[Shenlug] PHP, MySQL and CMS platforms

[Steve Connelly]

I have to say that the multi-database platform is more important to me than
either PHP or MySQL so if there are platforms I should be looking at, please
advise.

Steve

-----Original Message-----
From: shenlug-bounces at calypso.tux.org
[mailto:shenlug-bounces at calypso.tux.org] On Behalf Of David Clymer
Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2007 10:47 PM
To: shenlug at calypso.tux.org
Subject: Re: [Shenlug] PHP, MySQL and CMS platforms

On Thu, 2007-10-18 at 11:33 -0400, Steve Connelly wrote:
> Good morning all, 
> 
> I have a new project I am working on at work and could you any
> guidance you can offer. We will be developing an Intranet (or Content
> Management System or CMS if you prefer) and I have gotten permission
> to see if I can find an open source solution. We have a Windows-based
> LAN and this is the major project I have gotten permission to pursue
> via open source tools.

Great! Welcome to the wide (and wild) world of Free software.

>  
> 
> So, I am starting at ground zero here, but fortunately I have time to
> read, study and research. I need some suggestions for the following:
> 
>       * I want to use PHP based tools and products but I do not know
>         PHP so I need the following:
>               * A good starter book(s) on PHP. I am sure that there is
>                 a "PHP for Dummies" but that may not be the best place
>                 to start. I learn fast so while I need to start at the
>                 bottom, I will need to move quickly to more
>                 intermediate level stuff. (I have some knowledge of
>                 HTML)

Perhaps I am strange, but I have not found books to be any good for
learning programming languages. The best way to learn, is in my opinion
to get a little basic knowledge, and then wing it. Implementing your own
ideas is much more interesting and motivating than completing someone
else's pointless, academic assignments. So, read a few basic tutorials
to get some idea of the language syntax, and how things work, then
strike out on your own (while keeping a language and/or framework API
reference site open in your browser, and consulting it heavily).

PHP Tutorial: http://devzone.zend.com/node/view/id/627
PHP Language reference: http://www.php.net/manual/en/

>               * Any appropriate development tools that are ported to
>                 Windows; WAMP has been recommended to me, is that a
>                 good way to go?
>               * Any appropriate websites/links

I personally prefer LAPP (Linux Apache Postgres Python), but WAMP is
fine. From the point of view of the programmer, unless this is a high
performance, data critical project, defining the "P" is the only part
that makes much difference. You've chosen P="PHP". The rest can be
whatever is easiest.

>       * I am not familiar with MySQL so I need the following:
>               * A good starter book(s) on MySQL (same as above) (I
>                 have some Access and MS SQL Express experience)
>               * Again, appropriate development tools ported to Windows
>               * Any appropriate websites/links

If you know SQL, who needs a book? If you don't, then choose a framework
that hides it all from you (see framework opinions below).

MYSQL Reference manual: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/

>       * We are looking for development platforms for a CMS (Intranet)
>         with as much of the following as we can get:
>               * Ported to Windows (looking at Joomla, Drupal and some
>                 others so far)
>               * Capable of connecting to multiple databases. We would
>                 like an environment similar to the Domino database
>                 structure used in Lotus Notes. We will then 
>               * As fully developed set of tools and features as I can
>                 get
> 

If you are looking for a PHP _development_ framework, I would recommend
something like symfony (http://www.symfony-project.com/), or cakePHP
(http://www.cakephp.org/).

If you want a proper web development framework, but are not stuck on
PHP, I highly recommend that you take at least a quick look at django,
ruby on rails, or turbo-gears.

The drawback of all of these is that most of them do _not_ support
multiple databases as a primary use case. I think that's rather
unfortunate, in situations where one wants to integrate legacy databases
with a new application. All of them do allow you to support such things
in at least a kludgy way. However, if you are starting from scratch, it
shouldn't matter too much.

The 2nd drawback is that they don't give you a bunch of pre-built
goodies to start off with. However, what they provide is a huge leg up
in developing something from scratch. It doesn't sound like that's quite
what you're after, so this is all for what it's worth.

-davidc

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