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Use your existing web-based PHP skills to write all types of software: CLI scripts, desktop software, network servers, and more. This book gives you the tools, techniques, and background necessary to write just about any type of software you can think of, using the PHP you know.

PHP Beyond the Web shows you how to take your knowledge of PHP development for the web and utilise it with a much wider range of software systems. Enjoy the benefits of PHP after reading this book: save money by redeploying existing skills, not learning new ones; save time and increase productivity by using a high-level language; and make money by providing your clients a full-stack service (not just websites).

PHP is no longer just a great scripting language for websites, it´s now a powerful general-purpose programming language. Expand your use of PHP into your back-end systems, server software, data processing services, desktop interfaces, and more.

What You´ll Learn

Write interactive shell scripts
Work with system daemons
Write desktop software
Build network servers
Interface with electronics using PHP and the Raspberry Pi
Manage performance, deployment, licensing, and system interaction
Discover the software tools for development and get other great sources of technical information and help
Who This Book Is For
Experienced PHP programmers or experienced programmers interested in leveraging PHP outside the web development context.

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1. Introduction 2. Getting away from the Web - the basics 3. Understanding the CLI SAPI, and why you need to 4. Development tools 5. User facing software< 6. System software 7. Interacting with other software 8. Talking to the system 9. Performance & stability - profiling and improving 10. Distribution and deployment issues Appendix A : Compiling and installing PHP and its extensions Appendix B : File & data format libraries for PHP Appendix C : Sources of help Appendix D : Interesting libraries, tools, articles and projects Appendix E : Integrated Development Environments for PHP Afterword: Where now?

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Rob Aley has been programming commercially and academically in a variety of programming languages, with over 10 years of PHP experience, since graduating in Computer Science from the University of Leeds in 1999,
Having had a varied career working in industries from coffee to condoms, as well as doing freelance software development, Rob is now a "Database Programmer" at the University of Oxford working in healthcare related data analysis. He uses PHP almost exclusively now, out of choice.
When he´s not working or writing books, he spends time with his wife, three young children, and most importantly his cat.

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