If you've ever wanted to get into the world of Zend Expressive and haven't known where to start, Matthew Setter is offering something that might just fit the bill. He's announced a new course and book that introduces you to the framework and the essentials to get up and running quickly.

Perhaps you've not seen the news on Twitter, Facebook, or the mailing list. If so, you may not know that I'm actively working on a new book and course about Zend Expressive.

It's called: Zend Expressive Essentials.

Ever since ZendCon 2016, I've been thinking about turning my Zend Expressive talk into a book and course. I had a load of reasons both for and against. But I just couldn't shake the excitement around doing so. And have decided to do it!

His post talks about some of what the course and book will cover, providing a solid foundation for getting up to speed with Zend Expressive. The course/book is coming soon so you can subscribe for more information as updates are released.

On the SitePoint PHP blog today Matthew Setter has written up a tutorial sharing the essentials of PHP with LDAP. He shows how to connect PHP to this industry standard technology and effectively query, update and delete information.

Ever wanted a simple way to store address book style information and network information actually next to any kind of ordered information? If so, then there’s a technology which has been around since 1993, one which despite not having the cool factor of such technologies as Node.js and Go, allows you to do exactly this. It’s called LDAP!

He starts off the tutorial by explaining a bit about what LDAP is (and isn't) for those not familiar with it. He covers some of the basic terminology, pointing you other articles if you need more than just his brief overview. Then he helps you get an LDAP server installed locally (using a package manager, apt-get) and how to verify the install is working correctly. From there he shows how to populate a few records and verify they exist. Following this, he gets to the PHP part of things, showing how to use the Zend Framework v2 Zend/Ldap component to access the server, query records and update/delete them easily.

Giorgio Sironi has posted a quick book review of a recent publication from Packt Publishing: "PHPUnit Essentials". The author, Zdenek Machek, has written a "practical guide featuring a step-by-step approach that aims to help PHP developers who want to learn or improve their software testing skills."

The first thing that struck me about the book was the breadth of subjects: you start from mocks and command line options, to get even to Selenium usage. [...] There is a bit of what may seem outdated information in the book such as how to perform a PEAR-based installation, but it's identified as such (PEAR being deprecated and dismissed by the end of the year.) Another seemingly outdated tool is Selenium IDE, but once upgraded with a formatter for Selenium2TestCase like explained in this book it becomes usable again. This kind of advice demonstrates the real world experience of the author and makes you trust the content.

He suggest that the book is more for those just starting out on their testing journey and wanting to get up to speed quickly with a wide range of tools, not just the base PHPUnit handling.

php|architect has posted their schedule today for the April and May times for their training classes. They offer three courses:

• PHP Essentials - a beginner-level introduction to PHP programming. If you're new to PHP, this is where you should start.
• PHP 5 Certification - prepare for the Zend certification exam here. While this course is focused on ZCE, it is also an excellent intermediate-level PHP course.
• Professional PHP - take your code to the next level. This course covers advanced PHP techniques.

Each of the courses is instructor-lead and can be taken from anywhere with an internet connection. Check out the prices and full schedule on their training website.

php|architect has posted their schedule today for the April and May times for their training classes. They offer three courses:

• PHP Essentials - a beginner-level introduction to PHP programming. If you're new to PHP, this is where you should start.
• PHP 5 Certification - prepare for the Zend certification exam here. While this course is focused on ZCE, it is also an excellent intermediate-level PHP course.
• Professional PHP - take your code to the next level. This course covers advanced PHP techniques.

Each of the courses is instructor-lead and can be taken from anywhere with an internet connection. Check out the prices and full schedule on their training website.

The php|architect team has officially announced the latest in their PHP training offerings to the public - a full classroom training session in the Chicago area - PHP Full Immersion.

The courses will take place starting January 2006 and be based on an extended, 4-day version of our popular PHP Essentials class.

The class teaches you how to program in PHP 5 in a 4 day course with information ranging from the basics up to advanced topics including XML, web services, and OOP programming. The days are broken up into six hour chunks, building in complexity as each day progresses. The cost for the course is $1995.99 USD/$2395.19 CAD.

They're also offering a special package for anyone not in the Chicago area to help with travel and lodging for $299 in top of the cost of the class. Check out the course's website for complete information.

Classes are coming up quick - January 30th, 2007 and February 27th, 2007 - so get your registration in now!

The php|architect team has officially announced the latest in their PHP training offerings to the public - a full classroom training session in the Chicago area - PHP Full Immersion.

The courses will take place starting January 2006 and be based on an extended, 4-day version of our popular PHP Essentials class.

The class teaches you how to program in PHP 5 in a 4 day course with information ranging from the basics up to advanced topics including XML, web services, and OOP programming. The days are broken up into six hour chunks, building in complexity as each day progresses. The cost for the course is $1995.99 USD/$2395.19 CAD.

They're also offering a special package for anyone not in the Chicago area to help with travel and lodging for $299 in top of the cost of the class. Check out the course's website for complete information.

Classes are coming up quick - January 30th, 2007 and February 27th, 2007 - so get your registration in now!