PHP

Why You’re a Bad PHP Programmer

Your first instinct might be to assume that the guy who built the project is a novice, or maybe he’s just an idiot. But that’s not always the case.

My theory is that awful code is the accumulation of multiple small shortcuts or concessions — just as often as it’s the product of inexperience or stupidity. This makes the Temple of Doom app much scarier, because whoever built it might be just as smart, savvy, and well-read as you are. They just got lazy or put things together in a rush, and each of those little shortcuts added up into the winding nightmare that just fell in your lap.

Even scarier, this could mean that at some point, someone inherited your code and immediately burst into tears

You Don’t Plan Before You Start Coding

Before you write a single line of code, you should have a solid plan of attack. This helps keep you on track and avoids wandering code that will confuse you later, not to mention some other poor soul.

One approach that has saved me time — both in development and in commenting — is to write an outline in comments first:

You’re Better Than That, Baby!

It never hurts to reexamine your current practices and make sure you’re not taking any shortcuts that could be contributing to someone else’s lost sleep.

Let’s take a few minutes and go over some common shortcuts, concessions, and other bad practices to ensure that our projects aren’t striking fear into the hearts of the villagers.