Sport events reservation platform - from Java to PHP with Love...

We have completed a complex deployment of recoding an online web application from Java into PHP.

A few words about Slotmarket:

Slotmarket is a platform that enables the registration of sports events. Competitors can choose from dozens of events. Thanks to the available tools organizers and service suppliers may use the website to sell participation kits and a variety of services.

A few more words about Slotmarket:

• It’s a place for competitors – event registration,
• It’s a place for organizers – sale of participation kits,
• It’s a place for businesses – sale of services on the website and during registration,
• It has 40 000+ users,
• It records 700 000+ hits a year.

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The move from Java to PHP…

Due to system development difficulties, Sport Evolution has decided on the migration of the platform to a more popular and cost-effective technology.

Java is undeniably an excellent choice for large corporate online systems, but in the case of Slotmarket, the following aspects were also important:

- Quick implementation of new functionalities,
- Easy access to specialists - Java is more "corporate" and it's harder to find smaller agencies that use Java in their technology stack,
- Reducing costs of development. There's simply no comparison in this area - PHP is much cheaper than Java.

Technical aspects

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In Direktpoint you can call us the old hands at what we do, we stick to PHP and we are happy with it. PHP 7.0 and later versions gave the coding community a huge boost in speed and functionality. PHP will be around and it's not going anywhere anytime soon. Dealing with this particular project we have decided to go with a tried and tested tandem of framework Yii 2.0 and PostgreSQL database.

We decided to use the Yii 2.0 for its high performance and lightness, and its advanced support of cache mechanisms which makes it suitable for creating complex and fast applications.

PostgreSQL was used in the pre-migration application - it ensures hybridity, a clear system of rules, and advanced indexing.

Thanks to the work done at Direktpoint, the client was given the opportunity to introduce payment methods more convenient for users, a complex commission system (payment for an event, can be distributed up to 10 outside business workflows), and integrations with external APIs (including insurance, licenses, accounting, etc).

Due to the numerous dependencies between users in the system and an extensive database, it was a demanding, but very rewarding project​.

Ensuring the consistency of data after migration to a new environment full of new functionalities was not an easy task. The team had a few sleepless nights before the launch...

Wojtek Rojek. Direktpoint

Better UX for users and editors

While coding and testing functionalities, we introduced numerous changes in relation to the original project which made the website more effective and smooth. The difference is noticeable to the users, but above all to the people managing the site at the CMS level, thus saving the client working hours in comparison to the previous system.

Some technical aspects of the implementation:

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• Preparation of the system for integration with partners (API),
• Migration of the code from Java to PHP,
• Migration of databases,
• Payments mechanisms between the partners,
• Scripts for automatic functional tests,
• Stress tests (JMeter),
• Configuring the server environment in the OKTAWAVE cloud for improved online performance.

Are you considering the migration and development of your own system online? Do you have a PHP project to develop/maintain? We can help! Don't hesitate to contact us at brief@direktpoint.com, ​or directly approach Wojtek Rojek (info below).

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Client: Sport Evolution
Launch: June 2018​

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