Welcome to the blog

Simplifying Unit Testing (and asking for help when needed)

**Do you test your application in the right way? Or do you attempt to do it all at once, in many locations? When you’re stuck, do you ask for help?

Make Module Configs Cacheable with the ZF2 Factory Interface

For the longest time, I’ve been using closures in my Zend Framework 2 Modules Module class. I know they’re not always the best approach, but they’re not necessarily wrong either.

But after reviewing Gary Hockin’s recent talk at PHP Conference UK, I was reminded that outside of APC and OPCache, closures aren’t cacheable.

First Foray Making Screencasts

Recently, I was invited by Thomas Snow at Learnable, to start making video training content, i.e., screencasts.

To say the least I was very excited and jumped at the chance to do so. Catch is, I’ve only ever made a few videos before, and I never thought they were too good.

Can A £20 Microphone Compare to the Blue Yeti?

I decided to keep a blog of my experience on the way to becoming a professional podcaster and screencaster. So you can call this Podcasting 101. Like anything in life, you have to start somewhere. So why not right at the beginning?

Gary Hockin's Maximising Zend Framework 2 Performance Talk (Review)

Over the weekend, I was fortunate enough to be at this year’s PHP UK Conference, in London. One of the highlights for me, as a Zend Framework developer and evangelist, was Gary Hockin’s talk on maximising Zend Framework 2 performance.

Whether you’re new to Zend Framework 2, or an old hand (can someone really say they’re an old hand after such a short period of time?) the talk covered a range of tools, tips, and techniques for increasing application performance.

Master Zend Framework Is Live!

After much, much, work, Master Zend Framework is live and it’s better in every way than the original.

Easy Setter Injection in Zend Framework 2

Want to learn how to have initialized objects with minimal code and nearly no hands-on configuration in Zend Framework 2? Come learn about setter injection.

3 Simple Ideas for Improving Zend Framework Performance

Here’s 3 simple ideas for improving Zend Framework 2 application performance without learning more code. Think Database

Simplify Form Validation and Reuse, Use Validation Groups

Do you need to use different elements of a Zend Form, in multiple locations? Are you keen to reuse the same form class and avoid code duplication but don’t know how? Come learn about validation groups.

Should You Use PHP’s Magic Methods or Not?