E-commerce is one of the industries that is seeing enormous growth since the latest technology revolution. We are now able to shop online for anything in the world and have it delivered to our door with just a few clicks. Whether it’s from a mobile, tablet, or PC, online shopping is set to continue in growth.
This has its advantages for those running an e-commerce website. Today’s technology allows site owners to offer highly personalized service and extremely efficient databases that hold massive amounts of data and improve a company’s organization.
PHP is a great tool for the development of sophisticated, robust e-commerce websites. HTML and CSS can be used to create an inviting storefront and to enhance the user experience, PHP will integrate multiple payment gateways.
PHP is still one of the most popular programming languages in the world with over 20 million websites using it. If you are thinking about turning your expertise to PHP, here are 6 things you should know:
- Core PHP Functions
PHP is a marvelous tool for that is logical and makes life easier with the list of PHP functions being one of the most effective tools for accomplished PHP developers. There is a range of predefined PHP functions to use as you code. PHP functions can be used numerous times and there are over a thousand types of built-in PHP functions. You can enjoy using fewer codes as the same logic can be used over and over again. This is an excellent time-saver and allows for superior productivity.
- The Master Configuration File
With PHP, you can create one master file with multiple database connections. Rather than database connections spreading across the whole coding, you can benefit from just one master file that has various databases attached. You just have to make changes in your master file to see them in the code you want to be altered, which is a great help if you want to use the same functions with different scripts. The configuration of a master file allows your program to be more compatible and another way to save time.
- Use Error Reporting While You are Developing
In order to decipher exactly where errors arise from, you should keep you error reporting running. You will be able to sport the errors and rectify them by identifying the origin. At the same time, you don’t want the error message to be seen by the user, so you should stick to the following two rules:
- Allow the error message to be displayed on the developer’s PC to identify and fix errors while coding.
- Do not allow for error display messages on a live website as this may confuse users and also open the site up to hacks
You can turn this feature on or off from the server’sphp.ini file.
- A Favorable Level of Code Documentation
Adding comments to code is a great way of making notes that will help you in the future, but it is easy to over-document and this leads to complications. Lengthy documentation is hard to follow. Instead, keep your comments to the more complex code, ideally on selective complicated lines. Short, sharp comments will assist in reminding you of the entire code. Another alternative is to change the code so that it is simpler and therefore, more efficient.
- Keeping Code Snippets
On many occasions, you will need to use the same codes multiple times as a PHP developer. Today, there are plenty of apps that will keep code snippets so that you can save time by reusing them. Making use of your code snippets aids in the process of synchronization. Look at apps like Snippely and Snipplr are popular solutions. You will find environments that have built-in features that will store the code that you use regularly. Even Dropbox can be used to store code snippets that contain PHP scripts.
- A Quality Source Editor Will Save You Time
A decent source editor will assist you in highlighting syntax, code hinting, and code navigation. It will also help with the simultaneous error finding and debugging. These features are all ways of improving your efficiency. It’s advisable to check the documentation of source editors so that you can get the most out of their features.
In Conclusion
As with most programming languages, a solid understanding of the basics will allow you to smoothly transition onto the more advanced features that will help with your efficiency and enhanced results. Talking to other PHP developers and exchanging ideas is a great way to tap into the PHP skills of others, so look at joining a community. Regardless of the stage of your career, it is essential to keep your PHP skills up to date.
PHP is both free and open-source and this adds to its popularity. As more and more people turn to PHP for their websites, the demand for specialized PHP developers is going to increase, making it a prosperous future for both PHP employees and employers.
