PHP imagecreatefromjpeg memory limit error

Sometimes when you are dealing with relatively large images, functions such as imagecreatefromjpeg, return errors like the one below.

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Setting up a new CentOS 6 web server with nginx and php-fpm

Sometimes as developers we have to perform some simple sysadmin tasks, such as installing a basic LAMP or LEMP stack, basic securing of the server and so on. So what I decided to do is to just gather links to various helpful resources on how to setup Nginx + PHP 5.4 + MySQL + memcached on CentOS 6. I chose this installation since its the one I happen to use the most and I personally believe the optimal one. An alternative might be Apache + mod_php + Varnish + memcached.

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Why you should never use opencart

Recently I had the opportunity to work on a decent sized e-commerce project based on OpenCart. I haven’t used it before but I had heard its a very simple and easy to use. So the following is just a quick overview of all the fundamental flaws and issues with OpenCart and why you should NEVER use it as a platform of choice for your projects, unless you want constant headaches, ugly code and incredible amount of code repetition.

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Easy PHP deployment with Capistrano

I am actually stunned how many PHP developers still remote into their production environment via SSH and manually run the necessary git commands to update their production branch. While that is the most advanced and flexible option available I dont think it makes sense for smaller projects where the deployment routine is pretty straightforward and if you’re creating websites with wordpress, using a reliable wordpress hosting is the best choice for this type of projects. There are some services that automate that process and are pretty good at it.

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