Category Archives: Web development

PHP performance tip: disable unused extensions with Zend Server

Posted on August 8, 2011 by Alan Seiden

Whenever I’m brought in to improve the performance of a PHP application, an easy change I make is to disable any PHP extensions that the application does not use. PHP extensions are code libraries written in C that add to … Continue reading →

Posted in IBM i, iSeries, Performance, PHP, System i, Web development, Zend Server | Tagged | Leave a comment

Zend Framework webinar this Wednesday

Posted on March 4, 2011 by Alan Seiden

On March 9, 2011, I’ll present a free webinar about how to create a Zend Framework project on IBM i. The webinar is at 9am PST, 12pm EST. Sign up here: http://www.zend.com/en/company/news/event/790_webinar-your-first-zend-framework-project-on-ibm-i Here’s the complete list of my upcoming talks.

Posted in IBM i, iSeries, PHP, System i, Web development, Zend Framework, Zend Server, Zend Studio | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Maximize Zend Server PHP performance with Apache compression

Posted on August 13, 2010 by Alan Seiden

Faster web sites sell more products, create better user satisfaction, and even rank higher in Google searches. Try compression to boost the download speed of your Zend Server for IBM i pages. You can compress PHP output javascript, style sheets, and other text-based content. My tests show a speed improvement of 10-50%. Continue reading →

Posted in Apache, IBM i, iSeries, Performance, PHP, System i, Web development, Zend Framework, Zend Server | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

A simple security measure

Posted on July 7, 2010 by Alan Seiden

A reader recently asked me this security question: If a user enters: http://<my_ip>/<mydirectory> instead of http://<my_ip>/<mydirectory>/script.php They get a listing of all scripts/files in that directory and they can then select and execute/run those scripts. This is a real concern … Continue reading →

Posted in Apache, PHP, Web development | 2 Comments

Differences Between Zend Core and Zend Server on IBM i

Posted on April 21, 2010 by Alan Seiden

Zend Server for IBM i improves upon Zend Core’s older implementation of PHP in numerous ways. To make the migration easier, I’ve created a table that shows some of the settings and default file locations that have changed between Zend … Continue reading →

Posted in IBM i, PHP, System i, Web development, Zend Server | 6 Comments

Zend Server for IBM i Is Here

Posted on April 21, 2010 by Alan Seiden

Zend and IBM have announced an updated, streamlined version of their PHP package for IBM i, called Zend Server. I’ve been using the beta for a while but last week read an announcement showing it’s ready for general use. It … Continue reading →

Posted in IBM i, PHP, System i, Web development, Zend Server | Leave a comment

Class ‘Zend_Db_Table’ not found

Posted on March 4, 2010 by Alan Seiden

New developers sometimes struggle with putting all of Zend Framework’s pieces together. This week someone asked me how to resolve the error: Fatal error: Class ‘Zend_Db_Table’ not found. The answer: he needs to “require” the file containing the Zend_Db_Table class, … Continue reading →

Posted in IT, PHP, Web development, Zend Framework | 1 Comment

Our Zend Framework-based Site Honored by IBM/COMMON

Posted on May 21, 2009 by Alan Seiden

We won! IBM has recognized my use of PHP and Zend Framework, and our entire team’s RPG/DB2 and design work, by naming our web solution the IBM i’s most innovative of 2009. At IBM’s 2009 COMMON conference, IBM awarded the … Continue reading →

Posted in Announcements, IBM i, PHP, Web development, Zend Framework | Leave a comment

Why Use a PHP Framework?

Posted on June 25, 2008 by Alan Seiden

At last night’s NY-PHP gathering, a fellow PHP’er and I discussed PHP frameworks. I told her I was developing an e-commerce site using Zend Framework. She replied that she’d been considering frameworks, especially Cake and Symfony, “but I’m not sure … Continue reading →

Posted in IT, PHP, Web development | 3 Comments

Brand your site with a favicon

Posted on May 25, 2007 by Alan Seiden

Favicons are those eye-catching little pictures that appear in your web browser’s address bar, favorites list (hence the name favicon, short for “favorites icon”), and, with modern tabbed browsers, on tabs. Instantly recognizable when designed well, favicons represent the brand … Continue reading →

Posted in Usability, Web development | 5 Comments