Reading a Git repository, without Git

Question

I'm researching the idea of building a super-small (preferably PHP) web app, which will serve (among other things) as a minimal front-end to a git repository.

Any library/article for reading a git repository (".git" folder) without having to execute the "git" process? I'm looking for an API to manage a git repository. I'm only interested in basic functions, such as reading last commits (name of commiter, commit note, date), displaying and traversing branches...

Thanks, ANaimi

Answer 1

Would this (git API documents) be of any help?

Here's a list of resources about extending php (i.e. to to provide wrappers around other library code):

• extending php - an overview
• writing php extension modules in C
• PHP extension writing
• writing extensions
• Practical PHP Programming:Writing extensions
• Extending PHP: examples
• Writing a PHP Extension
• Extension Writing Part I: Introduction to PHP and Zend
• Zend API: Hacking the Core of PHP
• PHP at the Core: A Hacker's Guide to the Zend Engine
• Creating a PHP5 Extension with MS VC++ 2005
• Writing a PHP Extension (C++)

Also, these would seem relevant, too:

• git-php
• git library?
• Pure-Python Git Library
• Git library?
• libgit2 - a true git library & libgit2 source code at GitHub
• php-git, a libgit2 binding
• ActionScript3 git library

Answer 2

You may also want to check out the Cgit project since they've done something similar (except they build their own git library -- also to avoid running git directly).

There's JGit, a pure Java implementation, that may be useful to you.

Answer 3

Try also glip, a pure php implementation of git, which was extracted from eWiki.

Answer 4

I think that best start in such case could be Interfaces Frontends And Tools page on Git Wiki.
You can find there link to eWiki (github) which supposedly uses native (in PHP) access to Git.