Code Optimization Thread

[drawmack]

One of the things I like to do as a mental/programming exercise is to optimize code so it runs as fast as possible. If you have any code you think could/should be optimized post it here and let's see what we can do with it.

[bubblenut]

Not a piece of code that needs optimization, more a tip. If this is not aim of the thread let me know, I'm sure I can find some code which could do with some optimization without too much hunting.

TIP1:
When using a for loop try to keep static function calls out of the condition. By static function calls I mean calls to functions, the result of which will be the same on every iteration. I always feel an example explains things a little better.

//The wrong way
for($i=0; $i<count($array); $i++) {
  //count will be run on $array on every iteration
  //when in all likelihood the length of $array 
  //will not be changing
}

//Prehapse a better way
for($i=0, $c=count($array); $i<$c; $i++) {
  //In many cases this would be better
}

One important point relates to fact that the result of the function call is not the same every time. Take the following example;

for($i=0, $c=count($array); $i<$c; $i++) {
  if($array[$i]==$something) {
    //get rid of it!!
    array_splice($array, $i, 1);
  }
}

This would throw some array_out_of_bounds (or whatever php throws, I can't remember) error if any of the elements match $something because you'd have reduced the length of the array. In this particular case you can do the following.

for($i=0, $c=count($array); $i<$c; $i++) {
  if($array[$i]==$something) {
    //get rid of it!!
    $c--;
    array_splice($array, $i, 1);
  }
}

This tip doesn't just apply to arrays but I've rabbited on long enough 😉

Cheers
Bubble

[Shrike]

Good ol' regexp. This one is what I always use to select an item in a drop-down list, although I think it's rather slow. Whaddaya think?

$str = preg_replace("/(<select id=\\"selectid\\".*?>.*?)(<option value=\\"".$value."\\")>/si", "$1$2 selected>", $str);

[drawmack]

Tips are good, but I really want to dig my hands into someone elses code and make it fly.

[ZibingsCoder]

Alright...you want something to optimize? Take this one on for size. Made this thing about 2 years ago and in about 20 minutes. Probably one of my saddest attempts at programming yet.

The Basics
This is a "template system" that parses and caches .tpl files in a certain directory. It's been left and lost over the years, but...it was still useful at the time, and an optimized/cleaned version might be something worth offering to new programmers.

The Code

<?php


class Template
{
	//properties
	var $cfg;
	var $vars;
	var $path;
	var $modules;
	var $cache_id;
	var $file;

//methods


function Template ( $file, $path = DEFAULT_TPL, $expire = 10 /* 15 minutes */ )
{
	//set the properties
	$this->path		= $path;
	$this->cache_id	= "/cached/cache_".$file;
	$this->vars		= array();
	$this->expire		= $expire;
	$this->file		= $file;

	//call the method to write the cache file
	$this->writeCache();

	//return
	return(true);
}


function writeCache ( )
{
	//try to get the modified time
	if ( $mtime = filemtime($this->path.$this->cache_id) )
	{
		//if you got it, is the tpl still valid?
		if ( ($mtime + $this->expire) > time() )
		{
			//return, it's still good
			return(true);
		}

		//otherwise, we need to rewrite it
		else
		{
			//delete the file that IS there
			@unlink ( $this->path . $this->cache_id );

			//begin catching output and include the file
			ob_start ( );
			include ( $this->path . $this->file );
			$contents = ob_get_contents();

			//now parse out the template things
			$contents = ereg_replace("<%\\$([a-zA-Z0-9_]*)%>", "<?=$\\1;?>", $contents); //$var's
			$contents = ereg_replace("<%\\$([a-zA-Z0-9_]*['[a-zA-Z0-9_]*'])%>", "<?=$\\1;?>", $contents); //$var['item']'s
			$contents = ereg_replace("<%", "<?", $contents);
			$contents = ereg_replace("%>", " ?>", $contents); //close tag

			//stop catching output
			ob_end_clean ( );

			//try to create the new cached file
			if ( !touch($this->path . $this->cache_id) )
			{
				//well...that's no good...
				echo ( "Couldn't create cache for ".$this->path."/".$file."." );
			}

			//alright, so far so good, now to write to the file
			else
			{
				//file handler
				$fp = fopen($this->path . $this->cache_id, "w");

				//did that work?
				if ( !$fp )
				{
					//oi!
					echo ( "File (".$this->path.$this->file.") wasn't opened." );
				}

				//and....WRITE!
				if ( !fwrite($fp, $contents) )
				{
					//no go cap'n
					echo ( "Couldn't write cache file (".$this->path.$this->file.")." );
				}

				//and we're done
				return(true);
			}
		}
	}

	//ok...it's a new file
	else
	{
		//delete the file that IS there (just in case)
		@unlink ( $this->path . $this->cache_id );

		//begin catching output and include the file
		ob_start ( );
		include ( $this->path . $this->file );
		$contents = ob_get_contents();

		//now parse out the template things
		$contents = ereg_replace("<%\\$([a-zA-Z0-9_]*)%>", "<?=$\\1;?>", $contents); //$var's
		$contents = ereg_replace("<%\\$([a-zA-Z0-9_]*['[a-zA-Z0-9_]*'])%>", "<?=$\\1;?>", $contents); //$var['item']'s
		$contents = ereg_replace("<%", "<?", $contents);
		$contents = ereg_replace("%>", " ?>", $contents); //close tag

		//stop catching output
		ob_end_clean ( );

		//try to create the new cached file
		if ( !touch($this->path . $this->cache_id) )
		{
			//well...that's no good...
			echo ( "Couldn't create cache for ".$this->path."/".$file."." );
		}

		//alright, so far so good, now to write to the file
		else
		{
			//file handler
			$fp = fopen($this->path . $this->cache_id, "w");

			//did that work?
			if ( !$fp )
			{
				//oi!
				echo ( "File (".$this->path.$this->file.") wasn't opened." );
			}

			//and....WRITE!
			if ( !fwrite($fp, $contents) )
			{
				//no go cap'n
				echo ( "Couldn't write cache file (".$this->path.$this->file.")." );
			}

			//and we're done
			return(true);
		}
	}
}


function set ( $name, $value )
{
	//set the variables into the list
	$this->vars[$name] = $value;

	//go bye bye
	return;
}


function set_vars ( $var_list )
{
	//first, what type is it
	switch ( gettype($var_list) )
	{
		//if it's a string, run unserialize and try again
		case "string":
			$var_list = unserialize($var_list);
			$this->set_vars($var_list);
			break;
		//for arrays
		case "array":
			$this->set_var_arr($var_list);
			break;
		//for objects
		case "object":
			$this->set_var_obj($var_list);
			break;
		//and if there's nothing
		default:
			break;
	}

	//annnnnd BREAK!
	return;
}


function set_var_arr ( $var_list )
{
	//loop through all the elements
	foreach ( $var_list as $key => $val )
	{
		//set it into the namespace
		$this->vars[$key] = $val;
	}

	//and we're done
	return;
}


function set_var_obj ( $var_list )
{
	//loop through the object's properties
	foreach ( get_object_vars($var_list) as $key => $val )
	{
		//set it into the namespace
		$this->vars[$key] = $val;
	}

	//good bye
	return;
}


function fetch ( )
{
	//bring the variables into the local namespace
	extract ( $this->vars );

	//start buffering the output
	ob_start ( );

	//include the cached template
	include ( $this->path . $this->cache_id );

	//put the contents into a temporary storage thing
	$contents = ob_get_contents();

	//stop buffering the output
	ob_end_clean();

	//and return the string
	return($contents);
}
}

?>

Enjoy. 🙂

[Dolemite50]

drawmack wrote:

Tips are good, but I really want to dig my hands into someone elses code and make it fly.

Where have you been all my life? 😃

I'm coming up on about a year of learning php/mysql and I basically only concentrated on functionality. In fact; I owe a lot of what I learned so far from your help here Drawmack. I now have a site underway that was somewhat my learning process as I went and I'm sure there are a gazillion things that I could be doing better. I actually found this thread while searching for optimization tips because my lack of attention to detail is biting me in the buttocks while the site grows.

I guess I'll just paste some php segments that I'm sure can use improving. The first one might be the worst thought out chunk of code known to man and it's beginning to bring the server to its knees. If you only have time to advise me on one I'm hoping thats it. Also, I saw you using a technique where you wrapped echoed tables with something like <chooDco> so that you didn't have to escape all of the double quotes. I was never able to find it again.

These clips are going to be lengthy and obviously I'm not asking you to rewrite it all for me. If you can just point out some errors to my ways I'll try to take it from there.

Thank you very much Drawmack, I will take great pleasure in watching you slap my code around.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
MY MAIN PROBLEM WITH OPTIMIZATION:
I have a system that tracks weekly and monthly stats for songs on my site. These are score, plays, and downloads. If a song is played I insert the songid and date in a monthly_plays table. When a song is downloaded then songid and date go in monthly_downloads,..etc. in a Once daily I run a cron for each stat like this one for the score stat:

//delete all entries more than 30 days old
$sql9 = "DELETE FROM monthly_score WHERE score_date < date_sub(NOW(), interval 30 day)";

//Set all monthly scores to 0 before running the update:
$sql7 = "UPDATE songs SET monthly_score = 0,  weekly_score = 0";

//tally up the remaining entries:
$sql2 = "SELECT userid FROM monthly_score GROUP BY userid";
while($row2= mysql_fetch_array($result2)){
$userid = $row2[userid ];
$sql5 = "SELECT SUM(score) FROM monthly_score WHERE userid ='$userid ";
$score = mysql_result($result3, 0);

//follow around again for weekly scores:
$sql5 = "SELECT SUM(score) FROM monthly_score WHERE date > date_sub(NOW(), interval 7 day) AND userid ='$userid ";
$result3 = mysql_query($sql5) or die(mysql_error());
$week_score = mysql_result($result3, 0);

//and then update the member's table to reflect the new points:
$sql7 = "UPDATE table SET monthly_score = '$score', weekly_score = '$week_score ' WHERE songid = '$songid'"; 

This is tearing the server up. It's also not great on the mysql tables who are in constand need of optimization after deleting thousands of records daily. I've considered at least coding it so that after a stat is input for a user it won't allow another one during that day and just update the current days record for that member instead. I'm sure this will involve an extra query of checking to see if the daily record already exists so which would you consider more optimized? I've also been trying to figure out a way to just have a static 31 column table with each songs id in it and have it be a constant update and somehow code the cron to clear the right results at a certain time.

AND I CAN'T BRING MYSELF TO NORMALIZE. :mad:
Part two of this epic is that I am displaying results in a dynamic chart. I currently am having the cron update the weekly and monthly stats into a corresponding column within the song table. The song table also contains song description, lyrics,.song title, Band name, and many other things. It seem like a lot for the server to have to sort through in order to find the Top100 most played or downloaded songs every time somebody goes to the chart page. Normalization folks tell me I shouldn't have any redundant info but I think having a table for each stat with songid, bandid, song title, and bandName makes more sense. (or maybe only songid and "place" while using a join somehow?) Since the chart only displays 100 entries I would only need a table that size to do it. Even a table 5 times that so the chart could paginate 5 times doesn't seem like much to sacrifice in order to not have to seek through 10,000 entries of much larger rows. I would need three tables since their are three different stats.

As you can see I'm totally in the dark here. There has to be a completely different way of doing what I'm trying to do but I have no idea what it is or how to find it. You'd really be helping me out with a good nudge in the right direction here.

[Dolemite50]

And if you're ever in need of more exercize then here is the rest of my tri-laffathon.
/////////////////////////////////////////
This is the code for the section of the Listening Room that echoes tables full of song and band info. You can reach this page directly or searching for songs on the search page will process and display results here. It seems like way too much redundant info. As I wrote up the code hints tonight I realized that there are two distinnct sections for whether processing results from the sort page or from accessing the page directly. Would i be better off using the search processing as an include?

CUT IN HALF TO FIT POST LIMIT

$genre=$_GET['genre']; 

////function to shorten lengthy genre names
function abbrevGenre($input) {
	if($input=="Experimental"){
	$input=="Experimntl";
	}
	elseif($input=="Electronic"){
	$input=="Electrnc";
	} 
	elseif($input=="Soundtrack"){
	$input=="Soundtrk";
	} 
	elseif($input=="Native American"){
	$input=="Natv Amercn";
	} 
return $input; 
}

//pagination items	
$limit = 5; 	
$page = $_GET['page'];
if(!$page)
{
$page = 1;
}

///Typically $genre variable vould be an actual musical genre such as "Reggae". 
//If member has arrived to page by performing a query on search page then $genre will be "search"
if($genre==search){	

//search by keyword 
if (isset($_POST['keysearchbtn'])) {	
$st = "key"; //set search type to key
$srch = $_POST['keysearch']; //inputted keyword
}	

//search by rating
elseif (isset($_POST['ratesearch'])) {
$st = "rate"; //set search type to rate
$sty =  $_POST['ratingbtn']; //will be either "high" or "low" for sorting songs by best or worst score 
$sg =  $_POST['srchgenrerate'];	//genre to perform search in
}	

//search by date
elseif (isset($_POST['datesearch'])) {	
$st = "date"; //set search type to rate
$sty =  $_POST['dat']; //either "new" or "old" for sorting songs by latest or oldest
$sg =  $_POST['srchdate'];		//genre to perform search in
}	

//if variables not set via posts then must be in URL					   
else{
$st = $_GET['st'];
$srch = $_GET['srch'];
$sty =  $_GET['sty'];
$sg =  $_GET['sg'];
}    

///////////keyword search////////
if($st == "key"){ 
//tally songs for pagination
$query_count = "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM songs WHERE stitle LIKE '%$srch%'";	
$result_count = mysql_query($query_count, $conn);  
$totalrows = mysql_result($result_count, 0); 
$limitvalue = $page * $limit - ($limit);
$getInfo = "SELECT songid, mp,  bandid, stitle, bandName, DATE_FORMAT(sdate, '%c/%e/%Y') AS sngdate, DATE_FORMAT(sdate, '%l:%i %p') AS stime, sgenre, sgenre2 FROM songs WHERE stitle LIKE '%$srch%' ORDER BY sdate DESC, stime DESC LIMIT $limitvalue, $limit";					    	
}

/////////rating search//////////
elseif($st == "rate"){										
	if($sg == "ag"){ //if genre is "any genre"
	$query_count = "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM songs WHERE beat != 1";	
	} 
	else{  //if genre is specific				  		
	$query_count = "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM songs WHERE sgenre = '$sg'";		
	}	
	$result_count = mysql_query($query_count, $conn);  
	$totalrows = mysql_result($result_count, 0); 
	$limitvalue = $page * $limit - ($limit);
	if($sg == "ag"){ 
		if($sty==high){		//if sorting by highest scores
		$getInfo = "SELECT songid, mp,  bandid, stitle, bandName, DATE_FORMAT(sdate, '%c/%e/%Y') AS sngdate, DATE_FORMAT(sdate, '%l:%i %p') AS stime, sgenre, sgenre2 FROM songs ORDER BY score DESC LIMIT $limitvalue, $limit";					    	
		}
		elseif($sty==low){	//if sorting by lowest scores
		$getInfo = "SELECT songid, mp,  bandid, stitle, bandName, DATE_FORMAT(sdate, '%c/%e/%Y') AS sngdate, DATE_FORMAT(sdate, '%l:%i %p') AS stime, sgenre, sgenre2 FROM songs ORDER BY score ASC LIMIT $limitvalue, $limit";					    	
		}
	}
	else{ //if genre is specific			
		if($sty==high){			
		$getInfo = "SELECT songid, mp,  bandid, stitle, bandName, DATE_FORMAT(sdate, '%c/%e/%Y') AS sngdate, DATE_FORMAT(sdate, '%l:%i %p') AS stime, sgenre, sgenre2 FROM songs WHERE sgenre = '$sg' ORDER BY score DESC LIMIT $limitvalue, $limit";					    	
		}
		elseif($sty==low){	
		$getInfo = "SELECT songid, mp,  bandid, stitle, bandName, DATE_FORMAT(sdate, '%c/%e/%Y') AS sngdate, DATE_FORMAT(sdate, '%l:%i %p') AS stime, sgenre, sgenre2 FROM songs WHERE sgenre = '$sg' ORDER BY score ASC LIMIT $limitvalue, $limit";					    	
		}	
	}
}

/////////date search//////////
elseif($st == "date"){										
	if($sg == "ag"){ //if genre is "any genre"
	$query_count = "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM songs";	
	} 
	else{	//if genre is specific						  		
	$query_count = "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM songs WHERE sgenre = '$sg'";		
	}	
	$result_count = mysql_query($query_count, $conn);  
	$totalrows = mysql_result($result_count, 0); 
	$limitvalue = $page * $limit - ($limit);
	if($sg == "ag"){ 
		if($sty==newa){		//if sorting by newest songs	
		$getInfo = "SELECT songid, mp,  bandid, stitle, bandName, DATE_FORMAT(sdate, '%c/%e/%Y') AS sngdate, DATE_FORMAT(sdate, '%l:%i %p') AS stime, sgenre, sgenre2 FROM songs ORDER BY sdate DESC, stime DESC LIMIT $limitvalue, $limit";					    	
		}
		elseif($sty==old){	//if sorting by oldest songs	
		$getInfo = "SELECT songid, mp,  bandid, stitle, bandName, DATE_FORMAT(sdate, '%c/%e/%Y') AS sngdate, DATE_FORMAT(sdate, '%l:%i %p') AS stime, sgenre, sgenre2 FROM songs ORDER BY sdate ASC, stime ASC LIMIT $limitvalue, $limit";
		}
	}
	else{
		if($sty==newa){			
		$getInfo = "SELECT songid, mp,  bandid, stitle, bandName, DATE_FORMAT(sdate, '%c/%e/%Y') AS sngdate, DATE_FORMAT(sdate, '%l:%i %p') AS stime, sgenre, sgenre2 FROM songs WHERE sgenre = '$sg' OR sgenre2 = '$sg' ORDER BY sdate DESC, stime DESC LIMIT $limitvalue, $limit";						    	
		}
		elseif($sty==old){	
		$getInfo = "SELECT songid, mp,  bandid, stitle, bandName, DATE_FORMAT(sdate, '%c/%e/%Y') AS sngdate, DATE_FORMAT(sdate, '%l:%i %p') AS stime, sgenre, sgenre2 FROM songs WHERE sgenre = '$sg' OR sgenre2 = '$sg' ORDER BY sdate ASC, stime ASC LIMIT $limitvalue, $limit";						    	
		}
	}
}
}

[Dolemite50]

PART 2 OF ABOVE:

//////Default setting when arriving to Listening Room, $genre=Latest/////
//////On page are options to sort by rating ($rateSort) or by date ($dateSort)
/////////members may also choose a genre from a list

///default setting of Latest which is sort songs by date in any genre////
elseif($genre==Latest){	
$query_count = "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM songs";     

$result_count = mysql_query($query_count, $conn);  

$totalrows = mysql_result($result_count, 0); 
$limitvalue = $page * $limit - ($limit); 
$getInfo = "SELECT songid, mp,  bandid, stitle, bandName, DATE_FORMAT(sdate, '%c/%e/%Y') AS sngdate, DATE_FORMAT(sdate, '%l:%i %p') AS stime, sgenre, sgenre2 FROM songs ORDER BY sdate DESC, stime DESC LIMIT $limitvalue, $limit";
}
//sort songs by rating in any genre
elseif($rateSort==true && $genre==Latest){	
$query_count = "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM songs";     

$result_count = mysql_query($query_count, $conn);  

$totalrows = mysql_result($result_count, 0); 
$limitvalue = $page * $limit - ($limit); 
$getInfo = "SELECT songid, mp,  bandid, stitle, bandName, DATE_FORMAT(sdate, '%c/%e/%Y') AS sngdate, DATE_FORMAT(sdate, '%l:%i %p') AS stime, sgenre, sgenre2 FROM songs ORDER BY score DESC LIMIT $limitvalue, $limit";
}
//sort songs by date in any genre
elseif($dateSort==true && $genre==Latest){	
$query_count = "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM songs";     

$result_count = mysql_query($query_count, $conn);  

$totalrows = mysql_result($result_count, 0); 
$limitvalue = $page * $limit - ($limit); 
$getInfo = "SELECT songid, mp,  bandid, stitle, bandName, DATE_FORMAT(sdate, '%c/%e/%Y') AS sngdate, DATE_FORMAT(sdate, '%l:%i %p') AS stime, sgenre, sgenre2 FROM songs ORDER BY sdate DESC, stime DESC score DESC LIMIT $limitvalue, $limit";
}
////sort songs by rating 
///since $genre != Latest then must be specified genre
elseif($rateSort==true){	
$query_count = "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM songs WHERE sgenre='$genre'";     

$result_count = mysql_query($query_count, $conn);  

$totalrows = mysql_result($result_count, 0); 
$limitvalue = $page * $limit - ($limit); 
$getInfo = "SELECT songid, mp,  bandid, stitle, bandName, DATE_FORMAT(sdate, '%c/%e/%Y') AS sngdate, DATE_FORMAT(sdate, '%l:%i %p') AS stime, sgenre, sgenre2 FROM songs WHERE sgenre='$genre' ORDER BY score DESC LIMIT $limitvalue, $limit";
}
////sort songs by date 
///since $genre != Latest then must be specified genre
elseif($dateSort==true){	
$query_count = "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM songs WHERE sgenre='$genre' OR sgenre2='$genre'";     

$result_count = mysql_query($query_count, $conn);  

$totalrows = mysql_result($result_count, 0); 
$limitvalue = $page * $limit - ($limit); 
$getInfo = "SELECT songid, mp,  bandid, stitle, bandName, DATE_FORMAT(sdate, '%c/%e/%Y') AS sngdate, DATE_FORMAT(sdate, '%l:%i %p') AS stime, sgenre, sgenre2 FROM songs WHERE sgenre='$genre' OR sgenre2='$genre' ORDER BY sdate DESC, stime DESC LIMIT $limitvalue, $limit";
}
////neither $ratesort or $datesort are defined so sort songs by date 
///since $genre != Latest then must be specified genre
else {        

$query_count = "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM songs WHERE sgenre ='$genre' OR sgenre2 ='$genre'";     

$result_count = mysql_query($query_count, $conn);  

$totalrows = mysql_result($result_count, 0);
$limitvalue = $page * $limit - ($limit); 
$getInfo = "SELECT songid, mp,  bandid, stitle, bandName, DATE_FORMAT(sdate, '%c/%e/%Y') AS sngdate, DATE_FORMAT(sdate, '%l:%i %p') AS stime, sgenre, sgenre2 FROM songs WHERE sgenre ='$genre' OR sgenre2 ='$genre' ORDER BY sdate DESC, stime DESC LIMIT $limitvalue, $limit";						
}		
//////////////////////////////////////////////
//set variable $beat to 1 if genre = beats and loops
if(($sgenre == "Beats and Loops")||($sgenre2 == "Beats and Loops")){
$beat="1";
}

///begin running the query
$rs = mysql_query($getInfo, $conn);
if(mysql_num_rows($rs)) { 
//alternating row colors
$color1 = "#333333";
$color2 = "#202020";
////begin loop///////
while ($row = mysql_fetch_array ($rs, MYSQL_ASSOC)) {
$stitle = prepOut($row['stitle']);
$bandName2 =$row['bandName'];
$mp = $row['mp'];
$bandid = $row['bandid'];
$sdate = $row['sngdate'];
$sdate = $row['sngdate'];
$sgenre = $row['sgenre'];
$sgenre2 = $row['sgenre2'];
$ext = "jpg";
$songid = $row['songid'];
$stime = $row['stime'];
$genrepic = "$sgenre.$ext";

///check to see if either genre qualifies to be run through shortening function, run through function if it does
if(($sgenre=="Native American")||($sgenre=="Electronic")||($sgenre=="Soundtrack")||($sgenre=="Experimental")){
$sgenre=abbrevGenre($sgenre);
}
if(($sgenre2=="Native American")||($sgenre2=="Electronic")||($sgenre2=="Soundtrack")||($sgenre2=="Experimental")){
$sgenre2=abbrevGenre($sgenre2);
}

///if genres are the same remove second genre
if($sgenre2==$sgenre){ 
$sgenre2  = "";
}

///format genres for output
if($sgenre2!=""){ 
$sgenre2  = ", $sgenre2";
}

//url to song page
$usong = "song.php?songid=$songid";

/////get bands picture from band_page table
$query_count22 = "SELECT image FROM band_page WHERE bandid='$bandid'";     

$result_count22 = mysql_query($query_count22, $conn);
if(mysql_num_rows($result_count22)){ 
$image = mysql_result($result_count22, 0);
}else{
$image = "nopicth.jpg";
}
$picdir = "bandpics/thumbs/";
if ((!file_exists("$picdir/$image"))||(!$image)) {
$image = "nopicth.jpg"; 
}   

////////////begin echoing table
echo"<tr bgcolor=\"#000000\">
<td><img src=\"images/listen/tblgold_01.jpg\" width=\"288\" height=\"12\"></td>
</tr>
<tr bgcolor=\"#000000\">
<td valign=\"top\"><table width=\"287\" border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">
<tr>
<td width=\"8\" bordercolor=\"#666666\" background=\"images/listen/tblgold_02.jpg\"><img src=\"images/listen/tblgold_02.jpg\" width=\"8\" height=\"23\"></td>
<td width=\"20\" bgcolor=\"#1F0101\"><img src=\"images/listen/tinylabels/$genrepic\" width=\"20\" height=\"80\"</td>
<td height=\"80\" colspan=\"2\" valign=\"top\" bordercolor=\"#333333\" bgcolor=\"#333333\"><table width=\"224\" border=\"1\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#000000\" bgcolor=\"#121212\">
<tr bgcolor=\"121212\">
<td height=\"14\" colspan=\"2\" background=\"images/listen/stitilebg.jpg\"><div align=\"center\"><span class=\"w9b\">$stitle</span></div></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width=\"60\" rowspan=\"4\" valign=\"middle\" bgcolor=\"000000\"><div align=\"center\"><a href=\"$usong\"><img src=\"bandpics/thumbs/$image\" border=\"0\"  heighh=\"60\"  width=\"60\"></a></div></td>
<td width=\"162\" height=\"24\" valign=\"middle\" bordercolor=\"000000\"  class=\"y9b\" bgcolor=\"202020\"><span class=\"green9b\">By: </span>$bandName2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td height=\"12\" bordercolor=\"121212\" bgcolor=\"121212\"><span class=\"green9b\">Gnre:</span> <span class=\"grey9\"> $sgenre$sgenre2</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td height=\"12\" bordercolor=\"121212\" bgcolor=\"121212\"><span class=\"green9b\">Date: </span><span class=\"grey9\"> $sdate, $stime</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td height=\"14\" align=\"center\" valign=\"middle\"><a href=\"$usong\"><img src=\"images/listen/listnowsmall.jpg\" width=\"158\" height=\"14\" border=\"0\"></a></td>
</tr>
</table></td>
<td width=\"29\" bgcolor=\"121212\" valign=\"bottom\" bordercolor=\"#202020\"><img src=\"images/listen/mptrophani.gif\" width=\"27\" height=\"80\"></td>
<td width=\"10\" bordercolor=\"#666666\" background=\"images/listen/tblgold_04.jpg\"><img src=\"images/listen/tblgold_04.jpg\" width=\"10\" height=\"23\"></td>
</tr>
</table></td>
</tr>
<tr bgcolor=\"#000000\">
<td><img src=\"images/listen/tblgold_05.jpg\" width=\"288\" height=\"30\"></td>
</tr>";			
}
} }
else {					 					
echo "No songs available in this category.</table>";					
$nope=2;
}

/////////////begin pagination//////////////	

[jara06]

I guess this is for the extreme ones ... 😃

something about when comparing things, the static should be on the left side
if (false == $var)

also, using 0 and 1 instead of FALSE and TRUE is faster

when increasing or decreasing use the signs at the left
++$i;

also note to the for loop (and others)
for ($i = 0, $c = count($arr); $i < $c; ++$i)

//im NOT sure of those! But I think Ive heard those before...
read this instead 🙂
http://ilia.ws/archives/12-PHP-Optimization-Tricks.html
http://cosminb.blogspot.com/2004/09/performance-tweaking-for-vs-while-vs.html