php[architect]

by Christian Wenz

There are various file formats to archive, pack, zip or crunch data. PHP supports many of them, in different ways: using external PHP scripts, PEAR packages or PHP extensions. In this article, author Christian Wenz explores the world of compression mechanisms using all that PHP has to offer!

by Graeme Foster

A login screen--what could be simpler? Well, if you want a safe login screen and can't afford the luxury of running an HTTPS connection, things are not so simple after all. Join author Graeme Foster as he explains several ways in which you can make the gateway to your secure applications safer with nothing more than PHP, JavaScript and a whole lot of programming smarts.

by José Pablo Ezequiel Fernández Silva

A lot has been done—and said—about template systems in PHP, but, still, no real conclusion has been reached. Author José Pablo Ezequiel Fernández Silva examines PHPTAL, a PHP implementation of TAL, the Template Attribute Language that is very well know among Zope programmers. Unlike many other templating systems that use custom syntax, TAL is entirely based on XML, making it easier to understand for developers and designers alike.

by Scott Mattocks

Tired of having to write a new script for every PEAR package he released, Scott Mattocks decided to wrap the PEAR_PackageFileManager class in a GUI to make generating package files a snap. This article details the process that he went through to create his application and highlights how you can use PHP-GTK to do the same with your classes.

by Marco Tabini

"PHP in the Enterprise" is beginning to sound like "the paperless office." Luckily, there’s a lot less of a vapourware aura around the former than around the latter, as this interview with Cornelius Willis, IdeaLabs’ Vice-president of Sales and Marketing, shows.

by Marcus Baker

Want a design tool created by a world class developer? Want one that does not just encourage good design, but helps teach it? Want one that encourages collabo-rative design in the face of the disparate personalities involved? Don’t know UML? Not much money? Don’t worry. “Class Responsibility Collaboration” cards, or CRC cards for short, are one of the cheapest development tools you can buy. Superficially, they are nothing more than a pack of index cards.

by Chris Shiflett

This month’s Security Corner topic is magic quotes, the collective term for the behaviour of the magic_quotes_gpc, magic_quotes_sybase, and magic_quotes_runtime configuration directives. Chris' approach this month is a bit different, because instead of highlighting a best practice or describing a security safeguard, he wants to warn you against relying on insufficient protections. Betting all your security money on magic quotes is more than just a red herring—it is actually a very poor practice, and this month's Security Corner will explain why.