Happy Monday All!

Three pieces this week: a small Docker setup I use to test PHP 8.6 code, a podcast episode about a framework that skips the magic, and a reminder that your old content still has work to do.

Running PHP 8.6 Beta CLI in Docker

I'm building my yearly "What's new in PHP" video for 8.6, and I've learned people will tell me when a code sample doesn't run. I didn't want a beta PHP on the laptop I use every day, so I wrote a tiny Makefile and a two-line Dockerfile around the php:8.6.0beta2-cli image. make run drops me into php -a, make shell gives me bash, and a stamp file skips the rebuild unless the Dockerfile changed.

Pop PHP with Nick Sagona

I talked with Nick Sagona about Pop PHP, a framework built to strip out the "magic" that makes PHP apps hard to follow. We got into why he favors code you can read top to bottom and how that pays off when you come back to an app months later. If you've ever chased a facade or a magic method through five files to find out what a line does, give this one a listen.

You Don't Have a Content Problem, You Have a Distribution Problem

Over on The Steady Pack I argued that flat audience growth comes from publishing something once and walking away. One podcast episode can turn into at least 11 assets between clips, transcripts, and social posts. Reusing your own work feels like cheating to a lot of creators, so the fix is a repeatable workflow that does the repurposing for you without burning you out.

See you next Monday.