The symfony project keeps getting bigger and bigger all of the time, and they've just expanded even further with the release of a new symfony-based application for their own site - a code snipped library, a.k.a "Snipeet".

Is there a better way to learn a new language - or a framework - than by looking at showcase apps? Just like us, you probably don't want to spend hours reading the manual. You prefer to find a code snippet that does something close to what you need, copy it, have it run, and then customize it for your own requirements. You try to understand only what must be adapted, to keep your mind clear and focused on your primary task.

Taking this mentality out to the next step, the team created the code snippets section to help find those little bits you need to bridge the gap in your code. And, of course, not only can you use the tool to view and contribute snippets to the symfony project, but you can also grab the code for the self-contained version of the project as well.

DevShed finishes off their "Creating a Query Processor" series, a look at working with sockets and related functions, in part three, a focus on extending the class even further and some more in-depth looks "under the hood".

Welcome to the third part of the series "Network Programming in PHP." In three tutorials, this series explains the basics of network programming in PHP, by developing a query processor class in PHP 5, which uses some of the most popular PHP network functions, in order to implement the logic of its methods.

In this last article of the series, I'll add some extra methods to the query processor class, which can be used for performing the networking operations that I mentioned before. Of course, I'll implement within all the methods an easy-to-grasp programming logic, so you shouldn't have any problems understanding how each method works.

He starts with a brief look back to see how far the script's come before charging ahead into even more expansion. He fleshes out the getMXRecords and checkDNSRecords methods before adding in come TCP service functions - scanPort and getWhois. Finally, he wraps it all back into the class and takes one last look at the entire creation (and a simple example that checks the DNS and scans ports for the host "google.com".

When it comes to limiting the spam that comes through on your site (usually on the open comments), a CAPTCHA can do some of the best work. It provides a good alternative to convoluted techniques for restricting the commenting system of your site, and does it in a simple, easy for a human to use, kind of system. Implementing them, however, can be a bit tricky, so this new article on Dublish.com is here to help.

Captcha is the name for the images with random letters and some distortion that appears on each and every forum these days and even here on dublish. The purpose is to prevent the sites from spam.

Now I'm going to show you how to do this random picture generator in PHP. I assume that you have some basic PHP skillz before doing this. Before you start you need the GD library that allows you to create graphics in php.

The article steps you through the creation of the single-script functionality to generate the image. It's an image with a series of random characters on a gradient background created with the GD libraries. The code used in the CAPTCHA is stored in a session variable for validation later. He adds a few graphical touches to make it look a bit nicer, and finishes off with an example of its use.

There's some great news from the folks over at Zend today - they're offering their Zend Platform product for free to developers.

From the press release:

Zend Technologies, Inc., the PHP Company, today announced that it is offering a free developer's version of Zend Platform, its PHP runtime optimization technology, to all buyers of Zend Studio Professional 5.2, the industry leading software development environment for PHP.

Zend Platform enhances PHP deployments with real-time debugging, monitoring, configuration, performance management, clustering, and Java integration. The functionality of the developer's version is identical to the production version of Zend Platform, enabling PHP developers to get their applications to deployment faster and reducing the frequency and severity of post-deployment problems in their PHP applications.

To grab your free developer's copy of the Zend Platform software, head over to this page on the Zend site and click on the "Download the Zend Platform Trial and request a Developers License" link.

As previously announced, the documentation for each major release of eZ publish will now be split into version-specific branches. The functionality introduced in eZ publish 3.8 is now available in the 3.8 branch of the documentation. Among other updates, this includes:

• Advanced redirection after login
• New VAT charging system
• New multi-currency support
  

designIT is a boutique web development firm specializing in content management systems. We are looking for a keen designer with strong CSS skills to design and style sites for a wide range of clients. In return for the following requirements we provide a positive environment where you will be supported, get to have you say and be able to grow with the business.

You will:

• be expected to present your site designs to clients and work with them to arrive at a design that works for the user, and the client's business goals.
• be able to produce CSS/ HTML/xHTML templates from your Photoshop mockups.
• be able to produce code that works on a variety of browsers such as IE, Safari & Firefox.
• have experience in coding with web standards & are aware of accessibility & useability issues when creating sites.
• have a minimum of 3 years experience, working on a variety of projects with strong communication skills and with a strong eye for detail and good design.
• Ideally you will also have experience working with content management systems.
• Flash, JavaScript & php knowledge would be a bonus ­ but we want someone who is primarily skilled in Photoshop/CSS/HTML

You should be able to demonstrate having worked on a variety of projects, highlighting your skills and how you contributed to their success.

This position is based in Melbourne, Australia and available from 19th June 2006.
Salary is $40,000 to $50,000 (AUD) commensurate with experience.

Please provide a covering letter outlining your skills & experience in relation to the above requirements to martin@designit.com.au

designIT is a boutique web development firm specializing in content management systems. We are looking for a keen designer with strong CSS skills to design and style sites for a wide range of clients. In return for the following requirements we provide a positive environment where you will be supported, get to have you say and be able to grow with the business.

You will:

• be expected to present your site designs to clients and work with them to arrive at a design that works for the user, and the client's business goals.
• be able to produce CSS/ HTML/xHTML templates from your Photoshop mockups.
• be able to produce code that works on a variety of browsers such as IE, Safari & Firefox.
• have experience in coding with web standards & are aware of accessibility & useability issues when creating sites.
• have a minimum of 3 years experience, working on a variety of projects with strong communication skills and with a strong eye for detail and good design.
• Ideally you will also have experience working with content management systems.
• Flash, JavaScript & php knowledge would be a bonus ­ but we want someone who is primarily skilled in Photoshop/CSS/HTML

You should be able to demonstrate having worked on a variety of projects, highlighting your skills and how you contributed to their success.

This position is based in Melbourne, Australia and available from 19th June 2006.
Salary is $40,000 to $50,000 (AUD) commensurate with experience.

Please provide a covering letter outlining your skills & experience in relation to the above requirements to martin@designit.com.au

A new version of the Firebug Firefox extension (for debugging JavaScript, CSS, HTML and Ajax) has been released.

Release notes are at http://www.joehewitt.com/software/firebug/releases/0.4notes.php

If only there was something comparable for IE!

A new version of the Firebug Firefox extension (for debugging JavaScript, CSS, HTML and Ajax) has been released.

Release notes are at http://www.joehewitt.com/software/firebug/releases/0.4notes.php

If only there was something comparable for IE!

On Alexy Kovyrin's blog today, there's a new post that aims to help you squeeze every last bit of performance out of your Apache server dishing out your PHP scripts - with a little help from Nginx.

After my first post about nginx web and reverse-proxy server, I have received many e-mail comments and questions. One of the most popular questions was "How to use PHP with nginx?". This small howto-like article is about how to do it.

The Nginx software actually supports working with the FastCGI software which, in turn, can run your PHP scripts at a bit speedier pace. He walks you through a simple install, just enough to get things working, before giving you the script you'll need to get FastCGI to correctly work with PHP. Finally, he helps you configure the Nginx software to provide the final piece of the puzzle.