Friday 30th September PM

So you already know how to build great web applications with PHP, but what about the M in the LAMP stack? This tutorial aims to introduce you to some alternative open-source storage options and get you using them in a hands-on way immediately. We’ll start with PostgreSQL, a relational database and close relation of MySQL but with some additional features that could make sense in a modern application. We’ll look at Redis; a key-value store that has some tricks up its sleeve and which can be very valuable alongside other storage options.

We’ll take a wander into the world of NoSQL as well and check out CouchDB 2.0, discussing what NoSQL means and when to choose it (and when not to) as well as getting our hands dirty actually building something small with CouchDB and PHP. Finally we’ll take a view of the bigger picture; how to choose storage solutions when designing applications, and when you might want to add new technology or migrate between solutions for existing applications. This session is recommended for anyone looking for the chance to get their hands on some new technology and head back to the office with a grasp of not just how to do something, but also when a particular tool makes sense.