Is it possible to hide/encode/encrypt php source code and let others have the system?

encryption, obfuscation, php

Solution

Yes, you can definitely hide/encode/encrypt the php source code and 'others' can install it on their machine. You could use the below tools to achieve the same.

- Zend Guard

- IonCube

- SourceGuardian

- phpSHIELD

- phpBolt (free)

But these 'others' can also decode/decrypt the source code using other tools and services found online. So you cannot 100% protect your code, what you can do is, make it tougher for someone to reverse engineer your code.

Most of these tools above support Encoding and Obfuscating.

- Encoding will hide your code by encrypting it.

- Obfuscating will make your code difficult to understand.

You can choose to use both (Encoding and Obfuscating) or either one, depending on your needs.

Problem

Original source