Features and benefits of PHP in WebSphere sMash

For PHP Programmers

• Java Libraries - PHP has a great set of extensions and libraries but there are some areas where there is better capability available in the Java world. By combining PHP with Java a PHP programmer can choose designs which use the best that is available in both languages. Some examples:
  • We have had great success with using the Apache POI Java libraries with PHP to parse and generate Microsoft office (binary) format files. This is something that is not possible in PHP in a portable way. Example
  • Several members of the projectzero communty have had success with using Apache Lucene Java libraries with PHP applications to improve the search capabilities of their website. Case study
• Java Integration - Where you want to integrate a PHP application into an existing enterprise environment you may be faced with integration challenges such as working with MQ, JMS or SOAP. While PHP has solutions in these areas they have some drawbacks. Java has excellent support for this kind of thing so by importing a java class or two into your application using the Java Bridge you can quickly and easily perform these integrations. This is one of the key benefits to using SugarCRM on WebSphere sMash.
• Enterprise Integration - Because PHP in sMash is implemented on a Java platform it is possible to re-use all of the integration capabilities of Java. For example SugarCRM Integration using WebSphere smash
• Groovy Integration - The Java community as a whole are discovering the benefits of scripting. Java programmers want a scripting language that uses Java syntax. With sMash we are finding that Java/Groovy programmers and PHP programmers can work together, each implementing in their own language. The new PHP-Groovy Bridge makes this even easier.
• sMash tooling - The sMash product contains some great easy to use tooling that can help you get going even quicker with your PHP projects:
  • Page editor helps you to build AJAX-enabled web pages quickly and easily using a combination of drag and drop and html/javascript.
  • Flow tooling Helps you to build flow integrations and feed mashups visually. You can then call out to snippets of PHP for any logic that cannot be composed visually. Leveraging the Flow tooling to extend SugarCRM.
  • Form editor to allow you to build forms around a JSON data model visually.
• sMash runtime features - The sMash runtime contains a number of great features to help you get going quickly in PHP
  • ZRM - to build RESTful resources effortlessly.
  • Dojo - for your ajax front-end
  • The security model - Helps to protect against CSRF and XSS
  • The connection API with its REST2SOAP capability and JMS connectors.
• sMash helps you build scalable PHP applications
  • RESTful principals enable scaling leveraging Apache Web Servers, IBM WebSphere DataPower, IBM WebSphere Virtual Enterprise, or hardware sprayers.

For Java Programmers

• Java is a powerful and accomplished general purpose programming language. PHP is a language that was conceived out of a desire to produce websites quickly and painlessly and then nurtured by a community driven by a passion to simplify and accelerate web design. We find that by combining the power of business logic in Java with the speed at which web front ends can be built in PHP we can reap the benefits of both worlds.
• PHP Applications - There are a large number of PHP applications available in open source. These can be run on WebSphere sMash and combined with Java and Groovy code. Example: ZSL use phpBB