archived-web-php/sites.php

<?php
require_once 'prepend.inc';
commonHeader("A Tourist's Guide");
?>

<h1>PHP.net: A Tourist's Guide<br />
<small>originally by Damien Seguy</small></h1>

<p>Everyone knows the www.php.net site. All of us went there sooner or later,
and will keep going back there. This is the central reference point for PHP
users, and it has a wealth of informations there. All of it isn't that obvious.
Come with me, I'll show you.</p>

<h2><a href="http://www.php.net/">www.php.net</a>: Main Website</h2>

<p>
This is the primary web site.  The front page is where major news is published:
new PHP versions, security updates, and new projects launched. This site is
also <a href="/mirrors.php">mirrored in dozens of countries worldwide</a>.
</p>

<p>
This is the home of the <a href="/downloads.php">download page</a>, for everyone to
get the latest version of the PHP source code and binaries for Windows. The current
and next-to-current versions are available there. (There is also a <a
href="http://ftp.proventum.net/pub/php/">PHP Museum</a>, which has all of the
source distributions since June 1996.)
</p>
                                                                        
<p>
The next most visited section is the <a href="/docs.php">documentation</a>. The
documentation is translated into twelve different languages, and is available
in <a href="/download-docs.php">a variety of different formats</a>. Users are
able to read notes on the documentation left by other users, and contribute
their own notes. The documentation is a real community project by itself!
</p>

<p>
The <a href="/support.php">support</a> page has all the directions to a wealth
of resources both inside and outside of PHP.net. The community has built a huge
network of knowledge bases, PHP user groups, and training sessions where anyone
can have his questions answered. Non-English-speaking users also get a large
share of attention.
</p>

<p>
Now, buckle up your seat belt, and stop smoking. Here are the no-light streets:
</p>

<h2><a href="http://conf.php.net/">conf.php.net</a>: Conference Materials</h2>
<p>
This is where speakers at various PHP-related conferencess keep their slides.
It covers all sorts of topics, from the famous 'Rasmus' introduction to PHP to
the latest 'PHP system administration', through PEAR and advanced topics. All
those slides are available within the PHP slide application.
</p>

<h2><a href="http://news.php.net/">news.php.net</a>: Mailing Lists Web and NNTP Interface</h2>
<p>
news.php.net is the web interface to the PHP mailing lists. If you're not
subscribed to the mailing lists, but you still want to keep in touch regularly,
this is your place. An infinite pile of fresh news and trends of PHP. You can
also point your news reader at the NNTP server at news.php.net to follow the
lists.
</p>

<h2><a href="http://pear.php.net/">pear.php.net</a>: The PHP Extension and Application Repository</h2>
<p>
PEAR is the next revolution in PHP. This repository is bringing higher level
programming to PHP. PEAR is a framework and distribution system for reusable
PHP components. It eases installation by bringing an automated wizard, and
packing the strength and experience of PHP users into a nicely organised OOP
library.
</p>

<h2><a href="http://bugs.php.net/">bugs.php.net</a>: Bug Database</h2>
<p>
The bug database is where you can bring problems with PHP to the attention of
developers (but don't forget to double-check that somebody else hasn't already
reported the same problem!).
</p>

<h2><a href="http://qa.php.net/">qa.php.net</a>: Quality Assurance Team</h2>
<p>
The Quality Assurance team is one of the most important pieces of the PHP
project, protecting users from bugs. It is gathered around the QA mailing list,
and this site allows anyone to provide tests and experience to the release
process.
</p>

<h2><a href="http://chora.php.net/">cvs.php.net</a>: CVS Repository</h2>
<p>
The PHP project is organised with a CVS server, and this website is the web
interface to it. There you can browse the history (and latest versions) of the
source code for all of the PHP projects. For example, the <a
href="http://cvs.php.net/cvs.php/php4/">php4</a> module is the repository for
the source code to the latest version of PHP itself.
</p>

<h2><a href="http://bonsai.php.net">bonsai.php.net</a>: Bonsai</h2>
<p>
Bonsai is another window into the CVS repository that makes it easy to search
within the sources, so you may keep track of who has done updates to files.
This is most handy when you are working in a team on some specific section of
the code. You may also keep an eye of evolution of implementation, and know the
activity level of every extension.
</p>

<h2><a href="http://lxr.php.net/">lxr.php.net</a>: Cross Reference</h2>
<p>
Cross reference for source code, based on the "Linux Cross Reference". This is
the ultimate tool for exploring PHP code. Browse inside the latest PHP code,
and anytime important macro and or function are detected within the code, they
are linked to their definition, and all their usage locations. This will help
you build your code, and understand the PHP source.
</p>
                                                                       
<h2><a href="http://gtk.php.net/">gtk.php.net</a>: PHP-GTK</h2>
<p>
This web site is the home of the PHP-GTK project: this allows PHP to be used to
build graphical interfaces, with slick interface and highly interactive
content. You'll find the downloads and docs here, and the latest news from
the project.
</p>

<h2><a href="http://smarty.php.net/">smarty.php.net</a>: Smarty Template Engine</h2>
<p>
Smarty is another PHP spin off: Smarty provides your basic variable
substitution and dynamic block functionality, and also takes a step further to
be a "smart" template engine, adding features such as configuration files,
template functions, variable modifiers, and making all of this functionality as
easy as possible to use for both programmers and template designers.
</p>

<h2><a href="http://snaps.php.net/">snaps.php.net</a>: Daily PHP Snapshots</h2>
<p>
This is your first stop if you're looking for cutting edge development versions
of PHP which are generated every day from the current stable and current
development sources. The following snapshots are available:<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://snaps.php.net/php4-STABLE-latest.tar.bz2">Stable source snapshots [bz2]</a> <a href="http://snaps.php.net/php4-STABLE-latest.tar.gz">[gz]</a>
based on the latest released version</li>
<li><a href="http://snaps.php.net/win32/php4-win32-STABLE-latest.zip">Stable win32 binary snapshot [zip]</a>
same as above, but win32 binaries only</li>
<li><a href="http://snaps.php.net/php4-latest.tar.bz2">Development source snapshots [bz2]</a> <a href="http://snaps.php.net/php4-latest.tar.gz">[gz]</a>
current development branch with the latest whiz-bang features</li>
<li><a href="http://snaps.php.net/win32/php4-win32-latest.zip">Development win32 binary snapshot [zip]</a>
same as above but win32 binaries only</li>
<li><a href="http://snaps.php.net/win32/ze2/php4-ze2-win32-latest.zip">Development win32 binary snapshot based on ZE2 [zip]</a>
current development branch with whiz-bang features <i>and</i> the upcomming <a href="http://www.php.net/ZEND_CHANGES.txt">Zend Engine 2</a> (Current changes, may be out of date), see also the <a href="http://www.zend.com/engine2/ZendEngine-2.0.pdf">Design draft</a></li>
</ul>
Source development snapshots based on ZE2 are currently not available. Please use <a href="anoncvs.php">Anonymous CVS</a> and check out the <tt>php4-ze2</tt> module.
</p>

<?php commonFooter(); ?>