PHP7 was an amazing update. It runs up to twice as fast as the previous version (5.6). Now, an early test shows PHP8 could also improve runtime again by 100%
https://levelup.gitconnected.com/how-fast-is-php-8-going-to-be-f7fdc111cd6
What an easy way to get started with local development on a Mac! Although I’m really not a advocate for local development, I think there is just too much difference between local and production
http://code.tutsplus.com/tutorials/using-laravel-valet-for-wordpress-development–cms-26519
This article discusses some of the main backward compatible breaking items in PHP 7 and the new features to be excited for. #1 is speed!
According to W3Tech PHP is used on 82% of websites using server-side programming languages. I had no idea that PHP had such a large market share. In the web development community you hear a decent amount about Rails or Node.
It makes me feel more special and yet less special. The code I write is more maintainable out of the sheer popularity of the language, meaning there are probably more developers who could maintain any projects I write.
I was trying to put some password protection on a single file the other day using an htaccess file, but was getting all sorts of weird server errors. So I did some searching and a little research, and I figured out a way to mimic htaccess password protection with php.
// Check if Username and password correct or ask for them
if(($_SERVER['PHP_AUTH_USER'] == "myusername") AND
($_SERVER['PHP_AUTH_PW'] == "mypassword"))
{ ?>
Protected Content Here
<?php } else {
// Ask for username and password
header("WWW-Authenticate: " ."Basic realm=\"Protected Area\"");
header("HTTP/1.0 401 Unauthorized");
// Show failure text after several failed attempts
echo "This area is protected by a valid username and password";
}
?>
Even though I’ve only been in the web community since about 2002, there has been a huge growth in the community. There are so many forums, blogs and online magazines available – and sharing knowledge and experiences has become a huge piece of what makes working on the web awesome.
One series that I’ve been reading for years is Web Advent (formerly known as PHP Advent). The series features an article written by a guest each day about a different topic that is web development related. I learned a ton last year, and the 2 posts this year are great. Do yourself a favor and read it daily this month!