Add daily email for 02/05/25

source/_daily_emails/2025-05-02.md

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+---
+title: Extending Sculpin with PHP
+date: 2025-05-02
+permalink: daily/2025/05/02/extend
+tags:
+  - software-development
+  - php
+  - sculpin
+  - static-site-generators
+cta: ~
+snippet: |
+  I like the Sculpin static site generator, namely because as a PHP Developer, it's easy for me to extend and add custom functionality to.
+---
+
+I like the [Sculpin static site generator][0] - a tool I've used for various personal and client projects where a full content management system like Drupal isn't need.
+
+It's written in PHP and uses several Symfony components, including Twig for templating.
+
+These are the same as Drupal and, of course, the Symfony framework. Two tools I'm very familiar with.
+
+A big reason why I decided to learn Sculpin in 2015 was to learn Twig and other Drupal 8 concepts before it was released.
+
+You don't need to write PHP code to use Sculpin, but you can easily extend it with PHP code if you need to.
+
+You can write custom service classes - the same as in Drupal or Symfony - and move complex logic there and out of your template files.
+
+This also means you can write automated tests with PHPUnit.
+
+I've added `src` and `tests` directories to [my website repository][1], which contain my custom Twig extensions that add new functions for counting the number of presentations I've given and my years of experience.
+
+There are a lot of choices for static site generators, including several PHP-based ones, but the familiarity and customisability of Sculpin make it a good choice for me.
+
+[0]: {{site.url}}/presentations/sculpin
+[1]: https://code.oliverdavies.uk/opdavies/oliverdavies.uk/src/commit/f21bb125c5b01a9e5cd572c77dca0e8d5cc13849