News Archive - 2005

Here are the most important news items we have published in 2005 on PHP.net.

PHP 5.1.1 Released

[28-Nov-2005] The PHP Development Team would like to announce the immediate release of PHP 5.1.1.
This is a regression correction release aimed at addressing several issues introduced by PHP 5.1.0, the core changes as follows:

Native date class is withdrawn to prevent namespace conflict with PEAR's date package.
Fixed fatal parse error when the last line of the script is a PHP comment.
eval() hangs when the code being evaluated ends with a comment.
Usage of \{$var} in PHP 5.1.0 resulted in the output of {$var} instead of the $var variable's value enclosed in {}.
Fixed inconsistency in the format of PHP_AUTH_DIGEST between Apache 1 and 2 sapis.
Improved safe_mode/open_basedir checks inside the cURL extension.

The complete details about all of the changes can be found in the PHP 5 ChangeLog.

PHP 5.1.0 Released

[24-Nov-2005] The PHP development team is proud to announce the release of PHP 5.1.0.
Some of the key features of PHP 5.1.0 include:

A complete rewrite of date handling code, with improved timezone support.
Significant performance improvements compared to PHP 5.0.X.
PDO extension is now enabled by default.
Over 30 new functions in various extensions and built-in functionality.
Bundled libraries, PCRE and SQLite upgraded to latest versions.
Over 400 various bug fixes.
PEAR upgraded to version 1.4.5

In addition to new features, this release includes a number of important security fixes and we recommend that all users of PHP 5.0 and early adopters of PHP 5.1 betas upgrade to this release as soon as possible. The complete details about all of the changes can be found in the PHP 5 ChangeLog and an upgrading guide is available as well.

PHP 4.4.1 Released

[31-Oct-2005] PHP 4.4.1 is now available for download. This version is a maintenance release, that contains numerous bug fixes, including a number of security fixes related to the overwriting of the GLOBALS array. All users of PHP 4.3 and 4.4 are encouraged to upgrade to this version.

The full list of changes in PHP 4.4.1 is available in the PHP 4 ChangeLog.

Forum PHP in Paris, November 9 & 10th, 2005

[05-Oct-2005] The French AFUP association is proud to announce the fourth annual PHP meeting in Paris, on November 9th and 10th, 2005. Developers and managers will gather to meet Rasmus Lerdorf, Wez Furlong and other prominent community experts for two days of sessions, packed with enterprise solutions and advanced techniques (in French).

Zend/PHP Conference & Expo 2005 Program Announced

[20-Sep-2005] The final program for the Zend / PHP Conference (October 18-21, 2005 in San Francisco) is now available. The conference theme is "Power Your Business With PHP" and features keynote addresses from Marc Andreessen, Google VP Adam Bosworth, and executives from IBM, Oracle & Intel. Featured speakers include Michael Radwin of Yahoo!, Adam Trachtenberg of eBay, Joyce Park of Renkoo.com, George Schlossnagle & Wez Furlong of OmniTI, and, of course, Zeev Suraski & Andi Gutmans.

In addition to keynotes and sessions, the conference also features tutorials, certification, a party continuing the celebration of the 10th Anniversary of PHP, and an exhibit hall including companies like Zend, IBM, Oracle, Intel, MySQL, Microsoft, eBay/PayPal, Emic Networks, ActiveGrid, ActiveState and SpikeSource. Registration discounts are still available.

Get Your Pocket PHP Reference and Help Hurricane Relief

[08-Sep-2005] php|architect has announced the publication of php|architect's Pocket PHP Reference, a handy guide to every function in PHP, inclusive of syntax, extension and description. It's a perfect companion for all your coding work, perfect for looking up function syntax in a pinch, and its convenient pocket size (5x8") makes it unobtrusive and easy to transport.

What's more, however, buying this book will help those affected by the recent hurricane disaster: all profits from the sale of the Pocket Guide will be donated entirely to the Canadian Red Cross' Katrina Relief Fund.

PHP 5.0.5 Released

[06-Sep-2005] PHP 5.0.5 is now available for download. This version is a maintenance release, that contains numerous bug fixes, including security fixes to vulnerabilities found in the XMLRPC package. All users of PHP 5.0 are encouraged to upgrade to this version.

The full list of changes in PHP 5.0.5 is available in the PHP 5 ChangeLog.

International PHP Conference 2005 - Program available

[12-Aug-2005] The program for the International PHP Conference is now available. The conference that was one of the first events on PHP will take place again in Frankfurt from November 6-9, 2005 and offers two days with pre conference tutorials as well as two days packed with sessions from well known speakers such as Derick Rethans, Zak Greant, Ilia Alshanetsky and many more.

A new feature has been added to this year's conference: the Management Day where project managers and consultants shine the light on using PHP in enterprise-level projects. Conference attendees, including software architects, PHP developers, project leaders, and programmers can gain strategic information on how to realize their IT projects on-time, in-budget. The Management Day is free of charge for attendees registering prior to September 30, 2005.

Early Bird Special discounts are available as well until this date, and special discounts for students and private persons.

web|works and php|works 2005 Program Online

[16-Jul-2005] The full program of php/web|works 2005, a three-day conference on PHP and web technologies is available. The event will take place in Toronto, Canada, the birthplace of PHP, between September 14 and September 16. This year's speakers include Rasmus Lerdorf, Derick Rethans, Wez Furlong, Ilia Alshanetsky and many more.

An early-bird special discount is in effect until August 1st, and special pricing is available for students, member of academia and non-profit organizations.

PHP 4.4.0 Released

[11-Jul-2005] The PHP Development Team would like to announce the immediate release of PHP 4.4.0. This is a maintenance release that addresses a serious memory corruption problem within PHP concerning references. If references were used in a wrong way, PHP could create memory corruptions which would not always surface or be visible. The increased middle digit was required because the fix that corrected the problem with references changed PHP's internal API, breaking binary compatibility with the PHP 4.3.* series. PHP 4.4.0 does not have any new features, and is solely a bugfix release; however, it is strongly recommended that you read the more detailed release announcement available here prior to upgrading your PHP 4 installation.

For changes in PHP 4.4.0 since PHP 4.3.11, please consult the PHP 4 ChangeLog.

PEAR XML_RPC Vulnerability and PHP 4.4.0RC2 release

[01-Jul-2005] An easily exploitable security issue was discovered in PEAR XML_RPC <= 1.3.0. We recommend that users of this PEAR class immediately upgrade to the latest version with:

 pear upgrade XML_RPC

The same security problem exists in many other XML RPC implementations, please check if the installed applications that you use might have a similar problem.

The new PEAR XML_RPC package is also bundled with the second release candidation of PHP 4.4.0RC2. Besides this new PEAR package there are two minor issues fixed since PHP 4.4.0RC1. As the improved reference support in PHP 4.4 might show as notices and warnings in your existing applications - in cases where PHP formerly just silently ignored this and often causing memory corruptions - we also recommend to test PHP 4.4.0RC2 with your applications. The final release is planned for July 11th. PHP 4.4.0RC2 can be found here.

Zend/PHP Conference 2005

[23-Jun-2005] The Zend/PHP Conference is taking place at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport on October 18-21, 2005. The theme of the conference will be "Power Your Business With PHP" and will feature sessions in the following four tracks: The Business Case for PHP; Developing, Deploying and Managing Large-Scale PHP Applications; Integrating PHP with the Enterprise (including Web Services and XML); and PHP Resources: Tools, Libraries and Techniquies. Early registration discounts are available until August 15, 2005.

10 years since PHP 1.0 was released!

[08-Jun-2005] It has been 10 years since Rasmus released the first version of PHP. To everyone that has helped to shape PHP into what it is today; from the people developing the core and extensions, documentors, script developers, bug reporters, beta testers, PHP application developers and even just people that are using PHP--Thank you!

CfP PHP Track - (AUUG) Annual Conference

[20-May-2005] For the first time the AUUG will incorporate a PHP Track as part of its annual conference in Sydney, Australia. For this track we seek tutorials and presentations. Tutorials are on October 16 to 18 and presentations on October 19 to 21. For information on how to submit a proposal we kindly point you to our CfP which you can find on our website. The deadline for proposals is May 27. In case you want more information, email Derick or Arjen.

PHP West Security Conference in Vancouver, BC

[11-May-2005] Open Source Events is hosting their second conference on June 11th, 2005 in Vancouver, British Columbia. The conference will focus on PHP and Open Source Security. Featured talks will be presented by Bruce Perens, Chris Shiflett, Christian Wenz, Tom Robinson and Chris Hubbard.

The conference is a single day – one track event where attendees will receive a free t-shirt, lunch, and full access to the full day of talks with the purchase of their ticket. A number of free prizes will be given away at the closing ceremonies.

PHP Applications gathering

[20-Apr-2005] The PHP Québec Conference team is looking for the best software developed with PHP, MySQL and Apache. Each proposal received by April 29th will be reviewed by an experts and members of the PHP Québec community.

The most useful software will be included on the 2005 PHP Québec Conference CDROM along with over 25 hours of conference which where given by the leaders behind PHP, MySQL and Apache, as well as regional and international experts at the 2005 PHP Québec conference.

PHP 5.0.4 and 4.3.11 Released

[31-Mar-2005] The PHP Development Team would like to announce the immediate release of PHP 5.0.4 and 4.3.11. These are maintenance releases that in addition to non-critical bug fixes address several security issues. All Users of PHP are strongly encouraged to upgrade to one of these releases as soon as possible.

For changes in PHP 5.0.4 since PHP 5.0.3, please consult the PHP 5 ChangeLog. For changes in PHP 4.3.11 since PHP 4.3.10, please consult the PHP 4 ChangeLog.

International PHP Conference 2005 Spring Edition

[23-Mar-2005] The International PHP Conference 2005 Spring Edition will take place from May 2, 2005 to May 4, 2005. The Conference features a PowerWorkshop day on May 2 with PHP/MySQL Best Practices, XML/WebServices with PHP 5, Rapid Application Development and a PHP Starter Workshop for Beginners. The main Conference days will include sessions on PHP Internals, XML, Databases, Migration to PHP 5 and others. Early bird discounts are available until April 1, 2005.

PHP Québec 2005: PHP - MySQL - Apache

[15-Mar-2005] PHP Québec is proud to present an extended conference in Montréal, Québec, covering the latest innovations in PHP, MySQL and Apache. From March 30th until April 1st, major AMP contributors will talk about Security, Web Services, PHP 5 and great achievements with PHP in North America. The 4 tracks are available at the PHP Québec site.

PHP Certification exams by Zend are included with every admission ticket to the conference. The certification center will also provide MySQL and Linux certification from MySQL AB, LPI and Savoir Faire Linux. The examination center is open to everyone.

PHP and PEAR at FOSDEM 2005

[23-Feb-2005] This year PHP & PEAR have a devroom at FOSDEM 2005 held in Brussels. On Sunday, 27th of February, several developers will talk about PHP & PEAR. Topics include Xdebug, eZ publish, SimpleTest, Horde and PEAR. A full schedule can be found on the FOSDEM's site.

Along with giving the scheduled talks, the developers will be available during the course of the day to chat with. The devroom is also open to all who want a place to code and/or relax.

We hope to see you there !

php|symphony

[10-Feb-2005] php|architect magazine has introduced php|symphony, an ongoing series of online talks given by some of today's leaders in the PHP world. Each talk in the series features an in-depth discussion on a specific topic, such as security, enterprise development and so on. Talks are delivered entirely online using an interactive system compatible with most OSs and browsers.

The series will start on February 23rd with a talk by security expert Chris Shiflett titled "Mastering PHP Security".

ApacheCon Europe 2005

[08-Feb-2005] ApacheCon Europe will be held from July 18th to July 22th in Stuttgart, Germany.

PHP Security Consortium

[31-Jan-2005] An international group of PHP experts today announced the official launch of the PHP Security Consortium (PHPSC), a group whose mission is to promote secure programming practices within the PHP community through education and exposition while maintaining high ethical standards.

Members of the PHPSC seek to educate PHP developers about security through a variety of resources, including documentation, tools, and standards. In addition to their educational efforts, the PHPSC engages in exploratory and experimental research in order to develop and promote standards of best practice for PHP application development.

O'Reilly Open Source Convention 2005

[27-Jan-2005] Circle August 1-5 on your calendar and join in at the O'Reilly Open Source Convention in beautiful Portland, Oregon. OSCON 2005 will be at the Oregon Convention Center, where there will be tutorials, sessions, parties, BOFs, and a huge exhibit hall.

Third Hungarian PHP Conference

[17-Jan-2005] The Web Application Development Division of the John von Neumann Computer Society is proud to present the Third Hungarian PHP Conference which will take place in Budapest, on Saturday March 12th, sponsored by several international and local companies. The conference offers an entirely free one day activity with several presentations addressing basic and advanced topics as well, mostly in Hungarian. This year, the organizers are also happy to welcome Derick Rethans and Lukas Smith speaking. Continuing on the success of previous years, a five+five kilobyte-limited PHP 5 contest has been started to discover the most talented PHP programmers in the country.

php|tropics

[06-Jan-2005] On the heels of last year's php|cruise, this year php|architect magazine has announced php|tropics, a 5-day conference event that will take place between May 11 and 15, 2005 at the Moon Palace All-inclusive Resort in wonderful Cancun, Mexico.

With sessions and hands-on tutorials held by many leading PHP experts, including Ilia Alshanetsky, Wez Furlong, Derick Rethans, George Schlossnagle and many others, php|tropics is an excellent and inexpensive way to learn lots about PHP in a fun-filled and exciting atmosphere. This year, the conference also sports "bring your own laptop" tutorials, where the audience is encourage to participate in hands-on exercises throughout the event.

A special early-bird discount is in effect until February 28, and attendees who sign up before that date receive a $100 discount. In addition, php|architect will sponsor and cover all examination fees for conference attendees interested in trying their hand at the Zend Certification Exam.

PHP awarded Programming Language of 2004

[05-Jan-2005] PHP has been awarded the Programming Language of 2004, according to the TIOBE Programming Community Index. This index uses information collected from the popular search engines, and are based on the world-wide availability of skilled engineers, courses and third party vendors.

Congratulations to us all!