements and features, including most notably:

· Monitor changes to a file. The extension can be configured to listen for file change notifications on a specific file and when that file changes, the extension will recycle FastCGI processes for the process pool. This feature can be used to recycle PHP processes when changes to php.ini file occur.

· Real-time tuning of MaxInstances setting. This MaxInstances setting dictates the maximum number of FastCGI processes which can be launched for each application pool. If it is set to 0 then FastCGI extension will automatically adjust the number of instances up or down every few seconds based on the system load and number of requests waiting in the queue.

More details about the FastCGI Extension 1.5 can be found in the release announcement.

Windows Cache Extension for PHP

WinCache 1.0.1 – Servicing Release

IIS team has released an update to Wincache 1.0. The update fixes several important bugs reported by customers. More details about WinCache 1.0.1 servicing release can be found in the release announcement. The update can be downloaded from here. The source code is available on pecl.php.net.

PHP Interoperability

New version of Zend Framework adds support for Microsoft Windows Azure

Zend Technologies Inc. has announced the availability of Zend Framework 1.10, which among other new features includes support for Microsoft Windows Azure cloud services. We’re very excited about this key milestone, which is the result of a fruitful collaboration! This particular project started last year when we announced the Windows Azure SDK for PHP CTP release and upcoming support in Zend Framework. With the new Zend Framework 1.10, by simply using the new Zend_Service_WindowsAzure component, developers can easily call Windows Azure APIs from their PHP applications and leverage the storage services, including Blob Storage, Table Storage and Queue Service, offering them a way to accelerate web application development and scale up on demand.

More: http://blogs.msdn.com/interoperability/archive/2010/01/28/new-version-of-zend-framework-adds-support-for-microsoft-windows-azure.aspx

Tutorial: Creating PHP CRUD Apps with SQL Server on your Server or in the Azure Cloud

Do you know PHP and have data in a Microsoft SQL Server database? Well we have an application wizard that will make your lives a little easier. The project, open source and hosted on CodePlex, will help you build a simple CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) application that works against Microsoft SQL Server, SQL Azure and Windows Azure Storage. The application is installable on Windows and supports data navigation, paging, sorting and UI customization using simple CSS.

More http://blogs.msdn.com/interoperability/archive/2010/01/06/creating-php-crud-apps-with-sql-server-on-your-server-or-in-the-azure-cloud.aspx

Enabling PHP Applications on Windows

Windows Web Application Gallery

The XOOPS (Japanese) has been added to the Web Application Gallery and is available for download via Web Platform Installer.

The following applications in Web Application Gallery have been updated to their latest versions:

· WordPress (English and Japanese) – 2.9.1

· MySQL – 5.1.43

· SugarCRM – 5.5

· Moodle – 1.9

The Eclipse tools for Silverlight project, aka eclipse4SL, is an eclipse plug-in that enables Eclipse developers to use the Eclipse IDE to create applications that run on the Microsoft Silverlight runtime platform. It also enables collaboration on Silverlight projects between Eclipse (Java) developers, .NET developers, and web designers on both the Windows and MAC operating systems.

http://www.eclipse4sl.org/

This was noted at ZendCon last week.  Here’s the official link for download.  

Windows Azure Tools for Eclipse

In partnership with Marco Tabini and Associates (MTA) (php|architect; CodeWorks; php|tek), we are excited to announce the launch of The Great PHP on Windows contest. Do you have what it takes to win? Of course you do .

You are encouraged to leverage existing open-source libraries and applications, including blogs engines, forums, photo galleries and other platform/components as part of your submission.

For complete details visit http://phparch.com/win

The Quick Summary:

• Write a new application designed to run in PHP on Windows using IIS—or make a significant contribution to an existing open-source project along the same lines
• The best application, selected jointly by a panel of experts and by our readers, will win a grand prize
  which includes a 52″ Digital HD home entertainment system, as well as an all-expenses paid trip to php|tek 2010 in Chicago. Runner-up prizes include 2 XBox 360 Ultimate and subscriptions to php|architect.
• Not familiar with Windows? No worries—we have partnered with Applied Innovations to give you absolutely free hosting on a pre-configured virtual machine for the duration of the contest.
• Registration and submissions for the contest will be accepted October 19^th, 2009 through February 28^th, 2010 and with judging and public voting will occur March 1^st – 31^st.
• For the duration of the contest, Applied Innovations will provide free web hosting to all participants (shared) and a free VM to the first 60 participants who register.
• Contest is open to all U.S. residents excluding MTA, Applied Innovations, and Microsoft employees and affiliated individuals. (MTA is the official sponsor with AppliedI and Microsoft as promotion entities.)

The contest is open to residents of the United States only—but you can still win by voting, no matter where you are.

 Good Luck!

We’re very pleased to announce the launch of the Web Platform Installer 2.0! 

Since we released Web PI 1.0 Beta, just a year ago, we have seen phenomenal success and customer appreciation for simplifying how you find and install the Microsoft Web Platform.  With this RTW launch of our 2.0 product we feel excited and confident that we have a solution that our partners, field, and communities can use to make getting the Microsoft Web Platform easier than ever.

• What’s new?  Highlights of the 2.0 release include: installing popular community ASP.NET and PHP applications, localization into 9 languages, and the expansion to include more scenarios around Media, Dev Tools, and Enterprise.
• Gotta have it!  1 MILLION downloads.  Over the past 12 months we have seen over 1 million downloads of Web PI, over 4.6 million downloads of Platform products and over 840,000 downloads of Web applications. 
• What are people saying?  “Saves so much time and hassle!” “one stop shopping” “attraction to the Web Platform installer was straight forward”

Install the Web Platform Installer RTW today and let us know what you think! 

I attended Cal Evans – “Five Things I Wished They Told Me” at Codeworks SF today.  I liked the presentation because it gave me insight about the PHP community. There were 22 people attending the session and I would speculate that the room included inexperienced and experienced PHP developers. The session certainly provided the framework (small “f”) to better understand the PHP community. I like the format and I can easily see how this can be carried over to other languages/frameworks. I’ve pasted an edited version of my notes below, so if I have made omissions or errors they are the fault of the author not Cal .

Frameworks

• Learn a Framework
• Frameworks exist for a reason
• Prototype however you want, but build production systems on a framework
• Frameworks are just tools – use one that works for you.

Frameworks – The Big 3

• Zend Framework
• Symfony
• CakePHP

Frameworks – The Second Tier

• Solar
• CodeIgniter (issue: it’s based on PHP 4 and 5. Code  forked as Kohana which is migrating purely to PHP 5)
• Agavi – starting to get traction in the community

Frameworks with Benefits

• Content Management
  • Drupal
  • Joomal
  • WordPress
• E-Commerce
  • Magneto
  • OSCommerce
• Qualities to Look for in Frameworks:
  • Community (Zend, Cake and Symfony have ery large communities) – active IRC, mailing lists, twitter etc.
  • Completeness – does it provide all the tools that are needed
  • Documentation (ie. Zend framework)
  • Unit Test Coverage 
  • IP Ownership (who owns it? Be aware of IP and ask the question – are you comfortable with it)
• Choose the Best Tool for the Job
  • Ex. If you are Symfony programmer – and a customer says "I need a blog" should I code one or implement WordPress?
  • Ex. WordPress is a framework with benefits – lots of hooks to the api’s or plug-ins etc.
• PHP is not <language x>
  • PHP is not Java
    • No Compiler
    • Both object and procedure based
    • No main()
    • No application server
  • PHP is not perl
    • PHP started as a series of scripts in perl
    • PHP is loosely typed
    • PHP is easier to read
  • PHP is not C#
    • PHP is cross platform
    • PHP works with multiple web servers
    • Not built for a specific framework (ie. ASP.NET)
  • PHP is not <insert favorite language>
    • PHP is no better or worse than any of these languages
    • PHP is the only language developed to solve web based problems
  • PHP is not <insert favorite language>
    • PHP is easy
    • PHP is complex
    • Great tool because you can start with the easy and get complex
  • Learn where to get help
    • Conferences
      • Php|tek (beg – adv.)
      • Dutch PHP Conference (very advanced )
      • ZendCon (targeted at directors, team leads, player coaches) Business Oriented
    • Value of conference is building relationships
  • Infrastructure & Support
    • Understanding is needed at levels of the stack (NOS, Web Server, etc.)
    • Support Choices and Comfort Levels
      • Vendor/Enterprise Support
      • Community Support
      • Updates

It was a great weekend spent at WordCamPDX in Portland’s a great town.  

I like Portland more than Seattle.  It’s got a very cool food cart culture…Jason Mauer the local Microsoft Developer Evangelist introduced me to Wiffies Fried Pies. Wiffies offers a wide range of pies, from BBQ Brisket to Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip. I had some really good Belgian Fries too.  I certainly had my fried food quota for the month!

Matt Mullenweg during the Q&A session

Picture of the group at the beginning of Saturday’s sessions

Jason Mauer’s Talk Like A Pirate – Windows Live Writer Demo

Wiffie’s BBQ Brisket…

Belgian Fries!

Yesterday Microsoft release a new open source project that bridges PHP and .NET using REST.  If you’re interested in getting more information please follow this link to codeplex.

We’ve recently updated the gallery to include SugarCRM Community Edition.   Sugar is the leading open source CRM solution provides core sales and marketing features. The platform is extensible and provides a module builder to develop and maintain custom applications.

Apparently there are 24 bits of third party software in Chrome. One of which is the Windows Template Library which was released as Open Source in 2004.  Take a look at Scott Hanselman’s Blog for a deeper dive.