Atlanta PHP

Meeting Reminder

We will be meeting on July 6th at the Consulate General of Canada. Our topic is “How Can I Improve My Code?” For more details, see the official meeting post.

PHP Appalachia Reminder

PHP Appalachia is an informal gathering of PHP enthusiasts who just want an excuse to get together and enjoy exchanging information in a relaxed, beautiful setting. There is no set agenda, no formal speakers. Just 3 days of camping and sharing PHP ideas and experiences with people just like you.

The event takes place September 27-29, 2006 at the Cherokee/Great Smokies KOA in Cherokee, NC.

TO RECEIVE THE GROUP DISCOUNT FOR YOUR CAMPING SITE/CABIN, YOU MUST RESERVE YOUR SPOT WITH THE CAMPGROUND BEFORE JULY 5!

See the PHP Appalachia Web site for more details.

If you’ve visited the Atlanta PHP Web site in the last day or two, you’ve most likely noticed a big change.

Atlanta PHP has launched its brand new Web site and forum!

New Web Site

Our new Web site is still located at http://www.atlphp.org. However, this time it presents our user group news and information in an easy-to-find and easy-to-navigate manner.

New Forum

Our new forum is located at http://forum.atlphp.org. These forums are also cleaner and easier-to-navigate than our previous forums. The forums will now take the place of the talk and org mailing lists. These lists, which have always been very low in traffic, will continue to exist for a short time longer, but we will no longer use them. Instead, we encourage you to make use of the forums.

We were unable to transfer everyone’s login accounts from the old site, but it’s easy to register. Just click here.

New Jobs Board

With the new site comes a new way to post job listings. Anyone may post job listings without registering for the forums. When you post a job, it will be posted automatically to our jobs mailing list once it is approved by a moderator. We ask that the job opportunity be located in the Southeast and that you aren’t trying to pitch a product. Job postings are heavily moderated.

Click here to read more about our new jobs board.

Meetup.com

On our new Web site, you’ll notice a link to Meetup.com. We have recreated the Atlanta PHP group on Meetup.com because we’ve become aware of many people trying to find a PHP user group in the area through Meetup.com but failing to do so because none existed. This is just another channel we’ll use to reach out to the local developer community.

Join us on Meetup.com.

A Special Note About AtlantaPHP.org

Please note that you’ll see our alternate domain http://www.atlantaphp.org used during the interim period of DNS transition. Pay no attention to this, as everything will be in order and using our primary domain by the end of the week. You will always be able to access our Web sites from either atlphp.org or atlantaphp.org.

I mentioned this at our June meeting, and now it’s being officially announced.

What:
PHP Appalachia is an informal gathering of PHP enthusiasts who just want an excuse to get together and enjoy exchanging information in a relaxed, beautiful setting. There is no set agenda, no formal speakers. Just 3 days of camping and sharing PHP ideas and experiences with people just like you.

When:
September 27-29, 2006

Where:
This gathering will be held at the Cherokee/Great Smokies KOA in Cherokee, NC.

The Cherokee/Great Smokies KOA is bordered on one side by the serene Raven Fork River and on the other side by three tribal trout ponds. It lies just across the road from Great Smoky Mountains National Park and one mile from the Blue Ridge Parkway. From almost anywhere on KOA’s grounds, take in 360-degree mountain views. Enjoy the shuttle to area attractions, indoor pool and hot tub, fitness center, island pet walk, whitewater rafting, horseback riding and gem mining excursions, among other things. Wireless Internet is available at the campground.

See the PHP Appalachia Web site for more details.

When: Thursday, July 6, 2006—7pm-9pm
Where: Consulate General of Canada

Topic: How Can I Improve My Code?

Our July meeting takes place again at our interim meeting location, the Consulate General of Canada. We’ll lead off with a old code snippet from Chris Spruck who will ask the question, “How can I improve this code?” You are encouraged to bring your own code snippets and problems to receive feedback from other attendees. Throughout the meeting, we’ll touch on best practices and offer ways to review and refactor your own code. Come willing to offer your own suggestions, be prepared to comment on the code snippets of others and offer constructive criticism, and even share a code snippet or two of your own.

As usual, we’ll start the meeting with a Tips & Tricks session with a special topic for this month: What is your favorite PHP function and why?

Finally, we’ll round out the meeting with a brief discussion regarding organization business. For more information about what we’ll be discussing, please see the “Officers and Duties” and “Quarterly Speaking Schedule” threads in the forums.

After the meeting, as has been our custom at this interim location, we’ll retire to Houlihan’s for food, drinks, and networking.

This month, we will meet again at the Consulate General of Canada in Midtown at the corner of Peachtree and 14th Streets. Click here for directions. You will need to see the concierge in order to gain access to the elevators to the 17th floor. There is no need to register beforehand for this. Simply let the concierge know that you are there for a meeting at the Consulate General of Canada.

When: Thursday, June 1, 2006—7pm-9pm
Where: Consulate General of Canada

Topic: SimpleXML

The Atlanta PHP June meeting will focus on XML, specifically with regard to PHP 5’s SimpleXML functionality. Ben Ramsey will present, using the RSS (Really Simple Syndication) XML format to illustrate reading and writing XML data with SimpleXML.

As usual, the meeting will begin with a session on tips & tricks, so if you have one to share, please contact Chris Spruck (chris at atlphp.org). After the presentation, we will continue our “group project” with the Zend Framework, looking at how to connect to a database using the framework. Following the meeting, we’ll have our usual giveaways.

LOCATION UPDATE: Kevin Roberts has again secured a room at the Consulate General of Canada in Midtown at the corner of Peachtree and 14th Streets. Click here for directions. You will need to see the concierge in order to gain access to the elevators to the 17th floor. There is no need to register beforehand for this. Simply let the concierge know that you are there for a meeting at the Consulate General of Canada. Again, this is only an interim meeting place.

Download slides for this meeting

Here are the slides from both the May and June meetings. The first slides (May) cover the Zend Framework and how to set up your environment. The second cover SimpleXML and end with a discussion on our group project (starting around slide 20).

• Zend Framework Overview (PDF)
• Mastering XML With SimpleXML (PDF)