I’ve read various tips about optimizing PHP code and at first I happily took them in. Later on, having read other points of view, I started to wonder a bit about some of the optimizations and later still I realised that some things are not just dubious but plain wrong. Yes, I’m talking about strings [...]

For a couple of weeks now I’ve been working on refactoring an MVC app in the BeWelcome code I’m working on. The reasons behind the refactoring are that 1) it’s built on an old part of our codebase (yes, we have several separate parts and yes, it’s a nightmare) and 2) it’s using some code [...]

I’ve lately started implementing unit-tests for the BeWelcome codebase and from the get-go it’s been a joy. Well, almost. Spent a little time figuring out how to get the framework working and making it accessible, but after that’s it’s been sweet. Just running the tests gives a basic sort of joy, seeing the dots come [...]

I’ve read many times in many different places written by many different people that learning the programming trade means that when you look back at previous code you wrote, you’ll wince and go ‘Eeeeewwwwww!’. Well, I’ve read something to that effect, maybe not exactly that. Various people (like Jeff Atwood) have written on the notable [...]

A little while ago I came across the following blog posts by John Kleijn at phpfreaks: 10 Signs of Crappy PHP Software 10 Ways to Avoid Writing Crappy Code Both of the posts are good examples of good and bad sides to blogging about developing. First, the good parts: It’s great to have someone list [...]