Symfony Station Communiqué — 31 March 2023. A look at Symfony, Drupal, PHP, Cybersecurity, and Fediverse News!
Tags: symfony, drupal, php, fediverse
Published: 2023-04-01 15:09:07

This communiqué [originally appeared on Symfony Station](https://www.symfonystation.com/Symfony-Station-Communique-31-March-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. 

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

Thanks to Javier Eguiluz and Symfony for sharing [our latest communiqué](https://www.symfonystation.com/Symfony-Station-Communique-24-March-2023) in their [Week of Symfony](https://symfony.com/blog/a-week-of-symfony-847-20-26-march-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, the upcoming Symfony 6.3 version continued adding new features: the Messenger component added Clock support in workers and introduced a way to redispatch a message, the translation component improved performance of message extraction and the new Scheduler component added support for date intervals and period and introduced a debug:scheduler command.“

[A Week of Symfony #847 (20-26 March 2023)](https://symfony.com/blog/a-week-of-symfony-847-20-26-march-2023?utm_source=Symfony+Blog+Feed&utm_medium=feed)

Symfony announced:

[SymfonyLive Paris 2023: the French Symfony conference was a blast last week!](https://symfony.com/blog/symfonylive-paris-2023-the-french-symfony-conference-was-a-blast-last-week?utm_source=Symfony+Blog+Feed&utm_medium=feed)

[Migrating symfony.com Search Engine to Meilisearch](https://symfony.com/blog/migrating-symfony-com-search-engine-to-meilisearch)

[SymfonyCon Brussels 2023 : Very last days to enjoy early bird tickets!](https://symfony.com/blog/symfonycon-brussels-2023-very-last-days-to-enjoy-early-bird-tickets)

And they sent a newsletter!

[Find out the Symfony news of March! 📣](https://symfony.cmail20.com/t/y-e-pmiuhl-dyurtluuut-yu/)

Which included [a tip of the month](https://symfony.com/doc/6.3/reference/constraints/NoSuspiciousCharacters.html).

Blackfire has:

[Distributed Profiling: How to identify and fix Performance Bottlenecks in a Microservices Architecture](https://blog.blackfire.io/distributed-profiling-how-to-identify-and-fix-performance-bottlenecks-in-a-microservices-architecture.html)

SymfonyCasts continues its second API Platform course, and it covers security.

[This week on SymfonyCasts](https://5hy9x.r.ag.d.sendibm3.com/mk/mr/nCPhCUVO_dqndmwcGLPAZhLlQsgDNb1WmTDIOvf4Q_tWjCOjJEagsGsmSJCFetTJBlHxBfd260rY-_Tgpi7a1qDqtUTRjWDBfVSCH_u57CS8U18TiUYOEo09iZLo9Jrmx7k1ajD2wHo)

---

## Featured Item

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

The MIT Technology Review asks: 

Will ChatGPT make the already troubling income and wealth inequality in the US and many other countries even worse? Or could it help? Could it in fact provide a much-needed boost to productivity?

… as businesses scramble for ways to use the technology, economists say a rare window has opened for rethinking how to get the most benefits from the new generation of AI.

### [ChatGPT is about to revolutionize the economy. We need to decide what that looks like.](https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/03/25/1070275/chatgpt-revolutionize-economy-decide-what-looks-like/)

---

### This Week

There’s a new Symfony course on Udemy.

[Building web APIs with Symfony](https://www.udemy.com/course/building-web-apis-with-symfony/)

Thomas Berends shares a:

[Symfony Certification Preparation List](https://thomasberends.github.io/symfony-certification-preparation-list/)

In a similar mode, here is a slide deck used in a SymfonyCon presentation:

[A self-training journey to the Symfony certification](https://speakerdeck.com/cajou/a-self-training-journey-to-the-symfony-certification)

Kévin Dunglas shares:

[Symfony ImportMaps: Manage Your JavaScript Dependencies Without Node](https://dunglas.dev/2023/03/symfony-importmaps-manage-your-javascript-dependencies-without-node/)

Binary Box Tuts shows us:

[How To Send Email Using Mailtrap In Symfony 6](https://www.binaryboxtuts.com/php-tutorials/symfony-tutorials/how-to-send-email-using-mailtrap-in-symfony-6/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-to-send-email-using-mailtrap-in-symfony-6)

Vabadus explores:

[Optimización avanzada de rendimiento en Symfony](https://vabadus.es/blog/symfony/optimizacion-avanzada-de-rendimiento-en-symfony)

Anton Sukhachev examines:

[Nginx parser with PHP and Bison](https://dev.to/mrsuh/nginx-parser-with-php-and-bison-1k5)

### eCommerce

Atul Rungta shares:

[Magento vs. nopCommerce: An In-Depth Comparison of Open-Source eCommerce Platforms](https://dev.to/nopadvance/magento-vs-nopcommerce-an-in-depth-comparison-of-open-source-ecommerce-platforms-48am)

### Platforms

Rathod Akash explores:

[Laravel with Turbo JS](https://medium.com/@rathod.akash111/laravel-with-turbo-js-8781381318dd)

It’s similar to how it works with Symfony UX.

### CMSs

Specbee shows us:

[How to Create Dynamic Layouts with Layout Builder, CTools, and View Modes](https://www.specbee.com/blogs/create-dynamic-layouts-with-layout-builder-ctools-and-view-modes)

**Very useful.**

Matt Glaman examines:

[Adding backward compatibility to Rector rules](https://mglaman.dev/blog/adding-backward-compatibility-rector-rules)

Mandclu looks at:

[Patching .htaccess for SEO](https://www.mandclu.com/blog/patching-htaccess-seo)

Jacob Rockowitz is:

[Exploring Decoupled/Headless Drupal distributions while building the Schema.org Blueprints demo](https://www.jrockowitz.com/blog/schemadotorg-demo-distributions)

**I will say it again, if you are starting a new site or doing a complete rebuild, start with this module.**

Kevin Quillen announces:

[OpenAI / ChatGPT module release with new features](https://kevinquillen.com/openai-chatgpt-module-release-new-features)

Nate Szytel shares:

[The 4 most important customer identity management tips for Drupal agencies](https://medium.com/@natepdx/the-4-most-important-customer-identity-management-tips-for-drupal-agencies-766df57d57f3)

Drupaleasy explores efforts in:

[Perfecting the Art of Drupal Talent Development](https://www.drupaleasy.com/blogs/gwendolyn/2023/03/perfecting-art-drupal-talent-development)

### Previous Weeks

Computer Minds examine:

[Migrating cropped images](https://www.computerminds.co.uk/articles/migrating-cropped-images)

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

## PHP

### This Week

[Drupal Association March Newsletter 2023](https://mailchi.mp/drupalassociation/monthly-newsletter-march-2023?e=2fcfe28a68)

****One highlight is that contributions to Drupal often have a big impact on the whole PHP ecosystem.****

Giorgi Jibladze wants you to:

[Meet Lando — the Perfect Tool for Your Local Development Environment](https://medium.com/the-fig-platform/meet-lando-the-perfect-tool-for-your-local-development-environment-ade836278690)

Kevin explores:

[Assessing Compatibility with PHP 8](https://medium.com/@krabello/assessing-compatibility-with-php-8-3cecc12c7f0b)

Kinsta examines:

[PHP Market Share in 2023](https://kinsta.com/php-market-share/)

Iman Borumand Zadeh looks at:

[Some interesting changes in PHP 8.3](https://medium.com/@imanborumand/some-interesting-changes-in-php-8-3-f2392bf04793)

Onur Yüksel explores:

[Building a Basic Router with PHP: A Step-by-Step Guide for Web Developers](https://onuryukseldev.medium.com/what-is-router-and-how-to-create-your-own-router-with-php-fad811cf2873)

Maikel González Baile examines:

[Demystifying Nginx and PHP-FPM for PHP Developers](https://medium.com/@mgonzalezbaile/demystifying-nginx-and-php-fpm-for-php-developers-bba548dd38f9)

The Dev Drawer looks at:

[Creating A Single Page Application Using Mustache and PHP](https://dev.to/thedevdrawer/creating-a-single-page-application-using-mustache-and-php-38ej)

Native Coders show us:

[How to Connect to a MySQL Database Using PHP with mysqli Extension | Native Coders](https://nativecoders.io/posts/how-to-connect-to-a-mysql-database-using-php-with-mysqli-extension)

Nemanja Milenkovic explores:

[Named Arguments in PHP 8: The Little Feature That Could](https://medium.com/@nemanjamilenkovic_58178/named-arguments-in-php-8-the-little-feature-that-could-c1ead7942f92)

**There is something in the water to do with enums this week. ;)**

Laravel News has:

[Extending PHP 8.1 enums with attributes](https://laravel-news.com/extending-php-enums-with-attributes)

Doğan Uçar looks at:

[Unlocking the Power of PHP Enums: Best Practices for Effective Use](https://doganoo.medium.com/unlocking-the-power-of-php-enums-best-practices-for-effective-use-2c3fbbf529e8)

Jason Reading has a case study for us:

[Modernising a Legacy PHP Codebase](https://medium.com/vouchercodes-tech/modernising-a-legacy-php-codebase-9e5a2b81deeb)

### Previous Weeks

And PeakD opines:

[On the use of enums](https://peakd.com/hive-168588/@crell/on-the-use-of-enums)

Exacat examines:

[14 PHP arguments that are not enough used](https://www.exakat.io/en/14-php-arguments-that-are-not-enough-used/)

![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

NPR reports:

[A scrappy newscast in Kyiv aimed at Russians counters Putin's propaganda machine](https://www.npr.org/2023/03/26/1165535437/a-scrappy-newscast-in-kyiv-aimed-at-russians-counters-putins-propaganda-machine)

The New York Post reports:

[Russian wives tricked into exposing pilot husbands behind Ukraine civilian attack](https://nypost.com/2023/03/30/russian-army-wives-tricked-into-exposing-identities-of-pilots-behind-civilian-attacks/?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=syndicated&utm_campaign=partnerfeed)

The Register reports:

[Italy bans ChatGPT for 'unlawful collection of personal data'](https://www.theregister.com/2023/03/31/italy_bans_chatgpt_for_unlawful/)

**Molto bene!**

Nextcloud announces:

[Nextcloud complaint precedes investigation into Microsoft market dominance by German antitrust authorities](https://nextcloud.com/blog/nextcloud-complaint-precedes-investigation-into-microsoft-market-dominance-by-german-antitrust-authorities/)

**Nextcloud is a great open-source storage solution, and you should use it.**

Jeremiah Talamantes shares:

[CSRF Takedown: Defeating Web Exploits with Code](https://infosecwriteups.com/csrf-takedown-defeating-web-exploits-with-code-e13d2bfd9bc1)

The Washington Post reports:

[Biden’s spyware executive order gets mostly good reviews](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/03/28/bidens-spyware-executive-order-gets-mostly-good-reviews/)

### The Evil Empire Strikes Back

And:

[North Korean hackers play the ‘long con’ by targeting experts](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/03/28/north-korea-hackers-phishing-attack/)

ABC News reports:

[Cybercriminals targeting U.S. on behalf of North Korea](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/experts-expose-growing-threat-hackers-supporting-north-korea/story?id=98179970)

Insider Business reports:

[North Korean hackers are likely laundering stolen crypto through cloud mining services, cybersecurity group says](https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/north-korean-hackers-crypto-laundering-crime-markets-cloud-mining-google-2023-3)

The Guardian reports:

[‘Vulkan files’ leak reveals Putin’s global and domestic cyberwarfare tactics](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/mar/30/vulkan-files-leak-reveals-putins-global-and-domestic-cyberwarfare-tactics?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other)

### Cybersecurity/Privacy

The Hill reports:

[Cyberspace: The new dominant realm of national security](https://thehill.com/opinion/cybersecurity/3916938-cyberspace-the-new-dominant-realm-of-national-security/)

PBS reports:

[France bans TikTok, Twitter from government staff phones amid security concerns](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/france-bans-tiktok-twitter-from-government-staff-phones-amid-security-concerns)

The Hacker News reports:

[U.K. National Crime Agency Sets Up Fake DDoS-For-Hire Sites to Catch Cybercriminals](https://thehackernews.com/2023/03/uk-national-crime-agency-sets-up-fake.html)

[Trojanized TOR Browser Installers Spreading Crypto-Stealing Clipper Malware](https://thehackernews.com/2023/03/trojanized-tor-browser-installers.html)

GovTech reports:

[What Local Governments Want from Federal Cyber Grants](https://www.govtech.com/budget-finance/what-local-governments-want-from-federal-cyber-grants)

Wired reports:

[Microsoft’s ‘Security Copilot’ Unleashes ChatGPT on Breaches](https://www.wired.com/story/microsoft-security-copilot-chatgpt-ai-breaches/)

VentureBeat reports:

[GPT-4 kicks AI security risks into higher gear](https://venturebeat.com/security/security-risks-evolve-with-release-of-gpt-4/)

### More

Insider Business looks at:

[Big Tech's big downgrade](https://www.businessinsider.com/tech-companies-ruining-apps-websites-internet-worse-google-facebook-amazon-2023-3)

**Think Cory Doctorow’s Enshitification theory.**

The Verge reports:

[Google and Microsoft’s chatbots are already citing one another in a misinformation shitshow](https://www.theverge.com/2023/3/22/23651564/google-microsoft-bard-bing-chatbots-misinformation)

Andy Baio reports on:

[AI Data Laundering: How Academic and Nonprofit Researchers Shield Tech Companies from Accountability](https://waxy.org/2022/09/ai-data-laundering-how-academic-and-nonprofit-researchers-shield-tech-companies-from-accountability/)

The Guardian reports.

[Cryptocurrencies add nothing useful to society, says chip-maker Nvidia](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/mar/26/cryptocurrencies-add-nothing-useful-to-society-nvidia-chatbots-processing-crypto-mining)

However, it’s not all bad news this week. ;)

Clive Thompson tells us:

[Why ChatGPT Won’t Replace Coders Just Yet](https://betterprogramming.pub/why-chatgpt-wont-replace-coders-just-yet-87487a9dda4e)

**Plus in programming, 5% of the effort is writing code and 95% is figuring out why it doesn’t work. ;)**

Opensource shares:

[6 steps to reduce the carbon footprint of your website](https://opensource.com/article/23/3/reduce-carbon-footprint-website)

Edson Moisinho wants you to:

[Say goodbye to your local development environment](https://javascript.plainenglish.io/say-goodbye-to-the-local-development-environment-594e9c2e0c1b)

**Yes, please.**

Zach Leatherman explains why SPAs suck:

[Defaulting on Single Page Applications (SPA)](https://www.zachleat.com/web/single-page-applications/)

Philip John Basile has:

[The Great Vue Vs Svelte Debate Finally Settled](https://philipjohnbasile.medium.com/the-great-vue-vs-svelte-debate-finally-settled-d805e3fe7dbc)

**I don’t know if there is a debate, and it’s not settled if there is, but this is a good comparison of the only two front-end frameworks you should ever consider.**

Sitepoint has:

[Fastly vs. Cloudflare Performance: A Detailed Guide](https://www.sitepoint.com/fastly-vs-cloudflare-performance-detailed-guide/)

**There’s an explosion of HTML content this week, which is fantastic.**

Scott Ohara looks at:

[The search element](https://www.scottohara.me/blog/2023/03/24/search-element.html)

Nicolás Vazquez explores:

[Semantic HTML](https://dev.to/nicvazquez/semantic-html-48kg)

Jens Oliver Meiert examines.

[HTML Concepts: Customized Built-In Elements](https://meiert.com/en/blog/html-customized-built-in-elements/)

### Fediverse

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

Techcrunch reports:

[Twitter is dying](https://techcrunch.com/2023/03/28/twitter-is-dying/)

**I think it is more of a spectacular and slow decline into irrelevance.**

ZDNet reports:

[Twitter moves free users to the spam folder and makes a risky bet on its future](https://www.zdnet.com/article/twitter-to-put-new-restrictions-on-free-users-and-makes-a-risky-bet-on-its-future/)

Ed Zitron explains why Space Karen can’t help himself.

[Free bird](https://ez.substack.com/p/free-bird).

**And Elon’s also a c^nt, so there’s that.**

The Verge asks:

[Can Mastodon seize the moment from Twitter?](https://www.theverge.com/23658648/mastodon-ceo-twitter-interview-elon-musk-twitter)

**This is a fantastic interview with Mastodon’s founder.**

If you are thinking of opening a Mastodon account (and you should) Jennifer has:

[Choosing an instance for your Fediverse/Mastodon account](https://www.uncharted-worlds.org/blog/2023/03/choosing-an-instance-for-your-fediverse-mastodon-account/)

**Consider phpc.social.**

Jeff Craig says:

[The Fediverse Isn't Inevitable - Mad, Beautiful Ideas](https://blog.foxxtrot.net/2023/03/federation-isnt-inevitable.html)

Here’s a quote, “The Fediverse's current desire to grow without VCs is probably it's greatest strength. Without the need for the hypergrowth investors need to get the cash exits they demand, the Fediverse has a chance, though potentially a slim one, to grow the way that we, the users desire, instead of chasing profitability.”

While Mastodon makes up 95% of Fediverse users, it’s not all of them. Learn more about the other platforms here:

[fediverse.party](https://fediverse.party/)

The Guardian reports on how Mastodon helped save a newspaper from closure:

[Texas Observer journalists raise $270,000 in bid to save publication](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/29/texas-observer-closing-gofundme)

The Fediverse Reports has this related item:

[Local news on a global network](https://fediversereport.com/local-news-and-a-global-network/)

## CTAs (aka show us some free love)

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Keep coding Symfonistas!

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## Author

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

### Reuben Walker
Founder
Symfony Station