The next-generation PHP stack for Windows and Linux gives IBM i developers a way to run new applications easily in-house or on a laptop without charge.

By Chris Smith

For anyone who has yet to get started developing in PHP, Zend Technologies made it easy to get your feet wet in this increasingly popular language when it released Zend Server Community Edition this week, a free and easy-to-deploy stack of PHP tools intended to give users a way to manage their newly minted PHP applications running in-house.

This week's announcements by IBM and Zend Technologies raise questions about the direction of future development on Power Systems.

By Chris Smith

The announcements this week by IBM and Zend Technologies that IBM will bundle the Zend Web stack, including Zend Core and Zend Framework, with all future sales of IBM i software and servers has kindled a debate about the value of PHP on the System i and the best tools to employ it. It also has raised questions about IBM's direction with the System i and its proprietary but "open" operating system, IBM i.

The recent release of Rational Business Developer includes the first generally available version of the Rich UI, and it continues to impress.

By Joe Pluta

I've written a lot about Rational Business Developer and the EGL language, and recently I've started telling you about the Rich UI features that have been added to the language. I worked extensively with early releases of the software and even worked with the primary architect of EGL Rich UI, Chris Laffra, to create the first public application using EGL Rich UI and the i. Our scheduler application was quite the hit at the Rational Software Developer's Conference, and the Rich UI portion of the scheduler has gone on to see success at other technology conferences. Unfortunately the i is not an active participant in those other conferences, so the business back-end hasn't gotten the chance to advance with the UI, at least not publicly. I'm planning to change that, and this article is one of the first steps in that effort.

With the release of Version 7.5 of RDi-SOA, IBM provides the first real vision of the future of IBM i development.

By Joe Pluta

With Something Old

and Something New

They Borrowed the Best

And Turned It Blue

I realize "first real vision of the future" may ring hollow in some of the more jaded ears in our community, what with all the Strategic Directions and Development Roadmaps over the years, but RDi-SOA Version 7.5 is truly unique in the annals of IBM i development. In fact, along with the 5250 and the integrated database, RDi-SOA may be another first in business application programming in general: in this case, the first tool that provides end-to-end support for developing every possible type of application architecture, from green-screen to full thick client.

This version includes a new DB2/400 adapter that makes it easier to access data on IBM i.

By Chris Smith

Developers who were adventurous enough to try to develop Web applications on IBM i using PHP and Zend Framework often ran into a few roadblocks. Those days may be behind us now that Zend has released Zend Framework 1.7 with a native DB2 adapter for DB2/400.

Solve business application needs, jazz up existing applications, create user interfaces, or make applications easily accessible for remote users.

By Laura Ubelhor

Many languages can be used for server-side programming, including Java, JSP, .NET, and PHP. PHP, which stands for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor, is a scripting language embedded within HTML. Much of PHP's syntax is extracted from C, Java, and Perl, with some unique PHP-specific features. The goal of the language is to allow Web developers to write dynamically generated pages quickly. While PHP is mainly used for server-side scripting, it can also be used from a command-line interface or in standalone GUI applications. In this article, which is an excerpt from HTML for the Business Developer, the focus is on server-side scripting with the business application developer in mind.

The browser is the successor to the 5250, but the rich client is its replacement.

By Joe Pluta

The 5250 turned the midrange computer into the indispensable component of the computer world. You can reasonably argue that interactive screens transformed data processing into information technology as we know it today. Prior to that, computers were about entering data and printing reports--data processing. It wasn't until green-screens made information available instantly to users that the idea of IT came into its own. It was a revolutionary event in the history of computers. We're poised at a similar point: while Web access through thin clients using technologies like JavaServer Faces is a (much-needed) evolutionary step, a true UI revolution is simmering under the surface and is ready to leap into the IT world. The technology has various names, from Web 2.0 to rich client, but the point is not what you call it but what you can do with it and how easily you can transform your existing business logic into new applications.