The PHP manual

Sydney PHP Group presentation

Sydney PHP Group

Finding and using the PHP manual

What is the PHP manual?

• It's a repository of all things PHP, including (but not limited to)
  • PHP basics
  • installation
  • function reference
  • notes on general development considerations such as security
  • a developer reference
• As we're focusing on web development with PHP, this presentation will focus on the language reference, the function reference plus some parts of the installation guide that assist in better development practices.
• Note : we're talking development environment here. Some of the practices outlined should never be used in a production environment.

Why use the PHP manual?

• it can greatly assist you in debugging
• it can give you ideas on better development techniques
• you can contribute your own notes to the manual
• from the user notes you can get an idea on how other developers implement PHP (sometimes badly)

Why a discussion on the PHP manual?

• it's one of the most overlooked parts of PHP development
• In development, documentation is king
• the great majority of questions asked have answers found in the manual
• it'll help our sydphp.org search engine rankings

Where do I find the PHP manual?

• The PHP manual can be viewed at php.net/docs.php
• Downloadable versions can be retrieved via php.net/download-docs.php
• The downloadable HTML versions can be viewed on the local filesystem or installed within the public html document root of a web server
• The CHM version is especially suitable for those developing on Windows desktops. It can include user notes.

The language reference

• Is information on how to code with PHP
• I'll refer to the manual here for some examples

The function reference

• Includes descriptions of all PHP core functions and functions from external libraries
• Using IMAP as an example... (php.net/manual/en/ref.imap.php) ... I'll run through the general gist of a function reference

Using it within your development environment

• This part of the presentation shows how to incorporate the manual into your development environment
• To continue I'll refer to my own local set up
  • Setting up a simple vhost to hold the manual (remember the hosts file!)
  • The PHP ini file
    • Error display
    • Manual link
    • Fancy messages with CSS
• Note : In a production environment you should turn all of this off. Errors and warnings are best left to syslog.

Tips and Tricks

• Did you know ....
  • You can type in php.net/blah and get straight to the page you want?
  • You can set up your own version of the manual by mirroring the PHP website, described here: php.net/mirroring

In Summary

• Use the PHP manual, it is your friend in development
• Read the manual before asking questions, it will save you a lot of time.
• Contribute to the manual where appropriate