aachraf/php-dev-box repository overview

⁠PHP Core & Extension Development Docker Image

A pre-built Docker image that provides a complete PHP development environment for both PHP core development and PHP extension development with debug symbols, development tools, and the Zig compiler. Eliminates the need for time-consuming PHP compilation by providing a ready-to-use development environment.

⁠🚀 Quick Start

# Pull and run the latest image
docker run -v $(pwd):/workdir -it --rm achraf/php-dev-box

# Show available commands and help
docker run --rm achraf/php-dev-box phpdev help

# Create a new PHP extension
docker run -v $(pwd):/workdir -it --rm achraf/php-dev-box phpdev create EXT=myext

⁠🛠️ What's Included

⁠Core Development Environment

• PHP compiled from source with debug symbols (--enable-debug)
• PHP source code available at /usr/src/php/src/php-src/
• ext_skel.php ready for extension skeleton generation
• Full PHP build environment for core development

⁠Development Tools

• GDB - GNU Debugger for debugging PHP core and extensions
• Valgrind - Memory debugging and profiling
• Zig - Modern systems programming language compiler (v0.14.0)
• Git, Nano, Vim - Version control and editors

⁠Build Tools

• GCC/G++ - C/C++ compilers
• Autoconf/Automake - Build system tools
• Bison/Flex - Parser generators
• re2c - Lexer generator

⁠🏗️ Available PHP Versions

⁠📝 Main Command: phpdev

The primary development interface:

# Show help and available targets
phpdev help

# Show environment information  
phpdev info

# Create a new extension skeleton
phpdev create EXT=myext

# Build extension in current directory
phpdev build

# Run extension tests
phpdev test

# Debug with GDB
phpdev debug

# Memory debugging with Valgrind
phpdev valgrind

⁠🎯 Use Cases

⁠PHP Core Development

• Working on Zend Engine improvements
• Developing new PHP language features
• Fixing PHP core bugs and optimizations
• Adding new SAPIs

⁠PHP Extension Development

• Creating custom PHP extensions
• Porting extensions to new PHP versions
• Debugging extension issues
• Performance testing extensions

⁠🔧 Custom Extensions

Build with additional PHP extensions:

# Build with database extensions
docker build --build-arg ENABLE_EXTENSIONS="--enable-mysqlnd --with-pdo-mysql --with-pdo-pgsql" -t my-php-dev .

# Build with graphics and media
docker build --build-arg ENABLE_EXTENSIONS="--enable-gd --enable-exif" -t my-php-dev .

# Build with full web development stack
docker build --build-arg ENABLE_EXTENSIONS="--enable-mysqlnd --with-pdo-mysql --enable-gd --enable-intl --enable-zip --enable-bcmath" -t my-php-dev .

⁠🌟 Key Features

• ✅ No 10+ minute PHP compilation - Pre-built and ready
• ✅ Debug-ready - PHP compiled with debug symbols
• ✅ Complete toolchain - All build tools included
• ✅ Multi-version support - PHP 8.1 through 8.4
• ✅ Professional workflow - Makefile-based development
• ✅ Modern tools - Includes Zig compiler
• ✅ Optimized builds - Multi-stage Docker builds for speed

⁠📁 Directory Structure

/opt/php/                   # PHP installation
/usr/src/php/src/php-src/   # PHP source code  
/workdir/                   # Your mounted code
/usr/local/bin/phpdev       # Main development command

⁠🔗 Repository & Documentation

• GitHub Repository: https://github.com/achrafAa/php-dev-box-image⁠
• Full Documentation: README.md⁠
• Issues & Support: GitHub Issues⁠

⁠📄 License

MIT License - see LICENSE⁠ for details.

Happy PHP Core & Extension Development! 🚀