The YUI PHP Loader is a server-side utility for loading YUI JavaScript and CSS; version 1.0.0 beta 1 is available for download from YUILibrary.com today.

PHP Loader, originally written by longtime YUI engineer Adam Moore and now developed and maintained by fellow Yahoo Chad Auld, has several key features that make it easier to use YUI in PHP-based applications:

• Reliable, sorted loading of dependencies: You specify the version of YUI that you’re using, the modules you want to use, and PHP Loader outputs the requisite script and css tags for your implementation. Even if YUI’s dependency tree changes in a future version, your code won’t have to.
• Support for performance best-practices: PHP Loader has three strategies to help you reduce HTTP requests — support for the Yahoo! CDN and its combo-handler (which aggregates YUI files into single HTTP requests on the fly), support for YUI’s rollup files, and (in the event you don’t want to serve YUI from Yahoo!’s servers) a lightweight combo-handler of its own. Server-side performance is fast as well, leveraging PHP’s APC cache.
• Extensible metadata format: YUI PHP Loader ships with YUI library metadata (for both YUI 2 and YUI 3); however, the application is generic and can be extended to support your own custom JavaScript and CSS modules — whether or not they use YUI at all.