Update Composer install section, let links use https

_posts/04-02-01-Composer-and-Packagist.md

@@ -6,20 +6,20 @@ anchor:  composer_and_packagist
 
 ## Composer and Packagist {#composer_and_packagist_title}
 
-Composer is a **brilliant** dependency manager for PHP. List your project's dependencies in a `composer.json` file and,
+Composer is the recommended dependency manager for PHP. List your project's dependencies in a `composer.json` file and,
 with a few simple commands, Composer will automatically download your project's dependencies and setup autoloading for
 you. Composer is analogous to NPM in the node.js world, or Bundler in the Ruby world.
 
-There are already a lot of PHP libraries that are compatible with Composer, ready to be used in your project. These
+There is a plethora of PHP libraries that are compatible with Composer and ready to be used in your project. These
 "packages" are listed on [Packagist], the official repository for Composer-compatible PHP libraries.
 
 ### How to Install Composer
 
-The safest way to download composer is by [following the official instructions](https://getcomposer.org/download/).   
-This will verify the installer is not corrupt or tampered with.  
-The installer installs Composer *locally*, in your current working directory.
+The safest way to download composer is by [following the official instructions](https://getcomposer.org/download/).
+This will verify the installer is not corrupt or tampered with.
+The installer installs a `composer.phar` binary in your _current working directory_.
 
-We recommend installing it *globally* (e.g. a single copy in /usr/local/bin) - to do so, run this afterwards:
+We recommend installing Composer *globally* (e.g. a single copy in `/usr/local/bin`). To do so, run this command next:
 
 {% highlight console %}
 mv composer.phar /usr/local/bin/composer
@@ -35,42 +35,10 @@ For Windows users the easiest way to get up and running is to use the [ComposerS
 performs a global install and sets up your `$PATH` so that you can just call `composer` from any
 directory in your command line.
 
-### How to Install Composer (manually)
-
-Manually installing Composer is an advanced technique; however, there are various reasons why a 
-developer might prefer this method vs. using the interactive installation routine. The interactive
-installation checks your PHP installation to ensure that:
-
-- a sufficient version of PHP is being used
-- `.phar` files can be executed correctly
-- certain directory permissions are sufficient
-- certain problematic extensions are not loaded
-- certain `php.ini` settings are set
-
-Since a manual installation performs none of these checks, you have to decide whether the trade-off is 
-worth it for you. As such, below is how to obtain Composer manually:
-
-{% highlight console %}
-curl -s https://getcomposer.org/composer.phar -o $HOME/local/bin/composer
-chmod +x $HOME/local/bin/composer
-{% endhighlight %}
-
-The path `$HOME/local/bin` (or a directory of your choice) should be in your `$PATH` environment 
-variable. This will result in a `composer` command being available.
-
-When you come across documentation that states to run Composer as `php composer.phar install`, you can
-substitute that with:
-
-{% highlight console %}
-composer install
-{% endhighlight %}
-
-This section will assume you have installed composer globally.
-
 ### How to Define and Install Dependencies
 
 Composer keeps track of your project's dependencies in a file called `composer.json`. You can manage it
-by hand if you like, or use Composer itself. The `composer require` command adds a project dependency 
+by hand if you like, or use Composer itself. The `composer require` command adds a project dependency
 and if you don't have a `composer.json` file, one will be created. Here's an example that adds [Twig]
 as a dependency of your project.
 
@@ -80,14 +48,14 @@ composer require twig/twig:~1.8
 
 Alternatively, the `composer init` command will guide you through creating a full `composer.json` file
 for your project. Either way, once you've created your `composer.json` file you can tell Composer to
-download and install your dependencies into the `vendor/` directory. This also applies to projects 
+download and install your dependencies into the `vendor/` directory. This also applies to projects
 you've downloaded that already provide a `composer.json` file:
 
 {% highlight console %}
 composer install
 {% endhighlight %}
 
-Next, add this line to your application's primary PHP file; this will tell PHP to use Composer's 
+Next, add this line to your application's primary PHP file; this will tell PHP to use Composer's
 autoloader for your project dependencies.
 
 {% highlight php %}
@@ -100,14 +68,14 @@ Now you can use your project dependencies, and they'll be autoloaded on demand.
 ### Updating your dependencies
 
 Composer creates a file called `composer.lock` which stores the exact version of each package it
-downloaded when you first ran `composer install`. If you share your project with others, 
-ensure the `composer.lock` file is included, so that when they run `composer install` they'll 
-get the same versions as you.  To update your dependencies, run `composer update`. Don't use 
-`composer update` when deploying, only `composer install`, otherwise you may end up with different 
+downloaded when you first ran `composer install`. If you share your project with others,
+ensure the `composer.lock` file is included, so that when they run `composer install` they'll
+get the same versions as you.  To update your dependencies, run `composer update`. Don't use
+`composer update` when deploying, only `composer install`, otherwise you may end up with different
 package versions on production.
 
 This is most useful when you define your version requirements flexibly. For instance, a version
-requirement of `~1.8` means "anything newer than `1.8.0`, but less than `2.0.x-dev`". You can also use 
+requirement of `~1.8` means "anything newer than `1.8.0`, but less than `2.0.x-dev`". You can also use
 the `*` wildcard as in `1.8.*`. Now Composer's `composer update` command will upgrade all your
 dependencies to the newest version that fits the restrictions you define.
 
@@ -125,7 +93,7 @@ file and tell you if you need to update any of your dependencies.
 ### Handling global dependencies with Composer
 
 Composer can also handle global dependencies and their binaries. Usage is straight-forward, all you need
-to do is prefix your command with `global`. If for example you wanted to install PHPUnit and have it 
+to do is prefix your command with `global`. If for example you wanted to install PHPUnit and have it
 available globally, you'd run the following command:
 
 {% highlight console %}
@@ -133,14 +101,14 @@ composer global require phpunit/phpunit
 {% endhighlight %}
 
 This will create a `~/.composer` folder where your global dependencies reside. To have the installed
-packages' binaries available everywhere, you'd then add the `~/.composer/vendor/bin` folder to your 
+packages' binaries available everywhere, you'd then add the `~/.composer/vendor/bin` folder to your
 `$PATH` variable.
 
 * [Learn about Composer]
 
-[Packagist]: http://packagist.org/
-[Twig]: http://twig.sensiolabs.org
+[Packagist]: https://packagist.org/
+[Twig]: https://twig.symfony.com/
 [VersionEye]: https://www.versioneye.com/
 [Security Advisories Checker]: https://security.sensiolabs.org/
-[Learn about Composer]: http://getcomposer.org/doc/00-intro.md
+[Learn about Composer]: https://getcomposer.org/doc/00-intro.md
 [ComposerSetup]: https://getcomposer.org/Composer-Setup.exe