Symfony Station Communiqué — 07 April 2023. A look at Symfony, Drupal, PHP, Cybersecurity, and Fediverse News!
Tags: symfony, drupal, php, fediverse
Published: 2023-04-08 15:54:06

This communiqué [originally appeared on Symfony Station](https://www.symfonystation.com/Symfony-Station-Communique-07-April-2023), your source for cutting-edge Symfony, PHP, and Cybersecurity news.

Welcome to this week's Symfony Station Communiqué. It's your review of the essential news in the Symfony and PHP development communities focusing on protecting democracy. We also cover the cybersecurity world and the Fediverse. There are lots of interesting PHP items this week.

Please take your time and enjoy the items most relevant and valuable to you. 

Once again, thanks to Javier Eguiluz and Symfony for sharing [our latest communiqué](https://www.symfonystation.com/Symfony-Station-Communique-31-March-2023) in their [Week of Symfony](https://symfony.com/blog/a-week-of-symfony-848-27-march-2-april-2023). 

**My opinions will be in bold. And will often involve profanity.**

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![Symfony logo](https://www.symfonystation.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Symfony-2.png)

## Symfony

As always, we will start with the official news from Symfony. Highlight -> “This week, Symfony 5.4.22
 and 6.2.8 maintenance versions were released. Meanwhile, we published a recap of the SymfonyLive Paris 2023 conference and announced the last days of the Early Bird of SymfonyCon 2023. Lastly, we published an article detailing the migration of symfony.com search engine to Meilisearch.“

[A Week of Symfony #848 (27 March - 2 April 2023)](https://symfony.com/blog/a-week-of-symfony-848-27-march-2-april-2023)

Symfony announced:

[SymfonyCon Brussels 2023: Book your hotel and transportation now!](https://symfony.com/blog/symfonycon-brussels-2023-book-your-hotel-and-transportation-now) 

Blackfire has:

SymfonyCasts continues its second API Platform course.

[This week on SymfonyCasts](https://5hy9x.r.ag.d.sendibm3.com/mk/mr/eg7RbGTirkn7UKdjIbExXU0v585VDTFNQ_7qkE9ff2D0tpJEy5Uz6EFdSZ8QcWXnQc77W_o0Tt-1aSuVaQ0RNoRj8asBUnOoUHhlk2Zj3lbHdKChrOf8H5XSB2THw-DVrRCEvBSKd9E)

---

## Featured Item

![Featured item graphic](https://symfonystation.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Featured-Item_1_0.png)

Dark Reading says:

Companies face an ongoing struggle to quickly develop high-performing software and applications that are also highly secure. This is a delicate balance in today's environment, where trading security for speed could lead to disastrous consequences.

One method that companies are embracing to strike this balance is implementing the "shift left." The shift left in this context refers to moving practices related to testing software as early in the development process as possible.

If companies prioritize communications and make the DevOps process more transparent, team members will better know what vulnerabilities to look for.

### [4 Steps for Shifting Left & Winning the Cybersecurity Battle](https://www.darkreading.com/vulnerabilities-threats/4-steps-for-shifting-left-and-winning-the-cybersecurity-battle)

---

### This Week

Dev opines on:

[A Strong Team: SPAs With Vue.js and Symfony](https://devm.io/php/php-javascript-vuejs-symfony)

**It’s certainly better than React or Angular.**

André Laugks shows us how to:

[Create a custom Symfony Normalizer for mapping values](https://dev.to/elevado/create-a-custom-symfony-normalizer-for-mapping-values-4nc2)

JoliCode shows us:

[How to use mock with Symfony's WebTestCase and PHPUnit](https://jolicode.com/blog/how-to-use-mock-with-symfonys-webtestcase-and-phpunit)

And reviews SymfonyLive Paris:

[Notre retour sur le SymfonyLive Paris 2023](https://jolicode.com/blog/notre-retour-sur-le-symfonylive-paris-2023)

And explores:

[Symfony Webhook et RemoteEvent, ou comment simplifier la gestion d'événements externes](https://jolicode.com/blog/symfony-webhook-et-remoteevent-ou-comment-simplifier-la-gestion-devenements-externes)

Kinsta shares:

[Symfony vs Laravel: Battle of the PHP Frameworks](https://kinsta.com/blog/symfony-vs-laravel/)

**As I said on Mastodon this week, this is about the 2,425th Laravel / Symfony comparison article but it's from a reputable source and explains the strengths of each platform well. (FYI, they don't really compete against each other very often.)**

Nacho Colomina Torregrosa says:

[Take this into account when using Doctrine](https://dev.to/icolomina/take-this-into-account-when-using-doctrine-1aji)

### eCommerce

ComputerMinds shows us:

[How to: Implement an automated Drupal Commerce Order state transition](https://www.computerminds.co.uk/articles/how-implement-automated-commerce-order-state-transition)

Harish Rajora shares:

[The Definitive Guide to Magento Testing](https://dev.to/lambdatest/the-definitive-guide-to-magento-testing-4df6)

Sylius announces their solution to:

[The EU “Omnibus” directive in (e)Commerce](https://sylius.com/blog/the-eu-omnibus-directive-in-ecommerce/)

### CMSs

AgileDrop interviews:

[Dominique De Cooman of Dropsolid: Bringing together Drupal and Mautic](https://www.agiledrop.com/blog/dominique-de-cooman-dropsolid-bringing-together-drupal-and-mautic)

**Very interesting interview.**

Emulsify examines:

[Adding a JS library to an Emulsify Component in Drupal](https://www.emulsify.info/blog/adding-a-js-library-to-an-emulsify-component-in-drupal/)

I plan on exploring the following three items in-depth.

Russell Jones asks:

[Drupal, Why Use Custom Content Types?](https://dev.to/jonesrussell/drupal-why-use-custom-content-types-5627)

Webwash looks at:

[Create a Search Page using Views in Drupal](https://www.webwash.net/search-page-using-views-in-drupal/)

Specbee has:

[Customizing Content Display in Drupal: A Guide to Display Modes](https://www.specbee.com/blogs/customizing-content-display-in-drupal-guide-to-display-modes)

Prometsource explores:

[AI for Drupal Sites: To the Next Level and Beyond](https://www.prometsource.com/blog/AI-for-Drupal)

Drupal developer extraordinaire Matt Glaman explores:

[Creating fields programmatically and not through field configuration](https://mglaman.dev/blog/creating-fields-programmatically-and-not-through-field-configuration)

Evolving Web gets:

[Hands-On with Drupal 10: Easier Content Creation with the Claro Theme](https://evolvingweb.com/blog/hands-drupal-10-easier-content-creation-claro)

Drupal founder Dries Buytaert examines:

[The evolution of Drupal's composability: from the command line to the browser](https://dri.es/the-evolution-of-drupal-composability-from-the-command-line-to-the-browser)

**They are getting it right after ten years.**

On a related note, Opensense Labs looks at:

[Plug & Play with New Drupal Recipes](https://opensenselabs.com/blog/articles/plug-play-new-drupal-recipes)

Golems shows us how to implement:

[Google Maps in Drupal](https://gole.ms/blog/google-maps-drupal)

FiveJars provides a:

[Performance Checklist for Drupal Websites](https://fivejars.com/blog/performance-checklist-drupal-websites)

Redfin Solutions shares:

[DrupalCamp New Jersey 2023: My Retrospective](https://redfinsolutions.com/blog/drupalcamp-new-jersey-2023-my-retrospective/)

### Previous Weeks

My man, Smaine Milianni has an old post worth exploring:

[Les nouveautés dans le composant Sécurité de Symfony](https://medium.com/yousign-engineering-product/les-nouveaut%C3%A9s-dans-le-composant-s%C3%A9curit%C3%A9-de-symfony-809807b91cfc)

![PHP logo](https://symfonystation.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/php-logo_4.png)

## PHP

### This Week

The PHP Foundation has:

[PHP Foundation Update, March 2023](https://opencollective.com/phpfoundation/updates/php-foundation-update-march-2023)

PhpStorm shares:

[What’s New In PhpStorm 2023.1: New UI Features, Better Performance, 3v4l Support, and More](https://blog.jetbrains.com/phpstorm/2023/04/phpstorm-2023-1/)

And Sticher shares:

[What's new in PHP 8.3](https://stitcher.io/blog/new-in-php-83)

Dimitrios Lytras explores:

[Modern PHP](https://dnlytras.com/blog/modern-php)

Moslem Deris examines:

[Writing Simple Code in PHP: Techniques and Best Practices](https://medium.com/@moslem.deris/writing-simple-code-in-php-techniques-and-best-practices-d604ab03eeaf)

Daniil Bazhenov continues a series:

[How To Optimize the Code Structure of a Simple PHP Application as Your Project Grows](https://dev.to/dbazhenov/how-to-optimize-the-code-structure-of-a-simple-php-application-as-your-project-grows-4273)

Marcin Czarnecki recommends:

[Must have PHP Tools](https://tech.westwing.de/must-have-php-tools-868a1aac6eb7)

Lambda Test shares:

[The Most Detailed Selenium PHP Guide (With Examples)](https://dev.to/lambdatest/the-most-detailed-selenium-php-guide-with-examples-161m)

Moumen Alisawe asks:

[What is Pest and Why You Should Use It](https://medium.com/@moumenalisawe/what-is-pest-and-why-you-should-use-it-b940b4df6f65)

Freek Van der Herten has:

[Skipping tests conditionally in Pest](https://freek.dev/2475-skipping-tests-conditionally-in-pest)

One of my favorite Mastodon follows, the Grumpy Programmer is:

[Thinking About Testing Too Much](https://grumpy-learning.com/blog/2023/03/09/thinking-about-it-too-much/)

And looks at:

[NeoVim and Xdebug](https://grumpy-learning.com/blog/2023/04/03/neovim-and-xdebug/)

JetBrains explores:

[Debugger Upskill: Variables, Evaluate Expression, and Watches](https://blog.jetbrains.com/idea/2023/04/debugger-upskill-variables-evaluate-expression-watches/)

Tighten examines:

[Automated Refactoring With Rector](https://tighten.com/insights/automated-refactoring-with-rector-php/)

Terence Eden shouts:

[Help Wanted! Testing Better Markdown Footnotes](https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2023/04/testing-better-markdown-footnotes/)

Nil Lenon has:

[Developing PHP Applications with Docker and Kubernetes](https://levelup.gitconnected.com/developing-php-applications-with-docker-and-kubernetes-1e90baa197ce)

Camila Morales reviews the:

[PHP SDK for IP geolocation, proxy detection and WHOIS lookup](https://medium.com/@camimimorales/php-sdk-for-ip-geolocation-proxy-detection-and-whois-lookup-2f193a4a9b9c)

Yannick Chenot shares a new article in an ongoing series:

[Building a PHP CLI tool using DDD and Event Sourcing: software design](https://tech.osteel.me/posts/building-a-php-cli-tool-using-ddd-and-event-sourcing-software-design)

Nemanja Milenkovic tells us:

[Why PHP 8 and its Supercharged JIT Compiler Will Make Your Code Fly (Like a Bird on Red Bull)](https://medium.com/@nemanjamilenkovic_58178/why-php-8-and-its-supercharged-jit-compiler-will-make-your-code-fly-like-a-bird-on-red-bull-a16d47d2f23a)

### Previous Weeks

And about:

[Infection PHP: Mutating Your Code for Immunity](https://medium.com/@nemanjamilenkovic_58178/infection-php-mutating-your-code-for-immunity-9406622cc74c)

Andreas Möller recommends:

[Avoiding One-Liners in PHP](https://localheinz.com/articles/2023/03/18/avoiding-one-liners-in-php/)

Anton Lohvynenko explores:

[Modernize PHP Legacy Apps: Challenges, Approaches, Cases Studies](https://mobidev.biz/blog/modernizing-legacy-applications-in-php-challenges-approaches-case-studies)

Laravel News examines the:

[Pest Architecture Plugin](https://laravel-news.com/pest-architecture-plugin)

![Code logo](https://symfonystation.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/code-logo_3.jpeg)

## Other

[Please visit our Support Ukraine page](https://www.symfonystation.com/Support-Ukraine) to learn how you can help kick Russia out of Ukraine (eventually).

### The cyber response to Russia’s War Crimes and other douchebaggery

The Kyiv Post reports:

[EXPLAINED: Internet Sleuths Expose Russia’s Use of Fake Videos - Again](https://www.kyivpost.com/post/15102)

PCMag reports:

[Twitter Faces Big Fines in Germany for Failing to Pull 'Clearly Illegal' Content](https://www.pcmag.com/news/twitter-faces-big-fines-in-germany-for-failing-to-pull-clearly-illegal)

### The Evil Empire Strikes Back

Foreign Policy reports:

[China Has Been Waging a Decades-Long, All-Out Spy War](https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/03/28/china-has-been-waging-a-decades-long-all-out-spy-war/)

The Register reports:

[Vivern puts US, Euro lawmakers in line of fire](https://www.theregister.com/2023/03/31/winter_vivern_european_goverments/)

TechRepublic reports:

[DDoS attacks rise as pro-Russia groups attack Finland, Israel](https://www.techrepublic.com/article/ddos-attacks-finland-israel/)

CNN reports:

[‘I’ve never seen anything like this:’ One of China’s most popular apps has the ability to spy on its users, say experts](https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/02/tech/china-pinduoduo-malware-cybersecurity-analysis-intl-hnk/)

Decipher reports:

[Google Reveals More Details of North Korean APT43 Activity](https://apple.news/AJqkVlP2tT0-_m6bsPT0Gvw)

MIT Technology reviews:

[How Russia killed its tech industry](https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/04/04/1070352/ukraine-war-russia-tech-industry-yandex-skolkovo/)

**Autocratic regimes are good at one thing, at least, shooting themselves in the foot. If only they would shoot themselves in the head.**

**And democracies aren’t perfect, either.**

The New York Times reports:

[Ukraine War Plans Leak Prompts Pentagon Investigation](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/06/us/politics/ukraine-war-plan-russia.html)

### Cybersecurity/Privacy

The Hacker News reports:

[Hackers Exploiting WordPress Elementor Pro Vulnerability: Millions of Sites at Risk!](https://thehackernews.com/2023/04/hackers-exploiting-wordpress-elementor.html)

**Don’t use WordPress page builders, peeps!**

Ars Technica reports:

[Trojanized Windows and Mac apps rain down on 3CX users in massive supply chain attack](https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/03/massive-supply-chain-attack-with-ties-to-north-korea-hits-users-of-3cx-voice-app/)

The Guardian reports:

[Capita blames cyber-attack for outage as company races to restore IT systems](https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/apr/03/capita-blames-cyber-attack-outage-it-systems)

Data Center Dynamics asks:

[ChatGPT: What’s a security department supposed to do?](https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/opinions/chatgpt-whats-a-security-department-supposed-to-do/)

Reuters reports:

[Special Report: Tesla workers shared sensitive images recorded by customer cars](https://www.reuters.com/technology/tesla-workers-shared-sensitive-images-recorded-by-customer-cars-2023-04-06/)

**This sounds similar to douchebaggery from another company we’ve heard a lot about lately. I wonder if they have the same owner. ;)**

### More

Infoworld reports:

[Visual Studio Code 1.77 previews GitHub Copilot chat](https://www.infoworld.com/article/3692530/visual-studio-code-177-previews-github-copilot-chat.html)

David Gewirtz shares:

[Okay, so ChatGPT just debugged my code. For real.](https://www.zdnet.com/article/okay-so-chatgpt-just-debugged-my-code-for-real/)

**Pay attention to the details in this interesting article.**

My favorite Medium writer, Jason Knight has:

[Improper HTML: Bad Examples Makes For Bad Developers](https://medium.com/codex/improper-html-bad-examples-makes-for-bad-developers-13b223174ce)

Chrome looks at:

[Smooth and simple transitions with the View Transitions API](https://developer.chrome.com/docs/web-platform/view-transitions/)

**I am thrilled to see this, as it will eliminate lots of horseshit JavaScript.**

ZDNet reports on the:

[Low and no-code paradox: Freeing up tech pros' time, but creating new entanglements](https://www.zdnet.com/article/low-and-no-code-paradox-freeing-up-tech-pros-time-but-creating-new-entanglements/)

Percona shares:

[MySQL 5.7 Upgrade Issue: Reserved Words](https://www.percona.com/blog/mysql-5-7-upgrade-issue-reserved-words/)

Jason Segal shows you how to:

[Dockerize your LAMP Application in 3 mins](https://medium.com/@jasonsegal23/dockerize-your-lamp-application-in-2-mins-e92e227afe0)

Chanel Jemmott has:

[A Simplified Intro to Docker Swarm](https://aws.plainenglish.io/a-simplified-intro-to-docker-swarm-c4a42406031b)

DevCollaborative looks at:

[Choosing the Right Analytics Tool For Your Nonprofit Website](https://devcollaborative.com/blog/choosing-right-analytics-tool-your-nonprofit-website)

**Important stuff, and fuck Google.**

### Fediverse

**Since Twitter is single-handedly exploding growth in the Fediverse, we’ll start with it (again).**

The Verge states the obvious:

[Elon Musk’s obsession with blue checks is a verified problem](https://www.theverge.com/2023/4/4/23668722/elon-musk-twitter-blue-checkmark-verified)

Mashable reports on the predictable result:

[Twitter failed to scare legacy verified accounts into paying for Twitter Blue](https://mashable.com/article/twitter-legacy-verified-account-twitter-blue-subscribers)

NPR reports:

[Twitter labels NPR's account as 'state-affiliated media,' which is untrue](https://www.npr.org/2023/04/05/1168158549/twitter-npr-state-affiliated-media)

**It’s a lie, and CuntEO Space Karen knows it’s a lie.**

Nieman Lab reports:

[NPR says it won’t tweet from @NPR until Twitter removes false “state-affiliated” label](https://www.niemanlab.org/2023/04/npr-says-it-wont-tweet-from-npr-until-twitter-removes-false-state-affiliated-label/)

The Fediverse Report is:

[Talking Fediverse at FediForum](https://fediversereport.com/talking-fediverse-at-fediforum/)

Mike Stone shares:

[RSS and Mastodon](https://mikestone.me/rss-and-mastodon)

**If you want to see someone’s (like us** [https://phpc.social/@symfonystation.rss](https://phpc.social/@symfonystation.rss)**) Mastodon posts without joining Mastodon, this is for you. You can also follow hashtags in your RSS reader.**

This is an academic paper from Robert Gehl on:

[The digital covenant: non-centralized platform governance on the Mastodon social network](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1369118X.2022.2147400)

Kevin Quirk shares how he switched from Miro.blog to WordPress to make:

[a self-hosted micro blog that also works with the Fediverse](https://kevquirk.com/self-hosted-microblog/)

The Verge reports on:

[The sudden death and rebirth of Tweetbot as a Mastodon App](https://www.theverge.com/23653556/tweetbot-twitter-api-elon-musk-mastodon)

## CTAs (aka show us some free love)

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##Author

![Reuben Walker headshot](https://miro.medium.com/max/1200/1*B3RcgIbAiytfjynP-oiOMg.jpeg)

###Reuben Walker

Founder
Symfony Station