Even if you find writing PHP code easy, writing code that is efficient and easy to maintain and reuse is not so straightforward. Self-taught PHP developers and programmers transitioning from other languages often lack the knowledge to work with PHP on an enterprise level. They need to take their PHP development skills to that level by learning the skills and tools necessary to write maintainable and efficient code.

This book will enable you to take your PHP development skills to an enterprise level by teaching you the skills and tools necessary to write maintainable and efficient code. You will learn how to perform activities such as unit testing, enforcing coding standards, automating deployment, and interactive debugging using tools created for PHP developers - all the information in one place. Your code will be more maintainable, efficient, and self-documented.

From the design phase to actually deploying the application, you will learn concepts and apply them using the best-of-breed tools available in PHP.

Experienced developers looking for expertise in PHP development will learn how to follow best practices within the world of PHP. The book contains many well-documented code samples and recipes that can be used as a starting point for producing quality code.

Specifically, you will learn to design an application with UML, code it in Eclipse with PDT, document it with phpDocumentor, debug it interactively with Xdebug, test it by writing PHPUnit tests, manage source code in Subversion, speed up development and increase stability by using Zend Framework, pull everything together using continuous integration, and deploy the application automatically with Phing - all in one book. The author's experience in PHP development enables him to share insights on using enterprise tools, in a clear and friendly way.

An in-depth look at best-of-breed enterprise-level tools, methodologies, and tips for professional PHP developers to write maintainable, efficient code

What you will learn from this book

• Set up a development environment that provides code completion, syntax highlighting, interactive debugging, code templates, and more
• Define a coding standard and automate compliance checks
• Generate developer documentation in various formats using code-level comments and phpDocumentor
• Manage revision and branching, tag, and merge code using a distributed version control system
• Create your own debugging library and use Xdebug for interactive debugging
• Shorten the development cycle by leveraging a suitable framework for your application
• Write unit tests using PHPUnit and practice test-driven development
• Automate application deployment and configuration using Phing - a PHP build and automation tool
• Sketch class diagrams, sequence diagrams, and use cases using UML
• Quickly find bugs and conflicts by setting up a continuous integration environment that automatically stages, tests, and documents your project

Approach
Each chapter focuses on one topic, such as version control or debugging. After initially discussing essential concepts, the author takes an in-depth look at one or more tools relevant to the topic. Sample projects and plenty of well-documented code are used to work through practical application of the concepts.

Who this book is written for
This book has been written for professional developers new to PHP and experienced PHP developers who want to take their skills to the next level by learning enterprise-level tools and techniques.