Is there a "right" way to use php?

Question

I have been learning php, by just plugging away at it.

I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction in regards to security, flow and general best practices?

Thanks.

edit--

I suppose a better way to phrase what i am trying to ask is.. What is the best practice:
1.) when processing forms with php, get vs post, $_REQUEST vs $_GET & $_POST
2.) when dynamically creating HTML files (example below)
3.) logins & authentication in the same file as the form creator
4.) Sending e-mail with php

From #2 above

<?php
echo "<h1> Welcome </h1>";

if ($_SESSION['type'] == "admin")
{
//lots of html in the echo statment
echo "tables and admin interface here";
} else
{
//lots of html in the echo statment
echo "tables and user dashboard here";
}
?>

--VS--


<h1> Welcome </h1>

<?php
if ($_SESSION['type'] == "admin")
{
 ?>
lots of html in the echo statment    
tables and admin interface here 
<?php
} else
{
 ?>
lots of html in the echo statment    
ables and user dashboard here    
<?php
}
?>

--VS-- 

<?php if($_SESSION['username']): ?>

<p>You are logged in as <?=$_SESSION['username']?></p>

<p><a href="?logout=1">Logout</a></p>

<?php endif; ?>

ps: Thanks to everyone who already responded. Can I also inquire where does a framework fit? I took a class in OOP and we didn't become familiar with any frameworks.

I read lot on the Symfony and zend frameworks but am still confused.

thanks again.

Answer 1

Good programming is irrelevant of language. I suggest you start studying software development concepts such as object oriented programming, design patterns, separation of concerns, reuse, encapsulation, testing and refactoring. Start at any of those and keep "plugging" away at the list and you will get better.

PHP specific - learn the accepted coding standard, such as PEAR's or Zend's. After you've assimilated some of the concepts, pick up a good reference such as one of the top frameworks mentioned in the other answers - Zend Framework, CakePHP, Symfony among others.

Answer 2

The PHP community has never really been strong at offering up any development guidelines or advocating best practices. In the pre-framework days typical php code written by most devs was very amateurish and disorganized - see the Wordpress source code. But PHP is a good language for web apps. It was made for the web and you can write good professional code with it if you want to. It's trendy to bash it but disregard that stuff.

Anyway, like the others have said here your best bet is to use a framework. Being a newbie, it will be important for you to pick a framework that is well documented and has a strong community to help you get over the hump. Here's my rundown of the major php frameworks:

• Kohana => a good one but poorly documented with a weak community. skip it.
• Zend => the most popular framework for php w/good docs but another poor performer as it's overdone with objects and patterns in an attempt to be overly enterprisey.
• Cake & Symfony => are 1st generation php frameworks and also have a rep for poor performance. I'd skip both. A new version of symfony is in the works but not ready.
• Lithium => cutting edge new framework led by one of the Cake devs. using php 5.3 and claims to be fast. BUT, not at v.1 yet & also have poor docs at this point => http://li3.me.

Codeigniter => popular, fast, good docs and community. very easy to learn. v2.0 hasn't officially been released but is ready for production use and is php5 only. You can use the same documentation that is on the CI site for v1.7. The versions are very similar except 2.0 drops php 4 support finally. here is the download for 2.0: http://bitbucket.org/ellislab/codeigniter/

YII => Really gaining momentum despite it's goofy name. It's a fast performer with GREAT documentation and a ton of features. A new book is out too. The community is so-so but growing. This framework imo takes a lot from rails. There a web-based code generation tool and it uses active record. http://yiiframework.com/

you can build apps a lot quicker with YII due to the code-gen and active record but it will be a bit harder to learn than CI. You may find it getting in your way a bit more too as you try to do everything the YII way. CI is more flexible - gives you the foundation you need w/o getting in your way. So for now i'd recommend codeigniter.

good luck!

Answer 3

Use a freely available framework such as:

• Zend Framework
• CakePHP
• CodeIgniter (See comments)
• Kohana (From @Alex's answer)

and follow the standards specified by that framework.