Conference Sessions

Time	Feb 12 Theatre	Feb 12 Room 180	Feb 12 Room 150	Feb 13 Theatre	Feb 13 Room 180	Feb 13 Room 150
8:00am 9:00am	Door Registration
9:00am 10:00am	Rasmus Lerdorf (Yahoo!) Keynote Speech			Brian Aker (MySQL) Scaling!
10:00am 10:15am	Coffee Break
10:15am 11:15am	Andrei Zmievski (Yahoo!) Unicoding with PHP 6	James Walker & Johnny Bufu (Bryght & Sxip Identity) OpenID & PHP	Marcus Boerger The Need for Speed, ERM Testing	Ilia Alshanetsky (Advanced Internet Designs) Migrating to PHP 5.2	Damien Seguy (Nexen) MySQL Kitchen spicing up everyday SQL	Jim O'Leary (UBC Lecturer) Object-Oriented Basics
11:15am 11:30am	Break
11:30am 12:30pm	Jeff Barr (Amazon) Web Scale Computing	Steven Wittens (Bryght) A closer look at Drupal 5	Sean Coates (php|architect) PHP Phone Home An Introduction to AGI with PHP	Perrick Penet (AFUP) Agile (and XP) Practices	Mike Potter (Adobe Systems) Realizing the Full Potential of Your Rich Internet Applications	Marcus Boerger SPL Updated
12:30pm 1:30pm	Lunch
1:30pm 2:30pm	Zak Greant (EZ Systems) Copyright, Contracts and Licenses	Damien Seguy (Nexen) PHP Tips and Tricks	Jim O'Leary (UBC Lecturer) PHP and Web Mapping Technologies	Kevin Schroeder (Zend) Caffeinated PHP, using Java to extend PHP	Jim DeLaHunt Unicode, i18n, and bidi	James Walker (Bryght) Drupal Module Development
2:30pm 2:45pm	Break
2:45pm 3:45pm	Ilia Alshanetsky (Advanced Internet Designs) Caching for Ca$h	Derick Rethans (eZ Systems) Efficient Debugging with xDebug	Chris Hartjes (VerticalScope) What Can PHP Learn From Ruby on Rails?	Julian Egelstaff (Freeform Solutions) Intro to XOOPS and Formulize	Derick Rethans (eZ Systems) eZ Components - RAD for PHP	Andrei Zmievski (Yahoo!) VIM for Programmers
3:45pm 4:00pm	Coffee Break
4:00pm 5:00pm	Rick James (Microsoft) Microsoft Tools and Platforms for PHP	Perrick Penet (AFUP) Open Source in Europe	Paul Reinheimer (php|architect) Zend Certification Talk	4:30pm Panel Discussion (Q&A) with all the speakers
5:00pm 5:15pm	No session	Break
5:15pm 6:15pm	No session	Lightning talks	Lightning talks
6:15pm 6:30pm	No session	Break
6:30pm 8:30pm	No session	Bonus talk Feb 12: Open Source in Vancouver Panel Discussion on FOSS and the GPL, with Brian Aker of Mysql, Zak Greant of EzSystems/Mozilla Foundation, David Ascher of ActiveState, Bruce Byfield Contributing Editor,Open Source Technology Group, Greg Dean of Ictcoop.ca, and others.

Here is a listing of sessions that are confirmed, subject to any last minute changes of speaker schedules. There will be 3 tracks for both days, after a keynote speech from Rasmus Lerdorf the inventor of PHP. Talks will begin at 9am and end at 5pm.

Keynote Speech (Rasmus Lerdorf )

Yahoo!

Unicoding with PHP 6 (Andrei Zmievski )

Yahoo!

The Unicode support in PHP continues to evolve. Come to this session and find out what this means for you and how you can take advantage of it. Don't be left behind as the software world moves towards language and cultural sensitivity. Speaking Unicode is all the rage these days and this session will show what PHP has learned and how easy it will be to work with multilingual text.

This talk will provide an overview of the most salient features of the Unicode support and illustrate the new internationalization features with a variety of demos on topics such as:

• Character set conversion
• Text boundary analysis
• Working with international dates and calendars
• Transliteration and text normalization
• Working with character sets and properties

VIM for PHP Programmers (Andrei Zmievski )

Yahoo!

Are you stuck choosing between Komodo, Zend Studio, PHPEdit, or Eclipse as your next IDE? Did you just come to Unix from Windows and wonder how to translate your ""1337"" Notepad skills to the new platform?

Have you pulled out most of your hair struggling to make your current editor do something more complicated than proper indentation? Or do you feel that perhaps you use only 5% of VIM's potential but desire to learn the true magic? Then head over to this session and grab a seat, because you don't want to be left standing when everyone else shows up to see what VIM has in store for PHP developers. Plus, it'll help that hair grow back.

Scaling! (Brian Aker)

MySQL

Everyone hopes to and few actually get too. Observations by a database geek of how the largest web sites scale to meet traffic demands.

What Can PHP Learn From Ruby on Rails? (Chris Hartjes)

VerticalScope

The Ruby on Rails web development framework introduces a lot of concepts that are not familiar to PHP developers. This talk examines how we can use these concepts to build lighter, faster, more powerful web apps.

Rails does a lot of things well and there is no reason why PHP developers shouldn't be aware of things like code generation, easy-to-use database abstractions, strict use of the Model-View-Controller design pattern and the overall benefits of using a framework to build your application.

The purpose is not to boost Rails but to show developers that there is nothing wrong with borrowing concepts from other programming languages if they can give a developer a boost in productivity.

MySQL Kitchen : spicing up everyday SQL (Damien Seguy )

Nexen

This session will cover a list of MySQL best recipes that can save the day when facing one of those strange SQL problems. The features introduced in MySQL 5.0 can handle many real world situations where data need to be kept consistent. Using pure SQL, we will solve problems ranging from ranking to hierarchical data, from unsorting to refactoring tables.

PHP Tips and Tricks (Damien Seguy )

Nexen

With over 3400 functions available, without any optional extension, PHP offers an tremensdously rich environment. Yet, some of them are still unknown to most of the programmers. During this session, we'll highlight a number of fonctions that are rarely used with PHP and MySQL, but are nonetheless useful, and avaiable within standard distribution.

Efficient Debugging with xDebug (Derick Rethans )

eZ Systems

This session teaches you how to detect and debug PHP scripts with the free open source tool Xdebug, which is an extension to PHP. The first part will consist of a small introduction on how to get started with Xdebug, and how you should configure and install it. The second part of the session will cover detecting problems in your scripts by showing how Xdebug provides debugging aides in the form of stack/function traces, dumps of variables, modified PHP functions. In the last part I will show the remote debugger capabilities of Xdebug, where you can: set breakpoints on functions, methods and file/line compabinations, watch execution details such as stack frames, per-frame information and variable contents. On top of this you will also see how you can use Xdebug's profiler to find bottlenecks in your applications.

eZ Components - RAD for PHP (Derick Rethans )

eZ Systems

The eZ components are a general purpose library of PHP components that solve a whole range of problems that developers often have to write themselves. The eZ components are developed with interoperatibility and a clean design in mind, allowing its users more flexibility and freedom, while keeping a consistent and well documented API. It is thouroughly documented, New BSD licensed with clear IP rights and available free of charge

In this session I will explain to you the structure, contents and workings of the eZ components library. I will introduce to you on how you can get started with the eZ components and show how you can use some of the components with examples.

Caching for Ca$h (Ilia Alshanetsky )

Advanced Internet Designs

A performance related talk which demonstrates various caching methodologies in relation to PHP code, things like partial-caching, pre-generation, full page caching and so on are covered.

Migrating to PHP 5.2 (Ilia Alshanetsky )

Advanced Internet Designs

A talk focused on migration path to 5.2 from 5.0 and 4.4 and briefly go overs some of the neat features that make upgrading to 5.2 worthwhile.

Drupal Module Development (James Walker )

Bryght A look into creating modules for the popular CMS Drupal.

Web Scale Computing (Jeff Barr)

What's possible in a post Web 2.0 world? Innovation continues at a mind-bending pace, and this presentation will showcase some thought-provoking new directions that Web Services are headed in (imagine computers programmatically calling people to perform tasks), as well as introduce a concept known as "Web Scale Computing". The presentation will also provide an overview of Amazon Web Services, and feature a code demonstration showing how PHP developers are able to easily build apps based on these services.

More importantly, it's an opportunity for an interactive discussion about what the future, shaped by Web services and Web Scale Computing, looks like.

Amazon spent ten years and over $2 billion developing a world-class technology and content platform that powers Amazon web sites for millions of customers. Most people think "Amazon.com" when they hear the word; however developers are excited to learn that there is a separate technology arm of the company, known as Amazon Web Services or AWS.

Using AWS, developers can build software applications leveraging the same robust, scalable, and reliable technology that powers Amazon's retail business. AWS has now launched eleven services with open API's for developers to build applications, with the result that over 200,000 developers have registered on Amazon's developer site to create applications based on these services..

Unicode, i18n, and bidi (Jim DeLaHunt)

Everyone who develops or tests software needs to deal with global issues these days. "Unicode", "i18n", "bidi", "localization", "FIGS", "language versions", and the like are commonplace. But they can be a bit mysterious to the mainstream software developer or tester, who isn't one of the "international specialists". This presentation is a gentle introduction to the concepts every developer needs to know. The principles apply to every development technology from .Net to Java to LAMP to Python. This talk is applicable to developers, testers, and technical managers, especially if you are NOT an "international specialist".

Object-Oriented Basics (Jim O'Leary )

UBC Lecturer

Object-oriented concepts (OO) are appearing in more and more computer systems today because they help us to model the real world better than procedural programming. Objects rock!

Garden-variety PHP programs don't need the complexity that OO entails. But 3rd party applications are often built using OO. If you want to understand Smarty, FastTemplate, JpGraph, or simpleXML, you must come to terms with objects.

This seminar explores OO with simple examples of classes, instances, inheritance, and polymorphism using PHP.

PHP and Web Mapping Technologies (Jim O'Leary )

UBC Lecturer

Mapping technologies are moving to the Internet, where their applications are more available to the public, and where the user's interface is a browser with JavaScript enabled is available to all.

PHP makes an ideal language for Web mapping applications. Its syntax can range from the simplicity of PHP 3 to the object-oriented complexity of PHP 5, giving developers the power they need to create their APIs. Autodesk released MapGuide Open Source to the world in 2006, with a server API in PHP and a client API in JavaScript. MapServer has released a model called PHP/Mapscript.

Independent of such mapping applications, PHP can retrieve geographic data from a spatially-enabled database such as Oracle Spatial or PostGIS, and invoke Google Earth or Google Maps to deliver maps to the user. PHP can also call a Web Mapping Service (WMS) to retrieve a layer from a mapping server. The Internet is turning to maps, and PHP is there!

This seminar looks at the following technologies and how they use PHP:

• MapGuide OpenSource
• Google Earth
• Google Maps
• Web Mapping Service (WMS)
• JpGraph

OpenID & PHP: How to make your site user-centric (Johnny Bufu and James Walker)

Sxip Identity and Bryght

Want to make it easy for your website users to login and easily provide you up-to-date data, while ensuring their privacy is protected? OpenID is an emerging Identity 2.0 protocol that is free, lightweight, and enables users to have single sign-on and attribute exchange with any OpenID-enabled site. The protocol is extensible, scalable to the long tail of the web, and has numerous open source libraries such as PhP, Perl, Python and Java (to name a few!). We'll discuss the past, current and future developments of this technology, and its supporting projects like Drupal, WordPress, and MediaWiki. Learn how simple it is to become user-centric and get your website up and running with OpenID 2.0.

Intro to XOOPS and Formulize (Julian Egelstaff)

Freeform Solutions

XOOPS is an open source, PHP-based website platform, that I'll argue is halfway between a CMS and a framework. I'll build a simple XOOPS site and show some of it's key features, and the advantages of being in the middle of the CMS-framework continuum. In addition, I'll demonstrate how our Formulize module for XOOPS gives developers, and regular webmasters, some rapid application development capabilities with minimal coding required.

Caffeinated PHP, using Java to extend PHP (Kevin Schroeder)

Zend

While PHP is one of the strongest web-based languages around there are times when additional functionality is needed, but not available in PHP.

Learn to give your application that extra kick with techniques such as resource pooling, connection persistence and asynchronous execution.

SPL updated (Marcus Boerger )

SPL aka the Standard PHP Library offers a lot of helpful toys to play around with. The extension is continuously growing as well as its userbase is growing. The talk will introduce a few basics for the SPL beginners and then head towards the new stuff and new ideas to use it.

The need for Speed, ERM Testing (Marcus Boerger )

PHP is developing quite fast, so are your applications. And most often there is no time for complex testing using overbloated test frameworks like unit testing and whatnot. On the other hand, tests are necessary to get an application - as well as PHP itself - stable and secure. This session will introduce the phpt test script - yes, a single test script written in PHP. Easy enough for everyone to use. This is also the easiest way to help develop PHP.

Realizing the Full Potential of Your Rich Internet Applications (Mike Potter)

Adobe Systems

Despite what the media will have you believe, rich Internet applications and AJAX are not new. With Web businesses like Google and Yahoo! and brick and mortar companies like Harley Davidson and Sherwin Williams embracing RIAs for their online presence, the media buzz is giving way to the reality of a better Internet. Rich Internet applications are everywhere.

But few RIAs leverage the full potential offered by using a combination of PHP, Flex and AJAX technologies. In this presentation, Mike will show how application developers are using a mix of PHP, AJAX and Flex to create RIAs that are changing the face of the Internet and how businesses interact with customers and employees. He will present what developers are doing – right now – to design rich Internet applications for the Web that combine the best of traditional graphical user interface applications with the wide reach of Web-based access, leading to more streamlined business processes and richer customer service. He will discuss how seamlessly PHP, Flex and AJAX can work together, with minimal to no re-coding or re-starting projects from scratch.

The audience will gain an understanding of:

• How PHP, Flex and AJAX are changing the face of the Web
• How developers can combine PHP, AJAX and Flex in their Web applications to provide better customer service, sleek branding and better business processes
• How developers can add Flex and Flash functionality to their existing applications without starting from scratch
• How companies can leverage rich Internet applications to do better business, including increased conversion and checkout rates
• How developers are using Flex and Flash to create rich, interactive e-commerce and community Web experiences"

Zend Certification Exam (Paul Reinheimer )

php|architect

I talk about it a lot, teaching monthly, wrote the exam a silly number of times. I have extensive knowledge and can pretty much ramble on as long as you want me to.

Agile (and XP) Practices in the PHP Universe (Perrick Penet )

France AFUP

• background on XP and Agile methodologies
• unit and functionnal testing tools (SimpleTest and Pear PHPUnit in particular)
• repositories (CVS, Subversion), packaging and deployment
• development practices : pair programming, refactoring, YAGNI, DRY

Open Source in Europe (Perrick Penet )

France AFUP

Governments in Europe are pushing really hard for ""Open Standards"" and Mozilla, OpenOffice.org and PHP to name a few are gaining ground. We'll be looking at key exemples of european steps towards Open Source :

• european centric projects (CMS : SPIP in France and Typo3 in Germany)
• the impact of the french government (SPIP-Agora, Adèle, Cybéo, AdminForge)
• case study : the belgian ministry of finances
• services orientated : how are european companies making money out of Open Source
• the mythical hacker / student & researcher : who's the next Linus ?"

PHP Phone Home An Introduction to AGI with PHP (Sean Coates)

php|architect

With email becoming less and less reliable, and telephony more and more pervasive, perhaps it’s time to consider finding a new medium to supplement the functionality of our Web applications? In this talk, we’ll investigate the potential of Asterisk in terms of PHP scripting, with an introduction to the Asterisk Gateway Interface, and simple call origination.

A closer look at Drupal 5 (Steven Wittens)

Bryght

Drupal has recently released version 5 of its content management system and framework. This brings in tons of new features, but also some great new additions under the hood. We'll take a look at some of the unique parts that make Drupal tick, including its menu system, form API, theme system, node system and more. Drupal is a great base for building your own custom solutions on top of, so anyone who develops websites in PHP should be interested.

Microsoft Tools and Platforms for PHP (Rick James)

Microsoft

With the recent collaboration announcement between Zend and Microsoft, the doors are wide open for enhancing your PHP applications with the Microsoft Tools and Platforms. In this session you'll discover several ways to get the most out of PHP on the Windows Platform and extend PHP code with existing .NET objects and Windows Platform products.

Copyright, Contracts and Licenses: A Guide for the Working Developer (Zak Greant)

EZ Systems

This session is for working developers (especially consultants) who need a quick primer on the basics of copyright law, software licensing, free/open software licensing and contracts.

During the session, commonly encountered situations will be discussed, such as:

• when do clients and employers hold copyright on my work?
• what license should I choose for my free/open software?
• how does the licensing of the LAMP platform affect my work?
• what does the GPL really mean?
• when am I obligated to share GPL licensed code?
• and more.

The information presented in the session is based on the presenter's professional software licensing experience, which stems from working on Free Software/Open Source licensing issues at MySQL (including co-authoring the MySQL FLOSS exception), volunteer work with the Free Software Foundation and recent work co-authoring new licenses for eZ systems AS.