php 4th level language and development environment

Hi,

I'm thinking about developing this new freeware thing for the php
community called php4GL.

It's a big undertaking and I'm wondering if it is worth my time.

My questions are..

Do you, "php professionals" think it is a good idea?
And also, does it exist already?
And also, would you like to be a part of this project?

Best,
Justin



----basic idea---


PHP 4GL (open source/freeware) is an idea to create a forth generation
environment that will enable the rapid development of dynamic web
applications
based on the popular scripting language PHP. The 4GL solution will be an all

encompassing development system including:

Multi-User Development Environment

o Multiple project handling
o 3 stage build environment (per project) - (development / staging / production)
o Version Control System (per project) - (single file or entire site rollback)
o Automated Build Procedure (per project) - (incremental or global)
o Automated Site Deployment Via FTP - (single file or entire site)
o User Administration Tools
o Bug tracking / project management system (per
project)

Libraries, Modules, Widgets and Wizards

o DB Classes - All Database Functionality Already Written Written
o Form Classes - Automatically deal with form input and results
o Widget library for common components (menu's, result set paging, etc)
o Central module repository - i.e. guest book, user management etc.
o Central repository for new libraries, modules, widgets and wizards (like perl)
o Auto install, unpack (via http) of libraries, modules, widgets and wizards
o Inbuilt packager enabling other users to create new modules, classes etc.
o Inbuilt documentation writer (i.e. like man pages)

Rapid Site Development

o Automated Site Architecture Creation
o Automated Site Map Creation
o Automated Site Layout
o Automated way of tying database/dynamic results to individual pages
o Automated way of tying forms to pages
o Pre-built user registration and session handling
o Automatic creation of abstraction architecture
o Pre defined templates for various site look and feels

Pre built sites packaged and ready to install directly into php4GL

o Using php4GL other users can create entire web sites and package them as open source offerings for the php4GL community at large
(without the look and feel constraints of existing sites like phpnuke)

For example..

o Community Portals
o Shopping Sites
o News Sites
o Convergent Sites

Optimised web site

o All dynamic pages will be automatically cached and only served when needed.

php4GL itself will, in most cases, be installed on an
intranet server or your local machine and then when you click
a button it will upload local development work onto your
actual external website (via ftp).

i.e. users will have to install apache/mySQL/php on their local
windows machine or intranet server. This means you don't
need to be online during actual website development. Only
updates.

Well,
I think it's a stupid idea to develop another PHP development environment.
Why building a new editor? There are plenty editors like EditPlus, DreamWeaver MX, Homesite, Internet Evolutions...

So why building another PHP editor, it's not worth your time!

Ok. Thx for your answer.

It's not an editor though. It's a framework like phpnuke. But unlimited to any kind of website rather than portal style site.

I'm glad Linus Torvalds and others who develop "just another whatever" didn't have that attitude...

As for php4GL, the feature set looks very rich. It would definately be a huge undertaking.

Would it be something I would use? If I had a massive project to do, I would consider it...obviously it all depends on the end result...

Would this be a sort of .NET style application where it runs on the internet? Or would you just require a web server supporting PHP to be installed if you wish to run the software?

What exactly is PHPNuke? I've never used it before.

It sounds very complex and potentially powerful to me - I may be interested in being part of the project. Can you email me details of what would be involved please.

Nimco, I don't really understand .NET so I can't answer that.

As to your question about servers.

php4GL itself, will run on any platform. It will require apache/php/mySQL. It will be 100% web based.

Any websites that you develop with it will also run on any platform as long as the server is running apache/php/mySQL

It's a bit confusing because php4GL is essentially a website that creates other websites.

I will mail you a couple of word docs that I have put together explaing the basic architecture etc.

Cheers - sounds good.