Chapter 1. PHP: Design and Management

When PHP 5 was released early in 2004, among the most important features it introduced was enhanced support for object-oriented programming. This stimulated much interest in objects and design within the PHP community. In fact, this was an intensification of a process that began when version 4 first made object-oriented programming with PHP a serious reality.

In this chapter, I look at some of the needs that coding with objects can address. I very briefly summarize the evolution of patterns and related practices in the Java world. I look at signs that indicate a similar process is occurring among PHP coders.