The release of PHP 4.0, the long-awaited, next generation of the popular Web scripting language, is just around the corner. The most recent version, release candidate 1, is stable and ready to take over PHP 3.0's role in Web application development. The release takes PHP to new levels, with increased performance, more features, and cleaner syntax.

PHP is an Open Source language that is widely popular on the web. However because PHP so popular in shared hosting environments, many people have an impression that PHP is only for small scale web-sites. This is patently untrue, and PHP is in use in many large scale web sites such as Yahoo Finance and for the creation of large web applications such as IMP. This article is an attempt to readdress the balance and show how PHP is used in the enterprise.

Cookies allow the webmaster to store information about the site visitor on their computer to be accessed again the next time they visit. One common use of cookies is to store your username and password on your computer so you don't need to login again each time you visit a website. Cookies can also store other things such as your name, last visit, shopping cart contents, etc. Read more at www.articlecircle.com ... The main difference between a cookie and a session is that a cookie is stored on your computer, and a session is not. Although cookies have been around for many years and most people do have them enabled, there are some who do not. Cookies can also be removed by the user at any time, so don't use them to store anything too important.

This article takes a brief look at PHP4/Zend technology. It discusses such issues as architecture and functionality, PHP3 vs PHP4, pros and cons of PHP, etc.

There is a long-time existed obstacle of Microsoft software products usage in Unix/Linux environment. Microsoft Excel is definitely one of the most important programs for a typical user. Hundreds of millions of XLS files with different information exist and millions are created every day. Not only users work with XLS files on their local machines but they also want to use such files in the Internet. Taking into account the fact that the great majority of Web servers are operational under Unix/Linux we can clearly recognize the question about XLS file reading under Unix/Linux. The good news is that the problem has already been solved...

PHP Tunisie Magazine is a FREE monthly french magazine for PHP Professionnals. The magazine is created and maintained by PHPTunisie members.

Here is an extensive compilation of tips on how to optimise Apache on Linux and Unix for PHP and CGI programs. The tips can also be applied to Perl and Python.

Covers <ul> <li>Prepare <li>BLOB/CLOB/LOB support <li>Calling storing procedures and PL/SQL <li>Bind parameters, IN and OUT parameters <li>REF CURSORs <li>Error-handling <li>Date and time management </ul>

This article discusses features of PHP4, the most advanced version of PHP. Topics include: History Brief, Where Did We Go Wrong?, The Birth of Zend, and Design Changes In PHP 4 and Zend.

PEAR is the standard library of PHP code for PHP4. Tutorials and documentation on PEAR can be found here.