Over on PHPComplete.com this morning, there's a question being posed of the community about PHP encoders and which one might fit the bill.

In his question, PHP Encoders: Which one is best?, he presents his requirements for a "good" encoder and asks the question of the community, "So, what are your experiences with the difference encoders out there. Which ones are worth it, and which ones should I pass by?

Having used several of them myself (and actually using one for this server now), I can say that I've enjoyed using the ionCube PHP Accelerator. I noticed a bit of a speed jump when installed, but the thing that helped the most was the slimming down of this site. XSL, XML, PHP and MySQL make for a pretty potent combination. Add to that the caching and speed of the PHP Accelerator, and you've got quite the winning combination.

So, what's your favorite encoder?