This document discusses enterprise PHP development in 10 steps: 1) assemble a skilled team, 2) define requirements, 3) design architecture, 4) select tools, 5) use a framework for foundation, 6) implement design patterns, 7) thoroughly test all aspects of development, 8) optimize performance through acceleration and caching, 9) plan deployment across environments, and 10) monitor operations through logging and issue tracking. The document uses building a skyscraper as an analogy for developing large enterprise applications in PHP.

1. Enterprise PHP development
Ivo Jansch <ivo@ibuildings.com>
Dutch PHP Conference, June 14, 2008
Ibuildings - http://www.ibuildings.com

2. What's an enterprise?
• Wikipedia:
 “Any of several ships by that name in the Star Trek
fictional universe”
 “A business, company, or comparable organization”
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3. Is PHP Enterprise ready?
• CIO Magazine:
“ H w r s w l f r pooy i g b c ue i i e s t g t a se u a d r n i g Ue P P t d s n
P P ok e o r t t p ea s t s ay o e i p n u n . s H o ei
n t n g
the site [...] but when it comes time for development, tell the team you want
t
he result to look and act like this PHP site...but in Java”
(Or: “great, this is exactly what I need! now do it again, at twice the cost!”)‫‏‬
http://www.cio.com/article/176250 (skip the article, read the comments)‫‏‬
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4. Is PHP Enterprise ready?
 Big  Small
 Enterprise friendly  Lightweight
 enterpriCe  Cheap
 CS required  Easy to learn
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5. A word from my girlfriend
It's not the
SIZE
of the tool...
It's how you USE it.
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6. PHP is changing...
• 1998
 Personal stuff
• 2003
 Simple websites
 Content management
 Blogs
• 2008
 Big websites
 Banks
 Insurance Companies
 ...
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7. PHP is changing...
• Traditional metaphor
 PHP is like Lego bricks
 Bricks allowing you to build
anything
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8. PHP is changing...
• PHP is no longer a toy
 Let’s use the metaphor of actual bricks
 Because we’re building
actual buildings now
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9. About Bricks
• Extreme simplicity
• Easy to learn
• Versatile
• Cheap
... so building a skyscraper must be peanuts, right?
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10. Enterprise development in 10 steps
Ibuildings - http://www.ibuildings.com

11. Step 1 – The Team
“Dear Mr. Businessman,
I have read about your plans to build a new
skyscraper and I am applying for a job.
I have a lot of experience with Bricks. I taught
myself how to use them and have been
maintaining our family shed for a few years now.”
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12. Step 1 – The Team
• Be a software engineer
• Train your skills
• Study OO principles
• Consider Zend Certification
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13. Step 2 - Requirements
• What does the customer need?
• What do visitors want?
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14. Step 2 - Requirements
• Functional Design
 Requirements definition
 Interaction Design /
Wireframes
 Flow diagrams
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15. Step 3 - Architecture
• Don’t just start stacking bricks
• Create an architecture first
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16. Step 3 - Architecture
• Technical Design
 Modelling
• Class diagrams
• ER diagram (data model)‫‏‬
• Colaboration diagrams
• Use cases
• etc.
 Tools: UML, whiteboards
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17. Step 3 - Architecture
• High Level Architectures:
 MVC (Model View Controller)
 SOA (Service Oriented Architecture)
 Multi-tier development (Frontend, Application, Data)
 CBD (Component Based Development)‫‏‬
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18. Step 4 - Tools
• You don’t need tools...
• But they make you productive
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19. Step 4 - Tools
• Development:
 Eclipse (PDT)‫‏‬
 PhpED
 Vim
 Zend Studio
 Komodo
• IDE's vs Editors
 Debugging
 Profiling
 Navigation / cross references
 Syntax Checking
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20. Step 4 - Tools
• Source Control
 CVS / SVN
 Bitkeeper / GIT
 Branching
 Tagging
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21. Step 5 - Foundation
• Start stacking bricks?
 How many bricks does it take..
 What about stability?
• Start with a foundation
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22. Step 5 - Foundation
• Use a framework
 Provides guidelines (frame)‫‏‬
 Off the shelf components
• Examples
 Zend Framework http://framework.zend.com
 CakePHP http://http://www.cakephp.org
 ezComponents http://ez.no/ezcomponents
 Symfony http://www.symfony-project.org
 ATK http://www.achievo.org/atk
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23. Step 5 - Foundation
• The “Not Invented Here” Syndrome
 “The existing frameworks are no good.
I can do this better.”
 “This framework is no good.
It can do A through Y but I need Z.”
 “This framework is too big.
It provides A-Z but we only need A and B.”
 “I know there's a good framework.
But I would like to learn.”
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24. Step 6 – Design Patterns
Requirement 1056.4:
We need to be able to look outside, but we
can't make holes in the wall (rain should be
kept outside). When it's sunny, a hole is ok.
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25. Step 6 – Design Patterns
• A ‘window’ is a concept
 Best practice way of solving a particular problem
• In IT, we call this a ‘design pattern’
• Popular patterns in PHP:
 MVC, Factory, Singleton, Registry, Decorator
• Good read:
 php|architect's Guide to
PHP Design Patterns
- Jason E. Sweat
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26. Step 7 - Testing
• Is your software tested after it has gone live?
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27. Step 7 - Testing
• Various types of testing
 Developer testing
 Functional testing
 Environment testing
 Performance testing
 Usability testing
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28. Step 7 - Testing
• Common scenario
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29. Step 7 - Testing
• User complains...
MWOEHA!
BUG!
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30. Step 7 - Testing
• Developer attacks the problem
fix_bug();
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31. Step 7 - Testing
• Problem solved!
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32. Step 7 - Testing
• Solution: Unit Tests
 Automated testing after each change
 Prevents regressions
• Testing for PHP applications:
 PHPUnit http://www.phpunit.de/
 SimpleTest http://www.lastcraft.com/simple_test.php
• Continuous Integration:
 CruiseControl with phpUnderControl
 Xinc http://code.google.com/p/xinc/
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33. Step 7 - Testing
• Test Driven Development
1. Define functionality
2. Create testcase
3. Run test -> test fails
4. Implement functionality
• Test succeeds? Done
• Test fails? Refactor
Repeat step 4 until finished
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34. Step 8 - Optimization
Users are reporting:
quot;I work on the 197th floor. Every day I
have to walk the stairs for 2 hours, then I
have only 4 hours left to do my job.quot;
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35. Step 8 - Optimization
• Solution: Elevator
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36. Step 8 - Optimization
In PHP, this ‘elevator’ is called an ‘accelerator’
 This is how PHP works (pseudo-ish code):
read index.php; // enter the building
compile index.php; // go to floor 197
echo “Hello World”; // get the job done
 An accelerator improves the first 2 steps
 Accelerators for PHP:
• eAccelerator http://eaccelerator.net/
• APC http://pecl.php.net/package/APC
• Zend Platform http://www.zend.com/products/zend_platform
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37. Step 8 - Optimization
Users complain:
“Every time I need coffee I have to go
to the top floor to get some.”
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38. Step 8 - Optimization
• Solution: Create small coffee corners on every floor so
people
d
o
n’t have to go to the main restaurant every time.
• In PHP we call this caching
 Don’t query the database everytime you need data
 Use locally stored copy (file or memory)‫‏‬
• PHP Caching solutions:
 Zend_Cache http://framework.zend.com
 Smarty http://smarty.php.net
 Zend Platform http://www.zend.com/products/zend_platform
 Memcached
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
http://danga.com/memcached/ 38

39. Step 9 - Deployment
• Lifecycle:
 Develop
 Test
 Deploy to acceptance test environment
 Deploy to live
• Use SVN
• Code is just a part, don't forget the database
• Create a 'Deployment & Release Profile'
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40. Step 9 - Deployment
• System Architecture
PHP
MySQL
Apache
Linux
From a simple LAMP stack on a single machine...
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41. Step 9 - Deployment
• System Architecture
... to a High Availability, Horizontally Scalable architecture
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42. Step 10 - Operations
• Monitoring
 Logfiles
 Monitor infrastructure (tools such as Nagios)‫‏‬
 Monitor application (tools such as Zend Platform)‫‏‬
 Monitor business (is the money still pouring in?)
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43. Step 10 - Operations
• Debugging
 Ideal:
“I had error x when I selected y after I clicked z”
 Reality:
“It doesn't work!”
“What exactly doesn't work, and what did you do?”
“It just ******** didn't work, FIX IT.”
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44. Step 10 - Operations
• Solution
 A 'root cause
analysis' tool
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45. Step 10 - Operations
• Change management
 Ticket system
 Stick to your deployment - use the DRP
 DON'T TOUCH THE LIVE ENVIRONMENT.
 But I absolutely have to...
DON'T!
 but...
NO! IF YOU TOUCH IT, YOU WILL LOSE ALL GURU POINTS.
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46. Shameless self-promotion
• php|architect's
Guide to Enterprise PHP Development
• PDF: June 12, Print: June 26
• ISBN: 978-0-9738621-8-8
• Order via http://phparch.com
• http://www.enterprisephp.nl
46

47. Questions?
http://www.jansch.nl
http://www.enterprisephp.nl
http://www.ibuildings.com
ivo@ibuildings.com
Ibuildings - http://www.ibuildings.com