PHP code styling and refactoring, choosing a paradigm and coding style

30.06.18 IT / PHP 4417

Writing well-formed and concise PHP code is a talent that can be learned over time. This is important because it says a lot about the developer level. This, for example, includes the same indentation and consistent naming style throughout your code. This is all called Code Style PHP .

Novice developers, as a rule, do not observe any uniformity of writing code, when you look at such code, you want to close it as soon as possible. Writing code requires a creative approach, you also need to develop a common coding style for yourself in advance and stick to it at all times. An exception may be projects that have their own coding style and need to adhere to it.

In order to learn how to write good code in PHP, yes, by the way, in any programming language, you must first look at examples on the official website, where you can also find conventions on programming styles. You can read various articles on these topics, compare several such articles at once, and also look at large successful PHP projects . For example, various popular CMS and frameworks. Pay attention to how the functions existing in the language are written, this can serve as an example of correct writing of the code. After all this, you need to try in practice, as it will be most convenient for you to write.

From time to time, a developer may hesitate and revise his coding style . But, the more experience, the less hesitation, the developer confidently uses his style.

There are various options for writing entities (variables or fields of a class, functions or methods - depending on the paradigm). For example, you can write in Java style or JavaScript, in which case the variable will look like this - $ myExample , and the function - getExample () ... Or you can stick with PHP - write $ my_example and get_example () . Here the choice is up to the developer.

A separate topic is PHP code refactoring . Refactoring consists in revising the already written code, changing the style of its writing - renaming variables, functions, etc. Refactoring can take a long time, so it is best to write nice and concise code right away.

As for the choice of a programming paradigm in PHP , then they usually proceed from the tasks set. The most popular paradigm at the present time is OOP , that is, object-oriented programming. Before that, another paradigm was popular, procedural programming. The advantage of OOP is that you can reuse a lot of code, the system being developed looks like a whole. The procedural approach is useful when you need to solve a small problem, write a snippet, etc.

So, it is important to format your code correctly, it says a lot about the developer's level, and also makes it easy to understand the code for both you and those who will maintain it.