Chapter 11. Deployment

PHP and Zend Framework allow you to develop web applications rapidly, but they also present the temptation to cut corners while developing. Many readers will have experienced that sudden cold sweat after having accidentally deleted an important piece of code and frantically tried to fix a live site before anyone noticed! In this chapter, we’ll run through development and deployment methods that can be used to ensure quality work without curbing enthusiasm. By providing a kind of safety net, the practices we’ll discuss allow more freedom and confidence in the way you approach your work.

11.1. Setting up the Server

We’ll kick off this chapter by looking at the environment under which development will progress to final deployment. Just as the rehearsal stages of any theatrical performance are intended to prevent problems occurring in the live production, careful preparation through the proper setup of our server environment can avoid problems in our live implementations.

The typical development, staging, and production environments are set up as follows, whether on the same physical machine or spread across several:

11.2. Version Control with Subversion

11.3. Functional Testing

11.4. Scripting the deployment

11.5. Summary