PHP development is hot right now, but there are also lots of people in PHP development. If you want to make it as an independent PHP developer you’ve got to know more than just PHP. Here are some essential skills you need to succeed as a PHP developer.

Frequently Use Comments

It can be frustrating when you look back at old code and cannot remember what it was for. Using comments effectively will give your code a clearly defined purpose and help you to recall things that would otherwise be forgotten. Comments can also help others that read your code to quickly ascertain what it is designed to accomplish. By writing clear comments and technical specs, it increases the readability of the code.

Name, Variables Meaningfully

Your variable names should always be meaningful to you. If you are using a variable as an integer try beginning its name with an ‘I’. This will make the purpose of the variable obvious at first glance. Name variable such that, other php developerscan understand your code better.

Use Constants

It is counter-productive to repeatedly re-write the same thing over and over again. Constants can be used to store data that is needed frequently throughout your code. Error messages, directory paths, and other recurring information could be called upon quickly and easily in this way.

Replace Functions with Objects

Functions that have lots of parameters can make a project unnecessarily complex. When functions get unwieldy, requiring you to change all of your calls, then it’s time to use an object instead. In PHP object-oriented programming use objects and classes to skip the repetition of code and perform the code in a much simpler way. With PHP’s OOPs programming the code runs faster, is easy to debug, and utilizes less server resources. PHP follows OOPS concepts and so as a developer one should know the OOPS Concepts and how to use them.

Don’t Repeat Code

Any code that has to be repeated throughout your project should be contained in an object or function. It may seem like extra work at first, but when your project gets more complex you will save yourself some headaches. PHP developer should learn multiple programming paradigms such as object-oriented programming, functional programming etcetera, to avoid repeating code.

Use Separate Configuration

Files Configuration settings should not be placed in your script file. Always use a separate configuration document that is then included in the beginning of the script. You will avoid having to edit every page due to a small configuration change.