Using PHP composer with MapGuide's bundled PHP

If you're building PHP applications for MapGuide (like I am currently doing with mapguide-rest) you should strongly consider using PHP composer for installing and managing all your external PHP libraries.

PHP composer is basically the PHP version of NuGET (for .net) and simplifies and accelerates development of PHP applications by allowing you to install and manage third-party PHP libraries and frameworks with ease.

No dependency hell or wondering what PHP files to include/require. PHP composer will sort all of that out, leaving you to simply "require 'vendor/autoload.php'" to start using your libraries and like NuGet.org, the Packagist website will help you find the PHP library you need to solve your particular problem.

So how do you make sure when installing PHP composer that it will work with MapGuide's bundled PHP? In the windows installer, simply set the PHP path to where MapGuide's PHP is installed.

For Linux or if you didn't use the Windows installer, you should make sure the php that is running when you invoke composer is the one from your MapGuide installation and not a system-based PHP if you so happen to have one installed.

Once installed, you can start to enjoy a (less painful and more exciting) PHP development experience.