What is this book about? With the release of PHP 5 and Zend Engine 2, PHP finally graduates from it earliest days as a lightweight scripting syntax to an object-oriented programming language that can hold its own strong on Java and NET architecture. That currently dominate corporate software development. What this book covers? Unlike Java or. NET, there is little discussion of the application of design patterns, component architectures, and best-practices for application development using PHP. This book deals with this problem by covering the material as follows: Section 1 discusses the OO concepts are initially explored in Beginning PHP 5 and demonstrations on how to apply them in PHP 5. We see the development of a robust contact management system that will leverage the componentry and concepts already discussed and introduce project management and concept of software architecture that allows developers to accurately identify business requirements, design a scalable, extensible platform, and handle change management effectively. This paradigm includes a waterfall and spiral project management and includes a discussion on eXtreme Programming and other approaches to software development.