When building web applications in PHP, there may be times when you want to add metadata to annotate your code that can be read by other parts of your application. For example, if you've ever used PHPUnit to write tests for your PHP code, you'll have likely used the @test annotation to mark a method as a test in a DocBlock. Traditionally, annotations like this have been added to code using DocBlocks. However, as of PHP 8.0, you can use attributes instead to annotate your code in a more structured way.

PHPs compiler and bytecode cache OPcache not only cache the compile step from PHP source code to virtual machine bytecode, they also include optimizations that can produce faster bytecode: For example PHP can: For PHP 8.4 Tideways sponsored the work of our colleague Tim to add another compiler optimization for the function sprintf().

The JSON Web Token (JWT) is an open standard that allows information to be transferred securely between different parties. The token is digitally signed by using a private key (HMAC) or a public/private key (RSA) by building a JSON Web Signature (JWS). It guarantees that the JWT hasn’t been modified since its creation.

Background job processing is integral to modern software architecture. Background jobs allow resource-intensive tasks to be handled asynchronously, improving your application’s responsiveness and efficiency. You can use background processing for tasks such as sending emails, data processing, and batch jobs. If you were to run these synchronously, they could significantly degrade the user experience and system performance. Thus, most frameworks have libraries for running background jobs.

In the space of APIs for consuming up-to-date data (say, events or state available within an hour of occurring) many API paradigms exist. There are file- or object-based paradigms, e.g., S3 access. There’s database access, e.g., direct Snowflake access. Last, we have decoupled client-server APIs, e.g., REST APIs, gRPC, webhooks, and streaming APIs.

In a world where microservices have become very popular, the connectivity aspects between systems take center stage when it comes to prioritizing quality engineering. Postman's State of API report highlights that technical and non-technical stakeholders recognize the growing importance of APIs and their testing as part of the enterprise strategy.

Generative AI has received the lion’s share of the press. With good reason—it’s revolutionizing the way we do work and do business. But it’s not the only game in town. Predictive AI also places a role across enterprise use cases like demand forecasting, maintenance, and customer experience. This blog will discuss these two types of AI: generative AI and predictive AI.

Testing early and often may sound like a simple idea, but implemented effectively requires a cultural shift and the right set of practical tools.

In the dynamic world of technology, managing and optimizing workforce productivity is a challenge for many organizations. Insightful, a leading workforce analytics and productivity software, is designed to address this challenge by providing actionable data insights. This review will delve into the features, pricing, pros, and cons of Insightful, a tool that is transforming the way organizations manage their teams.

In the modern era of AI-based innovations and cloud transitions, businesses face the challenge of managing complex processes across multiple systems — and the rate of change is only accelerating. At the same time, businesses need to ensure that the introduction of new innovations driven by accelerated business transformation doesn’t break existing processes and systems.