I have a set of ~5 ActionScript 3 classes that are currently used within a flex 4 application. Although their output is used to display graphs etc in my flex app, the classes themselves have no visual components - they are only used to do complex math computations (I originally implemented them in AS3 in order to avoid constant server calls when computations were needed by the flex app).
However, I now want to make the same mathematical computation engine available on my linux server so the computations can be done within PHP. Is there any way at all to access the logic in these classes on the server? I would really like to avoid re-implementing the complex logic in PHP.
Thanks so much for any help you can give!
How many lines of code in your AS3 classes, and what kind of load do you need to handle?
If you're building anything for more than one-off use then the easiest route is probably porting your ActionScript to JavaScript. There aren't any automated converters that I know of but JavaScript and AS3 are so similar that unless your five classes have thousands of lines of code you should be able to make short work of it. Once you've ported it to JavaScript it'll be trivial to run in Node.js, directly through the VM of your choice, or even in the user's browser.
If you only need this to scratch and itch or for limited use you may be able to get away with running AS3 directly in Tamarin or redtamarin. However as far as I know neither of these are currently suitable for production use.
If you are using this in a high-availability, high traffic PHP app, however, I think you'll experience a lot less pain in the long run just porting your code to PHP. AS3 and PHP are similar enough in syntax that you could probably just do a straight port.
Finally, you can find some further discussion and links in this thread: Is it possible to create a 'command line' swf?
You can use redtamarin
http://code.google.com/p/redtamarin/
from a Linux server standpoint you will be able to run
your AS3 source code as CGI (either the AS3 script directly or compiled as ABC)
or you can also bundle your AS3 code into an exe that you will then call via PHP
or make your AS3 script as executable with binfmt_misc
http://code.google.com/p/redtamarin/wiki/RunningShellScripts#Registering_an_extension_as_non-native_binaries_(Linux_only)
here on production and development servers we use redtamarin
as scripts, to do our SVN hooks, automate tasks on linux servers etc.
as socket servers, http servers and CGI
as executable to reuse AS3 logic into our automated builds
etc.
look a bit in the documentation you will see you have a lot of options
to reuse your AS3 code: stdin/stdout/stderr, sockets, pipes, CGI, etc.
Related
Guys recently I decided to go back to PHP and do some more complex stuff than a simple log in page. For 3 years I've been programming with Java/JavaEE and have a good understanding of the architecture of of Java Applications. Basically, a virtual machine ( a simple OS process ) that runs compiled code called byte code. a simple Java web server is basically a java application that listens on provided TCP port for Http requests and responds accordingly of course it is more complicated than that but this is its initial work.
Now, what about PHP ? How does it work ? What, in a nutshell, is its architecture.
I googled about this question but in 90% the articles explain how to implement and construct a web application with PHP which is not what I am looking for.
The biggest difference between a Java web server and PHP is that PHP doesn't have its own built-in web server. (Well, newer versions do, but it's supposed to be for testing only, it's not a production ready web server.) PHP itself is basically one executable which reads in a source code file of PHP code and interprets/executes the commands written in that file. That's it. That's PHP's architecture in a nutshell.
That executable supports a default API which the userland PHP code can call, and it's possible to add extensions to provide more APIs. Those extensions are typically written in C and compiled together with the PHP executable at install time. Some extensions can only be added by recompiling PHP with additional flags, others can be compiled against a PHP install and activated via a configuration file after the fact. PHP offers the PEAR and PECL side projects as an effort to standardise and ease such after-the-fact installs. Userland PHP code will often also include additional third party libraries simply written in PHP code. The advantage of C extensions is their execution speed and low-level system access, the advantage of userland code libraries is their trivial inclusion. If you're administering your own PHP install, it's often simple enough to add new PHP extensions; however on the very popular shared-host model there's often a tension between what the host wants to install and what the developer needs.
In practice a web service written in PHP runs on a third party web server, very often Apache, which handles any incoming requests and invokes the PHP interpreter with the given requested PHP source code file as argument, then delivers any output of that process back to the HTTP client. This also means there's no persistent PHP process running at all times with a persistent state, like Java typically does, but each request is handled by starting up and then tearing down a new PHP instance.
While Java simply saves persistent data in memory, data persistence between requests in PHP is handled via a number of methods like memcache, sessions, databases, files etc.; depending on the specific needs of the situation. PHP does have opcode cache addons, which kind of work like Java byte code, simply so PHP doesn't have to repeat the same parse and compile process every single time it's executing the same file.
Do keep in mind that it's entirely feasible to write a persistent PHP program which keeps running just like Java, it's simply not PHP's default modus operandi. Personally I'm quite a fan of writing workers for specific tasks on Gearman or ZMQ which run persistently, and have some ephemeral scripts running on the web server as "frontend" which delegate work to those workers as needed.
If this sounds like a typical PHP app is much more of a glued-together accumulation of several disparate components, you'd be correct. Java is pretty self-contained, except for external products like RDBMS servers. PHP on the other hand often tends to rely on a bunch of third party products; which can work to its advantage in the sense that you can use best-of-breed products for specific tasks, but also requires more overhead of dealing with different systems.
This is how does PHP work:
(one of the best over the Internet)
In general terms, PHP as an engine interprets the content of PHP files (typically *.php, although alternative extensions are used occasionally) into an abstract syntax tree. The PHP engine then processes the translated AST and then returns the result given whatever inputs and processing are required.
Below image will depict more information
Source: freecodecamp.org
In the application I've written there is a whole class that only takes in some parameters, eventually fetches the db for other parameters, and then returns the results to the asking class. It only handles data, so it would be perfect to "outsurce" those functions to something more efficient than PHP.
I've read the official php faq page on "PHP and COM", and seen that it is not possible to run a precompiled dll from php.
So, do you think it is possible and worth to do it with some other methods? And how would you do it?
Maybe PHP/Java Bridge / RESTful WS could do, but still java does not sound like the best option (according to this post it's "clunky")
HipHop would be a great solution, but as of now it's way too early to use it in production for my needs.
All the solutions listed here seem to be aimed at creating an .exe file for making a standalone win app, whereas my app is hosted on a centOS server and I haven o need to port it to windows (or at least that's not my intention right now).
I use C++ and RabbitMQ to tie it together. I've also had success, when there wasn't much of a scope for the project, at using Redis as a tie in.
Can't say enough good things about using a message bus to separate processes (like RabbitMQ).
If you're just getting started with RabbitMQ, I'd highly recommend RabbitMQ in Action.
You don't have to use C++ though. That's one of the major benefits of using message buses; you can substitute later, if need be (and the API stays the same). Here are a list of clients that can receive and post messages to RabbitMQ: http://www.rabbitmq.com/devtools.html
Insert favorite, high-performance language here.
I have developed a PHP web application, but a client insists on a real Windows application, since he doesn't like running the software inside a browser.
Are there any solutions for this, any compilers to turn a web project into a Windows exe ?
I have looked at Phc-Win , but that seems more suited for small command line utils, not for entire web-applications...
UPDATE:
just found this myself, both look quite promising...
http://www.zzee.com/phpexe/
http://www.exeoutput.com/index.php
There's no tool for this, short of a simple wrapper app that embeds a browser inside an otherwise normal application window. Your PHP app would have to be completely re-written to include ALL of the overhead code necessary to build a GUI - basically all the 'display' stuff that a browser does automatically, would have to added to your app.
Well some of you did not google good enough:
http://www.appcelerator.com/products/titanium-cross-platform-application-development/
Supports most of the "web-languages" to write native Applications.
Tutorial Reference for Appcelerator: http://appceleratortitanium.com/tutorials/3-appcelerator-titanium-tutorial-beginners.html
Quote:
"Q: What languages can I use to make desktop apps?
A: Javascript, PHP, Python, Ruby, HTML, HTML5, and CSS."
Not exactly what you are looking for: http://www.roadsend.co/home/index.php?pageID=compiler
You may look into "HipHop" (made by Facebook): Converts PHP to compileable C++-
There's a tool for this. :-) I never used it but you can try this: Winbinder.
It is simple to compile your PHP source code into an executable. Facebook released a compiler for PHP in early-2010, called HipHop, which aims to create C++. You could then compile this code, for example using gcc, to machine-code.
The more difficult point for a complex Web-App like yours is the user interface. When compiling the way I described above, the application can be run from command line - this might work for simple tasks, but not, if your application returns HTML.
One possibility to solve this problem is PHP-GTK. PHP-GTK is a API for GTK (the graphical user interface used by Linux Ubuntu by default), written in PHP. Using this solution would have to read some documentation about this API, and you would need to rewrite some parts of your program, but it would probably be the most beautiful solution, because it would create a "native" experience.
Another possible solution could involve Adobe AIR, which lets your create programs for the desktop, using HTML, CSS and JavaScript, but I don't know if and how this would work together with your compiled PHP.
Please also note that it isn't absolutely necessary to compile your PHP for it to run on the client's computer; You could also ship the PHP-interperter right with your (uncompiled) PHP-script. Of course, compiling brings benefits, such as faster execution of the program.
-- André
I'm choosing between these two languages, in contrast to another question here. My program going to be set of scripts checking files, free space, checking that apps are running etc. and writing information to database. Then PHP web page will show results.
Python have more examples of winapi calls (at least at StackOverflow) and more attractive to learn and use in different areas of programming, but I didn't use it before. With PHP I have small experience and I will be using it for results web page anyway.
PHP seems to be easier to install on network (to use one network installation for many workstations). Both languages can work with COM objects (I will need ADO).
Scripts will be small, not complex, but their number will grow.
Can someone with experience in similar tasks advise on choice between these two?
Don't shrink from using a language just because you haven't used it before. Learning a new language is one of ways to expand your overall capabilities as a programmer. True, you won't be as productive with it at first but learning how the language tackles common problems (manipulation of data structures, creation and lifetime of objects, etc.) will teach you new ways to think about computing.
That said, I would suggest you use the ActiveState version of Python (http://www.activestate.com/). It has the Windows integration included. I'm not sure about network install with Python. I've installed it across a net by running a remote desktop of the target and running the installer. Windows wants things registered in the registry so running a language is not like running an .exe sitting on a remote file share.
I asked question first time as anonymous so have no other option to reply now except to write an answer.
Thank you verisimilidude for ActivePython advice!
Installed ActivePython at home, reading Dive into Python 3.
Installed RadPHP XE at work (company bought it).
So for work it will be PHP. For me, if have free time (and may be for kids, when grew and if interested) it will be Python.
As someone who uses both on a regular basis, I tend toward using python for windows scripting and php for web apps. It's mostly just my preference, but I think they're each ideally suited toward different things. I love using Python in windows, it is really versatile.
a ) python is a nice alternative because you can generate an executable, otherwise (running as script) php is more suitable because it does not required an installation.
b ) try to not to connect directly to the database. Instead, you can create a web page then the clients can connect to it instead to do a direct connection to the database.
for example in php (in the client)
$fp=fopen("http://192.168.0.200/update?id=mymachine&value=200","r");
fclose($fp);
ps: For api calls, both (php and python) can do the same. Thought, for php and Windows Vista (and higher) exist some restriction when you are running it as a apache-module and apache is running as a service but i don't think it is the case.
Is it possible to access & control external devices in PHP?
For example, would it be capable of changing the speed of a USB fan or change the direction of a wireless toy car.
I'm trying to go beyond web dev and I'm wondering if the programming language I use is capable of handling my ideas or should I consider changing the environment.
If these would be possible, I'd very much appreciate any pointers to reading materials or suggestions on other languages that might be more suitable.
Thanks!
On Linux it surely is possible by accessing /dev/ files. But it'll be very tedious. I'd recommend you switching to Python, Ruby, Lua or Java.
For example there are bindings for libusb for Python, Ruby, Lua and Java.
You could write an external program, then use PHP's exec (or was it system?) function to interact with the executable or script.
Seems like the most sane way to do it. Another good alternative is to build a program or script that controls an external device that can communicate with a RESTfull type API exposed via HTTP - and then use lib_curl in PHP land to talk back and forth between it. Believe me, building a basic HTTP server in C++ that can be used to be remote controlled with PHP (or JS for that matter) is very simple.
Wait
I think I read the question wrong ;)
If you want to get into really cool stuff, I say that you learn C++. C++ is a great language that not only opens a lot of doors, but also provides a good learning experience. C++ is lots and lots of fun.
In response to comment
In the case with USB its a bit different and more complicated (as USB has an established protocol and such) but serial is as easy as dumping data into a handle.
You should be able to pick up C++ to get to that point fairly soon. Either way it's a great experience.
This would be possible with a extension, but not with pure PHP code. I don't know of any extensions being able to do something like this, but I think it should be possible.
If you find a command line tool that does this, then you can control it using exec(), system(), passthru() or shell_exec() (based on what output the program gives you back)
Just be sure to escapeshellcmd() if you give access to this program from a public website.