PHP Best Practices

1. Use PHP Standards Recommendations (PSR)

Follow PSR standards for coding style, autoloading, and more. This ensures consistency and improves code readability.

// Example of PSR-1 and PSR-2 compliant code
namespace Vendor\Package;

class ClassName
{
    public function fooBarBaz($arg1, &$arg2, $arg3 = [])
    {
        // method body
    }
}

2. Use Composer for Dependency Management

Composer is the de facto standard for PHP dependency management. Use it to manage your project's dependencies.

// Example composer.json
{
    "require": {
        "monolog/monolog": "^2.0"
    }
}

3. Implement Error Handling

Use try-catch blocks to handle exceptions and errors gracefully.

try {
    // Some code that might throw an exception
    $result = $dangerousOperation();
} catch (Exception $e) {
    // Handle the exception
    error_log($e->getMessage());
    // Optionally, show a user-friendly message
}

4. Use Type Hinting and Return Type Declarations

Improve code reliability by using type hinting and return type declarations.

function addNumbers(int $a, int $b): int
{
    return $a + $b;
}

5. Use Environment Variables for Configuration

Store configuration data in environment variables to keep sensitive information out of your codebase.

// Use a library like vlucas/phpdotenv to load .env files
$database = getenv('DATABASE_NAME');
$username = getenv('DATABASE_USER');
$password = getenv('DATABASE_PASS');