The next chapter examines another set of well-worn functions: those devoted to
working with the file and operating system.
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C H A P T E R 1 0
Working with the File and
Operating System
It??™s quite rare to write an application that is entirely self-sufficient??”that is, a program
that does not rely on at least some level of interaction with external resources, such as the
underlying file and operating system, and even other programming languages. The
reason for this is simple: as languages, file systems, and operating systems mature, the
opportunities for creating much more efficient, scalable, and timely applications
increases greatly as a result of the developer??™s ability to integrate the tried-and-true
features of each component into a singular product. Of course, the trick is to choose
a language that offers a convenient and efficient means for doing so. Fortunately, PHP
satisfies both conditions quite nicely, offering the programmer a wonderful array of
tools not only for handling file system input and output, but also for executing programs
at the shell level. This chapter serves as an introduction to these features, describing
how to work with the following:
??? Files and directories: You??™ll learn how to perform file system forensics, revealing
details such as file and directory size and location, modification and access
times, and more.
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