Welcome to the first of a series of PHP articles. I hope to present you with useful tips, novel ideas, and code you can use or adapt. My reward will be learning more about PHP, both from researching the articles and from the suggestions and criticism you offer.

All my PHP articles will use PHP 5 as a base. Many will focus on OO programming and PHP performance, two topics I hope will generate lively discussions.

Many of the articles will include some working code. The code is provided under a Creative Commons license, and may be used in commercial and non-commercial works with attribution. I ask that you not sell the code except when embedded as part of a larger system.

Here's a list of the articles I plan to write. I will update it as I go. If any of these topics sounds interesting, subscribe to my developers' feed now to ensure you receive the article when it comes out.

1. High-performance debugging*
   In support of the goPHP5 movement (and to start this series with a bang), I'll show you how to include debug statements in production code with no overhead. The technique can be extended to support dynamic pre-processing.
2. A Tale of Two Patterns
   Using junction points and Perl, I'll show you how to easily manage multiple PHP installations on Windows, including multiple versions of PHP 4, PHP 5 and PHP GTK.
3. Eclipse and PHP
   Create, edit and test PHP with the Eclipse 3.3 IDE.
4. First steps with PHP—booting a script, Part 1
   First steps with PHP—booting a script, Part 2
   Learn how to get PHP scripts going in a flexible and efficient way.
5. Autoload: the good, the bad and the ugly
   The first in a set of articles introducing PHP 5's __autoload() method.
6. Autoload: Using class loaders*
   Following up on the previous article, I'll discuss the contentious topic  of class loaders.
7. Autoload: Overcoming session problems
   Mixing __autoload() and sessions spells "trouble". I'll cover one possible solution.
8. Extending PHP syntax by using streams*
   This article returns to territory covered by my first article and suggests ways in which the PHP language can be easily extended by using streams.
9. How much performance do you really need?*
   To achieve maximum PHP performance you may have to sacrifice some coding flexibility. Should you?
10. Short and sweet: compression
    How to compress for bandwidth savings.
11. Increase performance through caching
    How to benefit from server and browser caching.
12. PHP and CSS*
    Does it make sense to use PHP code in your CSS? Can you do it without sacrificing performance?
13. Database classes that make your life easier
    This topic could easily become a set of articles. Can we improve on the mysqli library? How well do high-level database classes perform?
14. Iterators you can use
    PHP 5 comes with a basic set of iterator classes. Here are some extensions.
15. Components*
    I'll present my Component classes and ask: fantastic building blocks or huge performance drain?
16. An OO approach to forms and wizards
    I lose tons of time developing forms and wizards. Here's my OO-approach to making their creation easier.
17. Opcode caching: the manual
    I don't know what I'll write, but I know this is an article I'd like to read!

I hope you'll visit and contribute your ideas. Subscribe now!

* Unusual topics that should lead to some great debates.