Expert Guide to PHP Console Application

There is no de NYing to the fact that PHP is a great tool for effective web development solutions. PHP as a web designing and development option is highly secure, fast, and immensely reliable that offers a host of benefits to make it accessible to a user base across the globe. With the rising demands for high-end web development solutions, the business partners are constantly looking out for a reliable web development Company ensuring the top-notch designing of the web portals and PHP Console application.

If you wish to ensure the most productive web designing and development solutions for your online business, then you must avail the high-end services from some reliable and professional PHP development Company. In addition to effective PHP programming, there is a lot more towards executing a successful website rather than only the given user interface.

There are several backups to be performed, data to be pruned, log files to be analyzed, and several other important tasks that are happening in the background. Usually, such routine administration processes are the main targets for effective automation. Surprisingly, PHP as a programming language performs an excellent job off the web as well. If you are getting started with web development & its background knowledge, then you must know that PHP serves as an effective console application as well.

Command Line Interface (CLI): What is It?

With several modifications taking place in the coding scenarios of the leading programming languages, PHP has grown to include a host of additional scripts & libraries such that now it is being used for executing the command line applications as well. The Command Line Interface (CLI) of PHP first came up in the version PHP 4.2.0 which was in the form of an experimental functionality. With the release of the version PHP 4.3.0, the CLI (Command Line Interface) went on to become the official SAPI (Server API).

This implies that in the practical terms, the CLI version of the PHP programming language is now available as a separate PHP binary (executable). This can be used for running the scripts on the given command line, along with offering “access points” to the world like the “$_POST” and the “$_GET” variables that aim towards giving you the access to the incoming data from all over the world.

Though PHP is not the only option for writing the given command line scripts as the CLI, there are several advantages offered by the same. In addition to the PHP programming language, others like Python & Perl is also being widely used across the world towards writing effective command line applications.

One of the main reasons for using PHP for writing & executing the given command line application is that most of the developers & programmers out there know PHP much better than other programming languages like Python & Perl. Another important reason for using PHP as an effective console application is that writing supporting command-line scripts in other languages might lead to an extra burden.

Moreover, if you are building some PHP application that might be used by some “unknown” third parties, then asking them to set up other platforms in addition to PHP programming language might lead to a great confusion, especially if they might be using the Windows platform. If you are building tools towards supporting some application that has already been written in PHP, there is much more sense into sticking to a single programming platform.

The main advantage of the command line scripts or applications is that these are usually easier to build & develop. Moreover, these are also highly quicker to be used & implemented. As such, these can play a major role in ensuring the overall effective web development process by helping the developers create proper tasks & processes quickly and efficiently.

The most important tasks that can be achieved easily include the generation of the particular API documentation with the help of phpDocumentor or running the Simple Test suite. Additional tools like Phing –an Apache’s ANT based development tool, and rephlus –a continuous integration tool that has been based on CruiseControl are used for providing the necessary frameworks for helping the developers automate the overall web development process.

Benefits of Building a PHP Console Application-based CLI App

There is no de NYing the fact that PHP as a programming language is the most popular option that is currently available on the Internet. This has resulted in the creation of several high-level libraries that have been written in the PHP programming language. When these libraries are being used for developing major web portals & applications, some of the libraries can also be used for CLI applications. This process helps in removing the need for duplicating the overall functionality. The process of the removal of code duplication or spinning out the CLI application by using the existing libraries with some low barrier towards entry is considered to be a good sign.

Effective Tools for Building the PHP-based CLI Applications

There are several effective tools that can be used for creating & building highly useful CLI applications based on the PHP programming language. These are:

1. Symfo NY Console
2. Composer
3. Phar Files
4. Silex

• Symfo NY Console: This is a specialized package by Symfo NY. There is no special need of using the Symfo NY for using this tool as this can be used without any supporting parts of the Symfo NY as well. The given package is able to bring the necessary inputs through prompts and writings to “stdout” easily. The package also supports a diverse range of application options, colors, and so more.

• Composer: This is the package manager that is used for handling the bringing together of all the essential parts together for effective web development. The Composer tool is available publically and a major portion of it is the “Packagist”. Additionally, there are specialized private packages as well in the special “Git reports” that are not shared publically.

• Phar Files: These are the important PHP archive files that are used for storing entire applications. The automatic generation of these archive files of PHP is quite easy which can be achieved by using proper PHP scripts with the help of some simple commands.

• Silex: This is a simple framework for ensuring effective web development.

Using the highly advanced PHP programming language, the overall task of top-notch web portal & application designing & development can be achieved in an effective manner.

Hemendra Singh

My name is Hemendra Singh. I am Managing Director and co-founder of PuzzleInnovationz, a Mobile App Development Company. I am having a keen interest in the latest trends and technologies that are emerging in different domains. Being an entrepreneur in the field of IT sector, it becomes my responsibility to aid my audience with the knowledge of latest trends in the market.