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Top PHP Development Tips for Creating Better Functional Websites

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Jack Dsouja
Top PHP Development Tips for Creating Better Functional Websites

PHP remains one of the most popular and flexible web development platforms for more than a decade now. There had been many versions of PHP, but the combination of PHP and MySQL remained the favorite of many conventional as well as new-generation web programmers.

However, like branding services, web development is a constantly changing cranny, and it is essential for the developers and designers to keep themselves updated with the latest tips and trends of the industry to stay ahead in the competition. Adapting to new technology and using new methodologies will not only help to develop more functional websites for the eCommerce development company, but it will also help to gain some significant market advantages too. Without much ado, let’s get into the latest tips and tricks of PHP development.

1) Count on OOP

If you haven’t yet tried out the Object-Oriented Programming concepts, then you are the wrong track and falling largely behind. OOP is an innovative approach to programming with the use of classes and objects, which are used to tie things together. This will eradicate the need for repetitive coding and help perform the basic programming tasks with simplicity.

Objects are essentially the classes that collect a set of functions and wrap them together to be reused for a similar purpose at a later stage. The programmers need not have to rewrite the functionality or the procedures each time when they have to achieve the programmatic output.

This procedural approach to programming tools will work by following the routine of programming from top to bottom of every page as the server reads the files. In the object-oriented approach, there can be a collection of preset objects which are instantiated, and could further form new and thus thousands of such objects which can perform any needed tasks based on the variables.

Object-oriented programming is found too much simpler, faster, and also much easier to debug. It uses very fewer server resources only compared to conventional hard-coded applications, consist of only secondary code, and so loads faster. The logic is also made, and it becomes easy for anyone to understand the basic principles of application development at a later stage. So, you can change the style of PHP web development forever by changing to OOPS.

2) Develop with error reporting on

The primary thing any developer do while beginning with a new project is to turn the error reporting mode to ‘E_ALL.' Later, it will be turned off only a few seconds before the project gets into the production model. All established developers do the same with each project they handle.

There is nothing better for a developer than running projects in full production mode, and there is no better way to run a project in production mode and don't get any errors. Along with this, having the error report on, you can pick even the small errors which will ultimately grow up and eat you up as a whole. So, it is ideal for developing in PHP always with the errors reporting on to avoid the chance of any breakage while into production. This is one of the right PHP development practices suggested by many experts.

3) Use an appropriate framework when needed

Frameworks can help you to simplify the tedious things. However, you need to understand the real way in which the frameworks function in order to make use of them. Otherwise, the purpose of using the framework will not be met if using them tend to make things more complicated for you.

With the use of a good framework, you stand only lesser chances to use bad codes as someone else had already written most of the codes for you. There are a few good frameworks to be tried out with PHP development, which makes the tasks easier and quicker for the developers when used effectively.

4) Make the most out of PHP's in-built functions

You know how to count the number of keys in an array, right? You may loop through arrays and then increment value for each of the iteration. Instead of this, there is also a smart way to do this is by simply using the in-built PHP function of ‘count().' This does the same things as you programmatically achieve, but with a far lesser effort and time of the programmer. There are many such built-in functions in PHP, which the programmers need to leverage as and when needed. You can check the manual and need to learn it at the first point to ensure that you are making use of those in the best possible ways to save time and money.

5) Draw things out before coding

A standard practice of expert PHP developers is first to get a wireframe for the projects. They at least tend to scribble down some notes and to have a clear blueprint of the codes they are going to accomplish.

It is imperative to give some in-depth thought to the mechanics of the application you are planning to build before starting to code. The process planning for programming will actually iron out many difficulties and logic blocks in your head. You will find things much free-flowing while into coding with a clear blueprint in hand.

6) Protect the database

The best possible way to do this is to use them for your databases before getting added. This will make all strings of the database safer in terms of the quotes and the functions which may otherwise harm your database. Ensure doing this to protect your data at the first point. Another alternative in terms of data protection is to validate all the POST and the GET strings without using the $_REQUEST. Also makes sure that all the data through form submission follows the right value and type before getting added to the database queries.

If one thing which we may have probably missed out saying to anyone who reads is that you cannot become a good coder by just reading tips. You cannot also become a successful PHP developer by simply watching someone else coding. For this, you need to consistently code, code, and fine-tune your skills and expertise. Build whatever you like, and you will find the excitement in doing this if you are a real enthusiastic coder. You will learn through this way and work hard to make it better over time.

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