Book cover: Expert PHP 5 Tools

Short version: If you are working with PHP you’ll want to read this book. Covering topics like continuous integration, documentation and unit testing thoroughly it gives an insight of great value to any PHP developer.

Slightly longer version: This book is aimed at developers already working with PHP on a daily basis, or developers which are picking up PHP. It’s main focus is the environment of the PHP developer. Areas like unit testing, continuous integration, application deployment, proper documentation and version control might already be very familiar if you have been working with PHP for a while, but this book covers each of these important areas in detail and with prime examples on do and dont’s. Even if you feel like you are doing quite well I’m sure this book will give you a few “aha!” moments. If you are coming from a hobby-background these areas might not be your strongest suit, and this book will help you get a firm grasp on what a professional PHP setup is all about. The chapter on continous integration is based around phpUnderControl, which is a nice piece of software for this purpouse. However, I would have liked to see other alternatives like for example Hudson. Luckily, moving over to a different CI app is fairly easy after having set up a phpUC installation with the phing/ant configuration.

The book is available both as paperback and eBook from Packt. I’ve been reading the eBook, which worked quite well for me. PS: Convering the PDF to ePub will destroy some of the formatting.

Check out the sample chapter Documentation with phpDocumentor

Book cover: Expert PHP 5 Tools

While I am currently reading PHP5 eCommerce Development I’ve also got lined up a copy of Expert PHP 5 Tools from Packt.

This book will enable you to take your PHP development skills to an enterprise level by teaching you the skills and tools necessary to write maintainable and efficient code. You will learn how to perform activities such as unit testing, enforcing coding standards, automating deployment, and interactive debugging using tools created for PHP developers – all the information in one place. Your code will be more maintainable, efficient, and self-documented.

Check out the sample chapter Documentation with phpDocumentor

You can check it out at http://regex.larsolavtorvik.com/. Stop by his blog as well.

Technorati Tags: PHP, Perl, JavaScript, Python

1. Eclipse (at 30%)

2. Simple editors (at 26%)

3. Zend (at 25%, my favorite)

I see that Komodo is at only 3% which is a bit surprising. I plan on evaluating that when I get the time. The extension support there is supposed to be as good as Firefox.