Parse released the Parse PHP SDK, aimed at enabling Parse integration "for a new class of apps and different use cases." The company also said that this is its "first SDK for a server-side language, and the first to be truly open-source."
Until now, Parse offered several API libraries aimed at making it easier to integrate Parse services into a front-end, including support for Objective-C, Java, .NET, and JavaScript. Parse interface is also exposed natively through REST. Those libraries covered the main use case for Parse, which is obviating the need for developers "to redevelop their own backend for each of the services that their apps need to access.", i.e. the need for for managing servers and writing server-side code.
On the other hand, Parse also offered a Cloud Code environment based on its own JavaScript SDK for those cases where some bit of logic is required server-side. One of the the advantages that Parse Cloud Code brings is, e.g., that updates become available to all environments instantly without having to wait for a new application release, thus allowing features to be modified on the fly. With the introduction of Parse PHP SDK, the same kind of advantages can be now gained using PHP.
The Parse PHP SDK is structured similarly to other Parse SDKs and is built around ParseObject, which contains key-value pairs of schema-less JSON-compatible data. PFObjects can be saved, retrieved, updated, and deleted. Queries are modelled through PFQuery, which allows basic queries as well as relational queries. Parse also supports Role-based Access Control, which provides a logical way of grouping users with common access privileges to Parse data.
Niraj Shah, a PHP Developer working in London, UK, has created a simple tutorial to get started with the Parse PHP SDK. The tutorial aims at making things easier since, says Niraj, the Parse PHP SDK "is not very well documented and you may have to jump between different documentations to find the complete solution."