Performance
![4 Reasons to Use Image Processing to Optimize Website Media](https://uploads.sitepoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/1578536169image-manipulation-cdn.png)
Image optimization affects site performance, and here we cover some standard approaches to image optimization and explore advanced image processing options.
![What Is a CDN and How Does It Work?](https://uploads.sitepoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/1509315406network-1989146_640.png)
What's a CDN? How do Content Delivery Networks work anyway, and what's so special about them? Which one should you choose? Come find out!
![How to Optimize MySQL: Indexes, Slow Queries, Configuration](https://uploads.sitepoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/1509294383superhero-534120_1280.jpg)
Here's a compendium of practical MySQL optimization tricks - from bottlenecks to configuration and indexes. Leave your ORM behind and get your hands dirty!
![Procedurally Generated Game Terrain with React, PHP, and WebSockets](https://uploads.sitepoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/1490524051Screenshot-2017-03-26-12.27.04.png)
Chris uses ReactJS, PHP, and Websockets to demonstrate how we can procedurally generate game terrain for our rip-off of Stardew Valley!
![Game Development with React and PHP: How Compatible Are They?](https://uploads.sitepoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/1490513985stardew.png)
Chris bootstraps a basic Stardew-Valley-like game in this game development with PHP post, using an async server, preprocessors, and ReactJS!
![Are Bitwise Operators Still Relevant in Modern PHP?](https://uploads.sitepoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/1489014435Fotolia_94353427_Subscription_Monthly_M.jpg)
Heard of bitwise operators? Let's explore their practical application in storing and checking for user permissions, and whether this makes sense!
![How to Add Real-Time Notifications to Laravel with Pusher](https://uploads.sitepoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/1501070610320x320.png)
Yazid adds real-time notifications to a simple blog CMS built on Laravel using only Laravel Echo and Pusher. Follow users and get notified when they post!
![How to Defend Your Website with Zip Bombs](https://uploads.sitepoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/1499293616nuke.jpg)
Christian shows you how to deliver unexpected and large amounts of data (zip bombs) to people who might be attempting to access or crawl your server.
![How to Build a Lyrics Website with Laravel Scout and Algolia](https://uploads.sitepoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/1431991319300_Information_Search.jpg)
Let's build a Laravel powered lyrics website and give it the superpower of rapid fuzzy searching with Algolia and Laravel Scout!
![Functional Programming with Phunkie: Building a PHP JSON Parser](https://uploads.sitepoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/1460552429party-swamp-color.jpg)
Marcello Duarte explains how we can use functional programming to build a JSON parser from scratch in PHP! Join us in exploring advanced PHP!
![Web App Performance Testing with Siege: Plan, Test, Learn](https://uploads.sitepoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/1495571919Fotolia_119566077_Subscription_Monthly_M.jpg)
Zoran uses Siege to benchmark and load-test a Symfony app, killing it in the process. He then uses cache to revive it and make it work under pressure!
![Jumping from PHP to Go: Blasphemy, Bravado or Common Sense?](https://uploads.sitepoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/1495193438gophp.png)
Danny explains why he moved from Laravel to a Go version of his app and explains which advantages a Golang rewrite of his web app brought him.
In this in-depth tutorial, we'll look at all the various cloud hosting providers for PHP, and deploy the same app on ALL of them. It's really not hard!
![Functional Programming with Phunkie: Parser Combinators in PHP](https://uploads.sitepoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/149329431824623028.png)
Marcello Duarte of Inviqa shares some functional programming insight with us by teaching us how to build Parser combinations with Phunkie! Hardcore!
![Real-Time Laravel Notifications and Follows? Sure, with Stream!](https://uploads.sitepoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/1491833377laravelstream.png)
Ever wanted to add user following and real-time notifications to your Laravel apps? Now you can - easily: with Stream. Let's see how to bootstrap it!
![Upgrading from Pthreads v2 to v3: What to Look out For](https://uploads.sitepoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/1490043574parallel-threads.png)
Thomas shows us the difference between Pthreads 2 and 3 and explains the upgrade procedure - the changes are big and backwards-incompatible, but worth it.
![Parallel Programming with Pthreads in PHP – the Fundamentals](https://uploads.sitepoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/1487158221background280-Converted.png)
Thomas explains the most recent version of pthreads targeting PHP 7+ and demonstrates all the new features it brought along. Get started with parallelism!
![Writing Async Libraries – Let’s Convert HTML to PDF](https://uploads.sitepoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/1487158221background280-Converted.png)
Chris goes through the whole process of building a PHP async library for converting HTML to PDF - magical stuff!
![How PHP Executes – from Source Code to Render](https://uploads.sitepoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/14832800993752-Converted.jpg)
Thomas Punt goes through the four stages of PHP execution - from lexing to compilation and optimization. Here's what you make happen, daily!
![Beaver in Action: Practical MySQL Optimization](https://uploads.sitepoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/1478609888994_REpWIE1JRyAyMjktMTk-Converted.png)
Kirill demonstrates a practical example of optimizing a website's MySQL queries - check it out, it might come in handy in your optimization gigs!
![RESTful Remote Object Proxies with ProxyManager](https://uploads.sitepoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/14736940334_bWFya2V0aW5nIGZ1bm5lbC5qcGc.jpg)
What are proxies? How can we use them? And what kind of advanced use cases can we think of? Let's perform some RESTful remote miracles with ProxyManager!
![Static analysis with PHPSA: PHP Smart Analyzer](https://uploads.sitepoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/1473193998static.png)
A new tool for static analysis of PHP code has shown up: PHPSA - PHP Smart Analyzer. Tune in and check out what it can do!
![Up and Running with the Fastest PHP Framework on PHP7 in 5 Mins](https://uploads.sitepoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/1471894443Screenshot-2016-08-22-21.33.51.png)
Phalcon is back - and in style! It can now run on PHP 7, and is written completely in Zephir. Easy extension development AND perfect performance!
![Quick Tip: Convenience Hacks for Passing Data to Views](https://uploads.sitepoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/1470873883Fotolia_116506185_Subscription_Monthly_M.jpg)
A couple of helper methods for quickly and effectively passing larger numbers of variables to views from your controllers
![A Pokemon Crash Course on CouchDB](https://uploads.sitepoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/1470860091couch.png)
Wern Ancheta takes us through a practical crash course into using CouchDB - CRUD, configuration, cooperation with PHP, and more!
![6 More Must-Do Grav Tweaks: Ready for Hacker News Traffic!](https://uploads.sitepoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/1470418829Screenshot-2016-08-05-19.39.55.png)
Super-caching, optimization, customization, comments, and much more you simply MUST do for your Grav installation
![Can We Have Static Types in PHP without PHP 7 or HHVM?](https://uploads.sitepoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/1469449181Fotolia_85953630_Subscription_Monthly_M.jpg)
Is it possible to have static type hints in PHP 5 without PHP 7 or HHVM? Yes - with the Augmented Types extension from Box!
![Sourcehunt: PHP7-Only Alternative to Laravel, HPKP, and More](https://uploads.sitepoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/1469263919sourcehunt.png)
This sourcehunt features a PHP-7 only alternative to Laravel, input validation, HPKP, strict PHP object signatures, and more.
![Can Symfony Apps Be Fast on Vagrant? Let’s Check with SuluCMS!](https://uploads.sitepoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/1469264085sulu-login.png)
In this tutorial, we go through some effective performance hacks for developing Symfony apps on Vagrant virtual machines
Scott revisits Appserver and benchmarks it against Symfony to dispel the rumors of bas performance. Does he succeed? Tune in to find out!