php[architect]

by Eric David

Security basics dictate that all user input must be validated on the server-side, and usability logic says that client-side validation provides a better user experience. This article, written by Eric David, will equip you with the tools needed to create a central validation library to simultaneously handle both front and back-end validation.

by Simon Morris

If you ever thought that security issues don't really apply to your site, you should read this article. Follow the thought processes of Joe Hacker as he tries to grab data from a MySQL database through a variety of different vulnerabilities in PHP and SQL code.

by Dustin Whittle

Symfony is much more than just another MVC framework. It takes the best of the current crop of PHP-based development tools and brings them all together to form a cohesive approach to Web application development. In this article, the second of a two-part series, Dustin Whittle continues to give an overview of its capabilities and show you how to get your own project started in symfony.

by Jim DeLaHunt

In our shrinking world, demand is rising for applications that will work with a variety of languages, and with users in all parts of the world. The Unicode standard is a great tool for meeting this challenge. How does it relate to PHP, and what does a PHP developer need to know about Unicode? While we wait for the deep Unicode support planned for PHP 6, how can we take advantage of Unicode in our existing PHP applications? In this article, you'll find out.

by Jeff Moore

Reflection is part of what makes a dynamic language dynamic, and MVC is what makes reflection worth having. Find out how MVC implementations can make a difference in your applications.

by Ilia Alshanetsky

For those of you with vivid imaginations: no, this article is not about angry librarians throwing volumes of Webster at innocent patrons. Ilia simply intends to focus on a good old-fashioned brute-force attack, which tries to compromise authentication-protected systems by guessing the user’s password via a trial and error process. This technique is frequently referred as a dictionary attack, because it involves using a database of common words, phrases and dates to try to guess a weak password. Dictionary attacks are therefore particularly effective against passwords that are based on words, names or dates.