Many Slim Framework users are turning to PHPFog — a leader among a growing field of PHP PaaS providers — to host their Slim Framework PHP web applications. By default, a Slim app will not run on PHPFog. Why not? PHPFog’s backend infrastructure relies on the nginx HTTP Proxy Module to communicate between backend tiers; the nginx HTTP Proxy Module speaks HTTP/1.0 while Slim speaks HTTP/1.1. Fear not, there’s an easy workaround. To run a Slim app on PHPFog, you must tell your Slim app to speak HTTP/1.0. You can do this when you instantiate your Slim app, like this:

The Slim Micro Framework is a micro framework that enables developers to quickly write RESTful web applications and APIs. I emphasize micro because Slim is just that — a lightweight and nimble PHP framework used to build smaller web applications and APIs. Unlike CodeIgniter and Symfony (excellent frameworks created by EllisLab and Sensio Labs, respectively), Slim forgoes controllers and abstract components for simplicity and ease-of-use.

This tutorial demonstrates the typical process for writing a Slim Framework application. The Slim Framework uses the front controller pattern to send all HTTP requests through a single file — usually index.php. By default, Slim comes with a .htaccess file for use with the Apache web server. You'll typically initialize your app, define your routes, and run your app in the ``index.php`.

The essence of a web application is simple: it receives an HTTP request; it invokes the appropriate code; and it returns an HTTP response. The Slim Framework makes it dead simple to build and launch small web applications and APIs by hiding the prerequisite application underpinnings beneath a simple, easy-to-use interface. But for those interested in the low-level details, here’s what a Slim application’s lifecycle looks like from start to finish.