Pushing the limits of PHP (WebEngAc19)

It's 2019 and times have changed – yet PHP is still most often associated with your average product catalog or blogging platform. In this talk you will learn that PHP's huge ecosystem has way more to offer and PHP is not inferior at all to its evil cousin Node.js.

You will learn about the core concepts of async PHP and why you too should care about ReactPHP being a real thing. The talk has a strong focus on sparking the idea that PHP can be way faster and more versatile than you probably thought. Bring along an open mind and through lots of examples and demos learn why what sounds crazy at first might soon be a valuable addition to your toolbox.

Transcript

1. pushing the limits of PHP
   Christian “@another_clue” Lück
   

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2. Agenda
   - Hello!
   - PHP, the web of the ‘90s?
   - Enter React
   - Core components
   - Examples and demo time
   - Conclusions
   2
   

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3. Hello!
   3
   

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4. $ whoami
   4
   

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5. $ whoami
   Christian Lück
   5
   

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6. $ whoami
   Christian Lück
   6
   

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7. $ whoami
   Christian Lueck
   7
   

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8. $ whoami
   Christian Lueck
   8
   

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9. $ whoami
   Christian Lueck
   @clue
   9
   

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10. $ whoami
    Christian Lueck
    @another_clue
    10
    

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11. $ whoami
    Christian Lueck
    @another_clue
    passionate about pushing the limits
    11
    

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12. $ whoami
    Christian Lueck
    @another_clue
    passionate about pushing the limits
    freelance software engineer 12
    

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13. Who are you?
    13
    now that you know me…
    

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14. Who are you?
    14
    now that you know me…
    - PHP developers?
    - architecs / engineers?
    

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15. Who are you?
    15
    now that you know me…
    - PHP developers?
    - architecs / engineers?
    - know React?
    

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16. PHP, the web of the ‘90s?
    16
    

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17. PHP and the web of the ‘90s
    - traditional LAMP stack
    - Request-Response-Cycle
    - PHP is too slow?
    17
    Apache
    Client PHP MySQL
    

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18. PHP and the web of the ‘90s
    - traditional LAMP stack
    - Request-Response-Cycle
    - PHP is too slow?
    - We sure can improve this…
    18
    Apache
    Client PHP MySQL
    

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19. PHP and the web of the ‘90s
    - traditional LAMP stack
    - Request-Response-Cycle
    - PHP is too slow?
    - We sure can improve this…
    19
    Apache
    Client PHP MySQL
    Apache
    Client
    FPM
    MySQL
    PHP
    PHP
    

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20. PHP and the web of the ‘90s
    - traditional LAMP stack
    - Request-Response-Cycle
    - PHP is too slow?
    - We sure can improve this…
    20
    Apache
    Client PHP MySQL
    Apache
    Client
    FPM
    MySQL
    PHP
    PHP
    nginx
    Client
    FPM
    MySQL
    PHP
    PHP
    

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21. PHP and the web of the ‘90s
    - traditional LAMP stack
    - Request-Response-Cycle
    - PHP is too slow?
    - We sure can improve this…
    21
    Apache
    Client PHP MySQL
    Apache
    Client
    FPM
    MySQL
    PHP
    PHP
    nginx
    Client
    FPM
    MySQL
    PHP
    PHP
    nginx
    Client
    FPM
    memcache
    PHP
    PHP
    MySQL
    

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22. PHP may not be pretty…
    22
    

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23. PHP may not be pretty…
    but it gets the job done!
    23
    

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24. Knock knock!
    Who’s there?
    24
    

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25. Knock knock!
    2019!
    Who’s there?
    25
    

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26. Knock knock!
    2019!
    - Separation of concerns
    (Frontend↔Backend)
    - HTTP APIs (RESTful)
    - Integration with 3rd parties
    - Live-Data (ticker)
    - CLI tools
    Who’s there?
    26
    

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27. Node.js
    27
    

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28. Node.js
    28
    good fit, huge ecosystem
    

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29. Node.js
    29
    good fit, huge ecosystem
    interesting concepts
    

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30. Node.js
    30
    good fit, huge ecosystem
    interesting concepts
    npm install…
    

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31. nodejs?
    31
    

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32. no js!
    32
    

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33. Everybody’s favorite language…
    33
    

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34. PHP
    34
    

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35. PHP
    35
    gets the job done
    

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36. PHP
    36
    gets the job done
    widespread usage
    

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37. PHP
    37
    gets the job done
    widespread usage
    if PHP can do it…
    

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38. Enter React!
    38
    

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39. View Slide

40. The other React™
    40
    

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41. The REAL React™
    41
    

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42. View Slide

43. What is React?
    43
    

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44. What is React?
    non-blocking I/O
    44
    

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45. What is React?
    non-blocking I/O
    event-driven
    45
    

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46. What is React?
    non-blocking I/O
    event-driven
    async
    46
    

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47. 100%
    47
    

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48. 100%
    pure PHP
    48
    

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49. 100%
    pure PHP
    no extensions
    49
    

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50. 100%
    pure PHP
    no extensions
    no magic
    50
    

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51. What does that even mean?!
    51
    

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52. the idea
    52
    

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53. the idea
    calculations are fast
    53
    

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54. the idea
    calculations are fast
    I/O is slow
    54
    

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55. I/O is everywhere

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56. I/O is everywhere

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57. I/O is everywhere

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58. I/O is everywhere

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59. I/O is everywhere

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60. 60
    Source: Latency Numbers Every Programmer Should Know: https://gist.github.com/jboner/2841832
    CPU vs I/O
    

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61. I/O is slow!

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62. I/O is slow!

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63. This is React
    63
    

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64. This is React
    64
    Start multiple I/O operations (non-blocking)
    

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65. This is React
    65
    Start multiple I/O operations (non-blocking)
    Get notified when something happens (react)
    

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66. This is React
    66
    Start multiple I/O operations (non-blocking)
    Get notified when something happens (react)
    Don’t waste time waiting
    

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67. What React is not
    67
    

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68. What React is not
    React is not black magic / vodoo
    68
    

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69. What React is not
    React is not black magic / vodoo
    React is not a framework
    69
    

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70. What React is not
    React is not black magic / vodoo
    React is not a framework
    React is not the new buzz
    70
    

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71. React core components
    71
    

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72. React Core components
    - Event loop (reactor)
    - Streams
    - Promises
    72
    

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73. Event loop
    Consumers
    - THE core, low-level component
    73
    

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74. Event loop
    Consumers
    - THE core, low-level component
    - Create an instance
    - Just use the Factory
    - Additional extensions for bigger payloads
    - something inbetween…
    - just pass the $loop around
    - Start running
    - keeps running forever
    - unless stopped or done
    74
    

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75. Event loop
    Consumers
    - THE core, low-level component
    - Create an instance
    - Just use the Factory
    - Additional extensions for bigger payloads
    - something inbetween…
    - just pass the $loop around
    - Start running
    - keeps running forever
    - unless stopped or done
    75
    $loop = Factory::create();
    // something inbetween
    // pass the $loop around to all components
    $loop->run();
    

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76. Event loop
    Implementors
    - Reactor pattern (hence the name)
    76
    

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77. Event loop
    Implementors
    - Reactor pattern (hence the name)
    - start timers
    - once
    - periodic
    - ticks
    77
    $loop->addTimer(0.5, function () {
    echo ‘world’;
    });
    $loop->addTimer(0.3, function () {
    echo ‘hello’;
    });
    

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78. Event loop
    Implementors
    - Reactor pattern (hence the name)
    - start timers
    - once
    - periodic
    - ticks
    - wait for stream resources to become
    - readable
    - writable
    78
    $loop->addTimer(0.5, function () {
    echo ‘world’;
    });
    $loop->addTimer(0.3, function () {
    echo ‘hello’;
    });
    $loop->addReadStream($stream, $fn);
    $loop->addWriteStream($stream, $fn);
    

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79. Streams
    - Process large strings in chunks as they happen (think downloads)
    - Types
    - Readable (e.g. STDIN pipe)
    - Writable (e.g. STDOUT pipe)
    - Duplex (e.g. TCP/IP connection)
    79
    

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80. Streams
    - interfaces, events and listeners:
    80
    $dest->write(‘hello’);
    $source->on(‘data’, function ($data) {
    var_dump($data);
    });
    $source->on(‘close’, function () {
    echo ‘stream closed’;
    });
    

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81. Streams
    - interfaces, events and listeners:
    81
    $dest->write(‘hello’);
    $source->on(‘data’, function ($data) {
    var_dump($data);
    });
    $source->on(‘close’, function () {
    echo ‘stream closed’;
    });
    $source->pipe($gunzip)->pipe($badwords)->pipe($dest);
    

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82. Promises
    - Placeholder for a single future result
    - Possible states:
    - pending
    - fulfilled (successfully resolved)
    - rejected (Exception occured)
    82
    

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83. Promises
    - no more imperative code flow
    - instead (tell, don’t ask)
    83
    $a->then($fulfilled = null, $rejected = null);
    $a->then(‘process’);
    $a->then(‘process’, ‘var_dump’);
    

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84. Examples and demo time!
    84
    

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85. Examples and demo time!
    All open source with links
    85
    

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86. Socket server
    86
    react/socket
    - THE canonical chat example
    - broadcast all incoming msgs
    

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87. Socket server
    87
    react/socket
    - THE canonical chat example
    - broadcast all incoming msgs
    - run example server
    - connect via telnet:
    $ telnet clue.engineering 6001
    

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88. View Slide

89. HTTP client
    89
    clue/buzz-react
    - Simple HTTP requests
    - inspired by kriswallsmith/buzz
    - PSR-7 compatible
    

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90. HTTP client
    90
    clue/buzz-react
    - Simple HTTP requests
    - inspired by kriswallsmith/buzz
    - PSR-7 compatible
    - Promises and Streams
    - It’s fast…
    

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91. HTTP client
    91
    clue/buzz-react
    - Simple HTTP requests
    - inspired by kriswallsmith/buzz
    - PSR-7 compatible
    - Promises and Streams
    - It’s fast…
    - benchmarks in following slides about
    clue/docker-react
    

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92. Packagist API
    clue/packagist-api-react
    - get information about any
    Composer package
    - simple, Promise-based
    - lightweight wrapper between
    - KnpLabs/packagist-api
    - clue/buzz-react
    92
    

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93. Packagist API
    clue/packagist-api-react
    - get information about any
    Composer package
    - simple, Promise-based
    - lightweight wrapper between
    - KnpLabs/packagist-api
    - clue/buzz-react
    93
    - see its examples
    $ php examples/search.php
    

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94. Docker client
    clue/docker-react
    - Run apps in isolated containers
    - “build, ship and run, anywhere”
    - Controlled through HTTP API
    - Promises and Streams
    94
    

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95. Docker client
    clue/docker-react
    - Run apps in isolated containers
    - “build, ship and run, anywhere”
    - Controlled through HTTP API
    - Promises and Streams
    95
    - see its promise examples
    $ php examples/info.php
    - see its streaming examples
    $ php examples/benchmark-exec.php
    

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96. 700 MiB/s
    96
    

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97. 700 MiB/s
    97
    

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98. 700 MiB/s
    98
    dockerd maxed out
    PHP not
    

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99. HTTP server
    react/http
    - Pure PHP, with
    no additional webserver
    - standard PSR-7 interfaces
    99
    

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100. HTTP server
     react/http
     - Pure PHP, with
     no additional webserver
     - standard PSR-7 interfaces
     - Lots of third-party integrations
     with traditional frameworks
     (symfony, slim, silex, PIMF etc.)
     100
     

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101. 5k requests/s
     101
     

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102. 5k requests/s
     102
     

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103. 5k requests/s
     103
     this is a local single core benchmark!
     

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104. 5k requests/s
     104
     this is a local single core benchmark!
     dual core i3 => 10k requests/s
     

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105. 5k requests/s
     105
     this is a local single core benchmark!
     dual core i3 => 10k requests/s
     36M requests/h
     

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106. Server sent events
     clue/sse-react
     - Server sent events (SSE)
     - aka. EventSource (browser API)
     - Streaming events to browser
     - limited browser support
     106
     

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107. Server sent events
     clue/sse-react
     - Server sent events (SSE)
     - aka. EventSource (browser API)
     - Streaming events to browser
     - limited browser support
     107
     - see examples connecting to initial chat
     $ php examples/chat-server.php
     - open browser:
     http://clue.engineering:7000/
     

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108. View Slide

109. Websocket server
     cboden/ratchet
     - Async WebSocket server
     - bidirectional data flow between
     browser and server
     - better browser support
     109
     

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110. Redis client
     110
     clue/redis-react
     - Redis is a fast in-memory DB
     - very simple commands
     - very simple protocol
     - pipelined, Promise-based
     

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111. Redis client
     111
     clue/redis-react
     - Redis is a fast in-memory DB
     - very simple commands
     - very simple protocol
     - pipelined, Promise-based
     - see its examples
     $ php examples/incr.php
     

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112. Redis server
     112
     

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113. Redis server
     113
     - Official Redis is written in C
     

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114. Redis server
     114
     clue/php-redis-server
     - Official Redis is written in C
     - Reimplementation is pure PHP
     

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115. Redis server
     115
     clue/php-redis-server
     - Official Redis is written in C
     - Reimplementation is pure PHP
     - Very simple to add commands
     

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116. Redis server
     116
     clue/php-redis-server
     - Official Redis is written in C
     - Reimplementation is pure PHP
     - Very simple to add commands
     - How fast could PHP possibly be?
     Let’s see…
     

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117. Redis server
     117
     clue/php-redis-server
     - Official Redis is written in C
     - Reimplementation is pure PHP
     - Very simple to add commands
     - How fast could PHP possibly be?
     Let’s see…
     - see its bin
     $ php bin/redis-server.php
     - test via clue/redis-react
     - test via official redis CLI
     - run official redis benchmark during talk:
     - official server: ~90k OP/s
     

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118. 50k OP/s
     118
     

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119. 50k OP/s
     119
     

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120. 50k OP/s
     pure PHP
     120
     

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121. 50k OP/s
     pure PHP
     who needs native code anyway?
     121
     

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122. Redis framework
     122
     clue/php-redis-framework
     - Development preview
     - Very simple to add custom
     commands
     

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123. Redis framework
     123
     clue/php-redis-framework
     - Development preview
     - Very simple to add custom
     commands
     - run example server
     $ php examples/11-beer.php
     - connect via telnet:
     $ telnet IP 9000
     

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124. View Slide

125. Quassel
     clue/quassel-react
     - Quassel IRC core
     - event-driven IRC chatbots
     - re-using existing identity
     125
     

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127. Zenity
     clue/zenity-react
     - PHP desktop GUI applications
     - very simple, Promise-based
     127
     

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128. Zenity
     clue/zenity-react
     - PHP desktop GUI applications
     - very simple, Promise-based
     128
     - see its simple examples
     $ php examples/01-dialog.php
     - see its more realistic examples
     $ php examples/06-menu.php
     $ php examples/03-progress-pulsate.php
     $ php examples/03-progress-random.php
     

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129. View Slide

130. View Slide

131. View Slide

132. BunnyPHP
     bunny/bunny
     - AMQP (RabbitMQ)
     - job worker processes
     - run slow things in background
     132
     

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133. no polling
     133
     

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134. no polling
     134
     jobs instantly picked up
     

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135. no polling
     135
     jobs instantly picked up
     thousands of jobs per second
     

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136. no polling
     136
     jobs instantly picked up
     thousands of jobs per second
     concurrently processing hundreds or more
     

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137. many, MANY more third-party projects:
     https://github.com/reactphp/react/wiki/Users
     137
     

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138. Conclusions
     138
     

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139. PHP
     139
     

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140. PHP
     faster than you probably thought
     140
     

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141. PHP
     faster than you probably thought
     more versatile than you probably thought
     141
     

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142. ReactPHP
     142
     

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143. ReactPHP
     143
     a real deal and here to stay
     

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144. ReactPHP
     144
     a real deal and here to stay
     stable & production ready
     

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145. ReactPHP
     145
     a real deal and here to stay
     stable & production ready
     *awesome*
     

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146. try!
     146
     

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147. try!
     whenever having to wait
     147
     

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148. try!
     whenever having to wait
     whenever accessing network
     148
     

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149. help!
     149
     

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150. help!
     elaborate documentation on ReactPHP.org
     150
     

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151. help!
     elaborate documentation on ReactPHP.org
     tweet @ReactPHP or #reactphp
     151
     

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152. help!
     elaborate documentation on ReactPHP.org
     tweet @ReactPHP or #reactphp
     Talk to me
     152
     

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153. help!
     elaborate documentation on ReactPHP.org
     tweet @ReactPHP or #reactphp
     Talk to me
     Did I mention I’m available? 153
     

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154. // thank you!
     $loop->stop();
     154
     @another_clue – https://lueck.tv/
     

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155. integration
     155
     

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156. integration
     non-blocking and blocking don’t mix well
     156
     

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157. integration
     non-blocking and blocking don’t mix well
     decide for either approach
     157
     

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158. integration
     non-blocking and blocking don’t mix well
     decide for either approach
     isolate & communicate
     158
     

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159. Integration with traditional environments
     159
     integrating async into sync is easy
     

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160. Integration with traditional environments
     160
     integrating async into sync is easy
     - just run the loop until you’re done
     - see clue/block-react
     

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161. Integration with traditional environments
     161
     integrating async into sync is easy
     - just run the loop until you’re done
     - see clue/block-react
     integrating sync into async is hard
     

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162. Integration with traditional environments
     162
     integrating async into sync is easy
     - just run the loop until you’re done
     - see clue/block-react
     integrating sync into async is hard
     - often requires async rewrite
     - consider forking instead
     

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163. Avoid blocking!
     - The loop must not be blocked
     163
     

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164. Avoid blocking!
     - The loop must not be blocked
     - Many functions / lib assume blocking by default
     - Anything >1ms should be reconsidered
     164
     

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165. Avoid blocking!
     - The loop must not be blocked
     - Many functions / lib assume blocking by default
     - Anything >1ms should be reconsidered
     - Alternatives
     - Single result: Promises
     - Evented: Streams
     165
     

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166. Avoid blocking!
     - The loop must not be blocked
     - Many functions / lib assume blocking by default
     - Anything >1ms should be reconsidered
     - Alternatives
     - Single result: Promises
     - Evented: Streams
     - Need a blocking function?
     - Fork off!
     - Use IPC
     166
     

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167. Avoid blocking!
     - The loop must not be blocked
     - Many functions / lib assume blocking by default
     - Anything >1ms should be reconsidered
     - Alternatives
     - Single result: Promises
     - Evented: Streams
     - Need a blocking function?
     - Fork off!
     - Use IPC
     167
     Pay attention:
     - PDO, mysql etc.
     - file system access
     - network access
     - third-party APIs
     

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