1) Convert to OOP

If you have not yet started working on Object-Oriented Programming, it is a significant flaw of the times, and you are surely falling behind. OOP is a programming strategy which uses objects and classes which tie things together and eradicate the need for repeating codes. It ultimately speeds up the development process and makes product simpler. Objects are essential classes which gather a bunch of functions and wrap them to be reused at various other places during programming for similar requirements.

The working principle of procedural programming is to follow a routine from top to bottom of every page as server reads each file. In case of OOP, there can be only one or two objects getting instantiated over hundreds or thousands of objects which may perform specific tasks based on the variables passed objects. OOP is much simpler, faster, and easier to debug also. Moreover, it uses only fewer server resource, less code, and fast loading.

2) Avoid anything ends with _once()

As developers know, include() will give us a warning when it fails whereas require() may kill the script if there is a fatal error on failing. What we should keep in mind is that require_once() and include_once() acts extremely hard on the server resources. That is how PHP works, and we do not have much to do about it. One should keep in mind that these may kill the server resource on huge frameworks especially. If you plan your codes, then there is no need for it.

3) Keep error reporting on

That is the very first thing you should do while starting a new project. Turn on the error reporting to the E_ALL. You have to deactivate it only a few seconds before changing to the production mode. It is good to run a projection if production mode and not having errors. As per Tayloright experts, with error reporting on, you can also pick up even the little mistakes which will eventually grow up to break your application altogether.

4) Use appropriate frameworks when needed

There may be a few expert developers saying that you must not use any framework as it might make it slower than generic PHP codes. However, this is not always true. Frameworks may sometimes help you to achieve tedious tasks in a moment, Frameworks function at first to make things simpler, but that is the only trade-off; however, there is no chance of you writing a bad code while someone else had already done it and tested.

5) Use the inbuilt PHP function

To count the keys in an array, you can loop through it and just a value in each iteration. Alternatively, you can also use the inbuilt PHP function “count(),” which can efficiently do what it is intended to do. There are a lot of inbuilt features in PHP which can do what you want them to. So, it is advisable even for the expert PHP developers to go through the manual and ensure that you are adopting the best possible way.

6) Protect the database

A database is an essential resource for other business resources at this age. The safest possible way to protect database is to use the ‘mysql_real_escape_string()’ before databases getting added. It is a function that makes the strings safe from the quotes or other functions which may harm your database. Using it will be the first step in terms of protecting the data.

Another thing you can do parallel to it is to validate every GET and POST strings and also avoid using the $_REQUEST. It is advisable to thing sure that all the data through form submission is of the right type.

7) Use POST and not GET

It may not always be possible, but when it is not necessary, instead of using GET, you can use POST. The objective is simple since GET is easy to emulate, and all you need to do is add something to the address bar to hack the project. GET is identified as the easiest way to pagination, by during submission, it is safer to use POST.

8) Design before you code

The ideal practice is to wireframe the projects even if you are doing only minimal tasks. It is okay just to scribble some notes on a piece of paper to draw it out, but this is important to give you precise thought about what you are going to do before sitting for coding. In the process of custom planning, you will be able to identify and iron out the possible difficulties which you may otherwise come face to face while at work.

In fact, you cannot become a good developer just by reading. You cannot also become a successful developer by just seeing someone else doing coding. The only tested method to become a seasoned coder is to write code. So, make use of these tips and build real things to know how it works the best for you.

Author bio: Maria Jones is a successful web developer who was into PHP from its initial phase onwards. She used to write blogs at Tayloright about the latest updated in web development, especially in light of the changing trends in PHP development.

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