There are always several ways to do the same things in PHP. Some of them are so close that one even wonder which one to choose. In fact, if they are interchangeable, why even choose ? Here is a list of seven syntax you can choose in PHP, freely. The choice relies first on technical ground, […]
09
Nov
Nov
Last week, I ran into ‘PHP Dos and Don’ts aka Programmers I Don’t Like‘ on reddit’s PHP group. It features a list of 11 points that the author hates finding in PHP code. I am always keen on reading from such references : they always hold some some interesting insights, some tips and some more polemic […]
10
Oct
Oct
6 good practices for ‘use’ in PHP While reviewing code recently, I realized there are no guidelines for use. Every modern code do use ‘use’ (sic), as importing classes from composer or a framework is the norm. There are now quite a few variations in syntax for importing classes or traits. Although the impact on performance […]
06
Sep
Sep
This is the third part of our series about last features in PHP 7.1. See ‘Upcoming features in PHP 7.1 (part a)‘ and ‘More upcoming features in PHP 7.1 (part b)‘. PHP 7.1 is now RC1 since our last article, so better dive into the code fast. We are now presenting the last batch of […]
18
Aug
Aug
Upcoming features in PHP 7.1 The time to meet and greet PHP 7.0 is not so distant, and PHP 7.1 is already knocking at the door ! Since last year, the PHP group has been busy adding features, fixing old ones and keeping the new version as fast as possible : yet, PHP 7.1 managed to have […]
11
Apr
Apr
7 new PHP static analysis No less than 7 new analyzers for Exakat, since last week version. Here is a quick review, as they are both varied and interesting. Identical conditions Identical conditions spots members of an complex logical expression that are identical. When several conditions are chained, it happens that some of the conditions […]
29
Feb
Feb
PHP bug-fixes help your code Ever wondered which PHP bug-fixes help your code? What is the actual impact of a PHP minor version on your code ? Every month, or more, PHP provides a new version, covering about thirty bugs and various upgrades. Sometimes, features request make it to a version. Still, who has time to review […]
28
Jan
Jan
When testing the exakat static analysis engine, we need to run it on real code : even better, use the largest PHP code base available. Open Source projects are a real blessing there, since they come in different shapes and stripes. Some projects dates back from PHP 3 and evolved until now, some are directly […]
11
Dec
Dec
PHP 7 Static analysis tools With PHP 7 officially live, it it time to review code and get it ready for migration. It is now time to think about migrating code to the new version, taking advantage of new features et reduced server load. This means reviewing all the code : it may be too much […]
14
Sep
Sep
Before coding, we all want to produce clean, smart and efficient code. During coding, we keep the eye on the target, and when we’re done, the result is usually not what we expected. There is always room for improvement. Improvement may come in various flavors: corner cutting, PHP specific gotcha, migration or even old habits that […]
21
Aug
Aug
Install Gremlin for Neo4j 2.2 At the heart of the Exakat engine, we use Gremlin and Neo4j. Neo4j is the graph database, and Gremlin is the graph traversal language. Until today (2015, August 20th), Neo4j 2.2 had no working plug-in for Gremlin, which made us use the latest neo4j 2.1.8, but miss all the effort […]