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Projects and Software by Dean Blackborough

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Open source PHP libraries, Laravel apps, games and half-finished experiments, led by the Costs to Expect API and Prune, a live 2D editor.

This is only a glimpse of the last 30 years, it is the stuff I support and work on and some interesting legacy stuff.

Anything that costs money is tagged Commercial.

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01

Major projects

The two big ones: the open source API behind Costs to Expect, and Prune, a live 2D editor and runtime.

Major project · API

Active

Costs to Expect API

A flexible open source REST API, the backbone of the Costs to Expect service. Designed to track expenses, it has grown to track almost anything. Everything is configurable, from data types and validation to limits, and it is built to be multilingual and to scale. It drives the apps, the website and the Yahtzee and Yatzy game scorers.

API: Costs to Expect API GitHub: Costs to Expect API Docs: Costs to Expect API Changelog: Costs to Expect API
Built with
PHP, Laravel, REST
Started
Apr 2018
Latest release
v3.22.2
Released
30 Sep 2026
GitHub stars
9
Licence
MIT

Major project · Editor + runtime

Experimental

Prune

A C++23 live 2D editor and runtime prototype where the editor stays part of the game. Play and build in the same loop, with SDL2, Dear ImGui and yaml-cpp.

GitHub: Prune Releases: Prune Issues: Prune
Built with
C++23, SDL2, Dear ImGui, yaml-cpp
Started
Apr 2026
Last updated
9 Sep 2026
GitHub stars
3
Licence
MIT

02

Costs to Expect

An expense tracking and forecasting service with an open source API at its heart. The apps and sites below all run on the API above.

costs-to-expect.com

App

Active

Budget

A free, open source, planning-first budgeting app. Manage income, expenses and savings, schedule items monthly or annually, and see your budget projection update instantly. Includes a demo mode, seven currencies and is powered by the Costs to Expect API.

  • Laravel
  • Costs to Expect API
App: Budget GitHub: Budget

Started Jul 2022 v1.15.0 / 13 Sep 2026 1 GitHub stars

App

Commercial Active

Budget Pro

Plan your finances before they happen. A planning-first budgeting app for people who want control before they spend, with multi-month forecasting, multiple budget scenarios, savings goals, bulk editing and a full change history. £89.99 lifetime access with a 30-day free trial, no subscription.

  • Laravel
  • Costs to Expect API
App: Budget Pro

Started May 2023

App

Active

Cashflow

A lightweight Laravel app for tracking cashflow against the Costs to Expect API, with percentage splitting, recurring expenses and reporting periods. Alpha.

  • Laravel
  • Costs to Expect API
GitHub: Cashflow

Started Sep 2026 Updated 26 Sep 2026

Website

Active

The Website

How much does it cost to raise a child in the UK? A long-term project tracking what it costs to raise our children to adulthood, 18.

  • Laravel
  • Costs to Expect API
Website: The Website GitHub: The Website Changelog: The Website

Started Mar 2019 v2.02.0 / 4 Jul 2023 2 GitHub stars

03

Games & experiments

Learning game development in public, a maths quiz for the kids, and game scorers that run on the Costs to Expect API.

App

Active

Yahtzee Game Scorer

Game scoring for Yahtzee, powered by the Costs to Expect API. Proof the API isn’t just for expenses.

  • Laravel
  • Costs to Expect API
App: Yahtzee Game Scorer GitHub: Yahtzee Game Scorer

Started Jun 2022 v1.12.0 / 13 Sep 2026 2 GitHub stars

Starter kit

Active

Godot Platformer

A work-in-progress platformer starter for Godot 4.4+, built as a testbed for learning the engine and a foundation for future games.

  • GDScript
  • Godot 4
GitHub: Godot Platformer

Started Jul 2025 Updated 30 Aug 2025 7 GitHub stars

Starter kit

Active

GameMaker Platformer

A beginner-friendly platformer starter project for GameMaker Studio.

  • GML
  • GameMaker
GitHub: GameMaker Platformer

Started Jul 2024 v0.11.0 / 11 Jan 2025 5 GitHub stars

App

Legacy

Maths Quiz

Small maths quiz app that generates random short division and long multiplication questions for the kids.

  • C++
  • Console
GitHub: Maths Quiz

Started Nov 2021 Updated 6 Dec 2021 2 GitHub stars

04

Libraries & tooling

Small PHP packages and starters I built for my own projects and shared along the way.

05

Archive

Older projects, kept online for reference. Zend Framework 3 and Dlayer live here.

Show 12 archived projects

  • Laravel View Helpers

    Legacy

    General and Bootstrap-specific view helpers for Laravel Blade templates. Starts with pagination.

    v1.00.3 / 30 Jul 2019 1 GitHub stars

    GitHub: Laravel View Helpers Changelog: Laravel View Helpers

  • Bootstrap 4 Helpers

    Legacy

    Standalone wrapper classes for the Bootstrap 4 view helpers in ZF3 View Helpers, usable in any PHP site.

    v0.04 / 21 Jan 2018 1 GitHub stars

    GitHub: Bootstrap 4 Helpers

  • PHP/MySQL Docker Quick Start

    Legacy

    A starting point for a PHP/MySQL web app using Docker for local development. It echoes phpinfo() and nothing else.

    v0.01 / 22 Apr 2018

    GitHub: PHP/MySQL Docker Quick Start

  • Random Grab Bag

    Legacy

    Utility classes that don’t deserve their own package: an image resizer and an Excel parser.

    v0.07 / 10 Dec 2017 1 GitHub stars

    GitHub: Random Grab Bag

  • Holiday Expenses

    Archived

    Small app that talks to the Costs to Expect API to track holiday expenses.

    v1.00.0 / 15 Nov 2018

    GitHub: Holiday Expenses

  • Costs to Expect Data Collector

    Archived

    The original web app for entering expenses into the Costs to Expect API.

    Updated 17 Dec 2019

    GitHub: Costs to Expect Data Collector

  • Zend Framework 3 View Helpers

    Archived

    View helpers for Zend Framework 3, mainly Bootstrap 3 and 4 components.

    v1.02.2 / 15 May 2018 9 GitHub stars

    GitHub: Zend Framework 3 View Helpers

  • ZF3 View Helpers Code Completion

    Archived

    IDE code completion for Zend Framework view helpers.

    v1.07.0 / 20 Jan 2018 3 GitHub stars

    GitHub: ZF3 View Helpers Code Completion

  • Dlayer

    Archived

    An open source responsive web development tool aimed at people with limited design or development experience.

    v1.17 / 13 Sep 2017 3 GitHub stars

    GitHub: Dlayer

  • Dlayer vNext

    Archived

    The migration of Dlayer to Zend Framework 3. Never released.

    Updated 15 Jan 2018 1 GitHub stars

    GitHub: Dlayer vNext

  • Dlayer View Helpers

    Archived

    Custom ZF3 view helpers built for Dlayer vNext, possibly useful elsewhere with minor changes.

    v1.00.0 / 18 Oct 2017

    GitHub: Dlayer View Helpers

  • Prune2D

    Archived

    An earlier attempt at a C++ 2D game engine. Superseded by Prune.

    v0.8.0 / 1 Jun 2022 2 GitHub stars

    GitHub: Prune2D