PHP version 5.1.0 brings performance improvements and makes the PHP Data Objects extension a default component.
Last week, the PHP development team released version 5.1.0 of the PHP scripting language. This is the most important upgrade since version 5.0 was released in July 2004. This release includes performance improvements, the addition of an extension designed to simplify interacting with databases, and other changes.
PHP has become an extremely popular scripting language. More than 2,200 domains now use it, according to Internet monitoring company Netcraft. Zend, the company responsible for the main development of PHP, claims that more than 40% of all Web applications are running PHP; major companies include Yahoo, Lufthansa and T-Online.
PHP 5 was first released last year and included a new core - Zend Engine II - which implemented object-oriented features in PHP for the first time. That release also included enhanced support for XML and databases, and introduced support for Web services. Subsequent updates have focused on bug fixes, security patches, and minor improvements.
According to the PHP development team, this new release includes huge improvements in PHP script processing performance compared to version 5.0.x.
Another major change is the PHP Data Objects (PDO) extension, which was previously marked as experimental and is now the default extension. PDO is used to define a unified interface for accessing the database.
This release includes completely rewritten date processing code, improved time zone support, and the addition of more than 30 new functions to built-in functions and extensions. PEAR and the bundled libraries have been upgraded to the latest versions, and over 400 bugs have been patched.
PHP, which will be released in 2006, will introduce Unicode character encoding, which is very important for supporting different languages.
Earlier this month, Zend launched a major update to its scripting environment, Zend Studio, focusing on support for web services and databases.
Zend Studio 5.0 can generate Web Services Description Language (WSDL) files from PHP source code and supports DB2, Cloudscape, SQL Server, Oracle databases, and MySQL, PostgreSQL and Derby databases.
It is the first integrated development environment (IDE) to fully support Zend Engine II.
In October, browser pioneer Marc Andreessen predicted that PHP's simplicity would make it more popular than Java for use in Web applications, a view shared by many in the industry.
Compared to C and C++, Java is more programmer-friendly, but it has also become more complicated after years of development. It has become even more difficult to learn than C++, Andreessen said. The mantle of simplicity is being passed on, and he says PHP is an easier development environment than Java.