Article: your input please

[deleted]

Dear all,

I started to write an article about 'writing larger projects in PHP' a while ago.

Righ now I'm completely swamped with work so I'm putting it on the back-burner for a few days. (quite a few days)

If you like you can have a look at the unfinished version here:
http://www.hvt-automation.nl/yapf/

Please send any and all comments/requests etc to me so I can improve what's there and finish it later.

amcgrath

Vince,

Yea, I'll give ya a hand if you want. Let me tell you my background, so you at least know whatcha dealing with:

Web Architect 1996-1999 Trader Publishing
Project Manager for companies 30-plus core internet products, plus 30 or so ancillary web applications supporting the core business. Directed the first and second major version releases of the sites,a s well as a very major conversion from cgi/Progress architecture to COld Fusion (ugh) / Oracle architecture.

Director, Web Development 2000-2000
Carscene.com
Start up company focused on collector car online autions (45 web sites). Company was purchased by Trader Publishing.

Trader (again)
This is when I did the CF conversion.

MFS, INc
DBA/Web Manager
Implementing an ERP system revolving around the garment industry and screen printing.

In a nutshell, I've done some pretty big web projects. As an added bonus, I was a Journalist in the nited states Navy for 7 years before bumping into the web and changing my life forever.

Let me know what you want me to do, and Ill do it.

Allen

[deleted]

Well, I'd like som input on the article in general, what's good/bad/missing etc.

Anything would be great thanks!

amcgrath

And i was the Web Development Manager at Great Bridge, of Postgres fame. I forgot aobut that... considering how quick it flamed it, though, I'm not surpirsed.

Anon

I like what you've done so far, but in the illustration of IF you missed one of the best benefits of putting the FALSE tests first: you can then write ELSEIF and all the nesting collapses:

 if (!checkName($sFirstname))
   {
   echo 'Your name is not valid';
   }
 else
   {
   if (!checkAge($iAge))
     {
     echo 'Your age is not valid';
     }
   else
     {
     if (!checkHairdoo($sHairdoo))
       {
       echo "Your hair is too 70\'s";
       }
     else
       {
       echo 'You da man!';
     };
   };
 };

 if (!checkName($sFirstname))
   {
   echo 'Your name is not valid';
   }
 elseif (!checkAge($iAge))
   {
   echo 'Your age is not valid';
   }
 elseif (!checkHairdoo($sHairdoo))
   {
   echo "Your hair is too 70\'s";
   }
 else
   {
   echo 'You da man!';
   }

Oh, and also I completely disagree with the abominable hungarian-like variable name prefixing, but that's an rwar for another time and place, I guess.

[deleted]

You have a point with the IF's.

But the hungarian names are there to stay I'm afraid. I don't know your background,
but I've just spent over a year trying to work with seven other (not all equally competent) programmers who did not prefix any variable names, nor gave any sensible names at all, and I found myself spending way too much time just trying to figure out what each var was for and what it contained. Once I started beating them over the head with this naming convention that cleared up like magic.