In case you are living under a rock, the latest version of PHP released last week. PHP developers around the world began rebuilding their development containers with it so they can run their tests. Now it’s your turn. If you haven’t already installed it, you can download it here http://php.net/downloads.php Grab it, get it running in your development environment, and run those unit tests. If all goes well, you can begin planning your staged deployment to production.

If you need a quick start guide to get you going, our good friend Mr Colin O’Dell has just the thing for you [“Installing PHP 7.1”](https://www.colinodell.com/blog/2016-12/installing-php-7-1). It’ll get you up and going quickly on PHP 7.1.

What’s the big deal about PHP 7.1? I am so glad you asked. Here are the major n...


Composer is a must-have tool for every PHP developer these days. This page is a simple breakdown of quick-install instructions.

## How do I install composer?

1. Use PHP to download the composer installer, place it in the current directory, and name it `composer-setup.php`

2. Use PHP to check the hash of the file you downloaded and compare it to the known value of the hash. You can always find the current value of the hash for the installer on the [Composer Public Keys / Signatures](https://composer.github.io/pubkeys.html) page.

3. Run the setup program to install composer. This does more than just download the latest copy of composer, it also sets up your local ~/.composer directory. This will install composer into the current directory. You can add the --install-dir=DIR to ...


PHPUnit is an essential tool for every PHP developers. It is one of those tools that every PHP developer should have installed in their development environment. The problems most first time PHPUnit developers run into are where to install it and how to install it. This quick guide will walk you through the process and answer both questions.

## How do I install PHPUnit

### The Easy Way

In your project’s root directory use this command.

`composer require --dev phpunit/phpunit ^6.0`

This command adds PHPUnit to your project as a development dependency. This is the absolute best way to install PHPUnit. It is the best way because this way the version of PHPUnit does not change unless you change it. We specified ^6.0 as the version which means we’ll get all the updates to the 6.0 ...


Composer is the way that that PHP developers manage libraries and their dependencies. Previously, developers mainly stuck to existing frameworks. If you were a Symfony developer, you used Symfony and libraries built around it. You didn’t dare cross the line to Zend Framework. These days however, developers focus less on frameworks, and more on the libraries they need to build the project they are working on. This decoupling of projects from frameworks is largely possible because of Composer and the ecosystem that has built up around it.

Like PHP, Composer is easy to get started in, but complex enough to take time and practice to master. The Composer manual does a great job of getting you up and running quickly, but some of the commands are involved enough so that many developers miss s...