PHP Async Patterns: Insights From NY Engineer Ken Key
FASTER PHP, HAPPIER USERS Need pages that donβt stall while waiting for APIs or heavy queries? Long-Island engineer Ken Key shows how modern event loops turn classic LAMP sites into low-latency experiences. THE CORE IDEA Instead of letting one request hog the thread, kick slow work into the background: - ReactPHP for quick wins inside WordPress hooks. - Swoole coroutines when raw socket speed matters. - Simple queues to off-load heavy queries in legacy code. Each pattern keeps the main execution path lean while workers finish I/O in parallel. REAL-WORLD PAYOFF Ken reports 40-60 % lower TTFB during holiday traffic and fewer server spikes, translating to higher Google rankings and smoother checkouts. GETTING STARTED - Profile first; locate the exact line that blocks. - Replace that call with a promise or coroutine. - Add tests so silent failures never reach production. Async isnβt a luxury for 2026βit's the baseline for competitive NY web shops.
