Chapter 15, “An Introduction to Writing PHP Extensions,” explains how
to write your own custom PHP extension. We use a simple example to explain
the most important things like parameter parsing and resource management.
Chapter 16, “PHP Shell Scripting,” shows you how to write shell scripts
in PHP, because PHP is useful for more than just web applications. We care-
fully explain the differences between the CLI and CGI executables in which
PHP comes, including command-line parameter parsing and process control.
This book also includes three appendices. Appendix A, “PEAR and PECL
Package Index,” provides an overview of all important packages, with descrip-
tions and dependencies on other packages. Appendix B, “phpDocument Format
Reference,” explains the syntax as understood by the PHP Documenter tool to
generate API documentation from source code. Appendix C, “Zend Studio
Quick Start,” is an introduction to working in the Zend Studio IDE.
A NOTE ABOUT CODING STYLES
There are almost as many coding styles as there are programmers. The PHP
examples in this book follow the PEAR coding standard, with the opening
curly bracket on the line below the function name. In some cases, we’ve placed
the curly bracket on the same line as the function name. We encourage you to
adopt the style you are most comfortable with.
Note: A code continuation character, , appears at the beginning of code
lines that have wrapped down from the line above it.
ABOUT THE SOFTWARE
Included in the back of this book is a special link to Zend.com, where you can
download a fully functional, 90-day trial version of the Zend Studio IDE. Be
sure to use the license key printed on the inside back cover of this book when
you install Zend Studio.
The Zend Development Environment (ZDE) is a convenient tool that
integrates an editor, debugger, and project manager to help you develop, man-
age, and debug your code. It can connect to your own installed server or
directly to the Zend Studio server component. It is a powerful tool that allows
you to debug your code in its natural environment.
UPDATES AND ERRATA AND DOWNLOADS
Updates, errata, and copies of the sample programs used in this book can be
found at the following URL: http//php5powerprogramming.com. We encourage
you to visit this site.