The Poile blog

I’ve been slacking lately in my new years resolution to maintain this blog.

So I’ll change that now by writing about this book the “php architects Guide to Enterprise PHP Development”.

About the book

As with several of the other books I’ve read from PHP Architects, I expected the the Guide to Enterprise PHP Development to be well written, but lacking slightly in depth. After reading this book I have to say this holds true.

Deliberately a little light when it comes to the nitty gritty, I enjoyed reading this book, it reinforced the methodologies I already use and really awakened me to different options in the testing and deployment areas of the software development lifecycle.

The book is broad covering everything from hiring and building the ideal technical team and planning through to maintenance, and it does it all in 265 pages.

The book is as you can guess specifically written to the needs of a php enterprise development. It presents the best practices and principles of building and managing an enterprise application in succinct and accurate terms. Highlighting recommendations and if you are willing to listen a useful framework for making your application development successful.

There were several areas of this book which inspired me to think about my own development practices, my role in the workplace and rethink how I manage testing in particular in my own work.

It is easy to read a project management book and not apply most of what you read. This book makes all those things you would have ignored accessible to PHP projects. In a way you can show your boss and make changes in your project management and team structure.

Something new?

Nope, nothing new here. If you have read books on Agile or any project management lifecycle, you will have heard 95% of what this book has to offer before. However having read it front to back I recommend it highly for all PHP project managers employers and PHP developers working on or planning any sizeable php development.

In fact I strongly encourage developers and project managers to read this book.

Its direct relevance to PHP programming and project lifecycles is what makes this book worth reading. It doesn’t answer all the questions but puts you in the frame and shows you what questions you need to ask and where to look for answers.

My rating

Readability: 9/10
Length: 8/10
Value for money: 8/10
Relevance: 9/10

Overall: 9/10