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I am a php beginner coder.

I always find myself in a mess when I try to alter or add something to my scripts. Because they are not well organized.

So, I want to learn how to organize my code, so it becomes easy later on to change it.

Also, there is a lot of code snippets that I use frequently in all of my scripts. Like the database codes. Is there is a way to arrange those snippets?

alhoseany
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    Might be better suited as a community wiki, as I doubt there is one "correct" answer. –  Apr 21 '11 at 16:41
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    Have a look at the MVC pattern. It's pretty useful. Voting to move this to programmers – JohnP Apr 21 '11 at 16:42
  • Clean and well-organized PHP code is not so different from other languages. The same tensions apply and the language provides similar features that can be used to resolve them. – Rein Henrichs Apr 21 '11 at 18:43
  • You can write clean and organized PHP code? :) – Jas May 10 '11 at 11:08

3 Answers3

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Using a convention-over-configuration framework (1)(2)(etc) would help you organize your code to a decent extent. They can only do so much for you however, as in the end it is still up to you to do logical things.

The benefit of a convention-over-configuration framework is that it guides you in the right direction by making you do things by a standard convention unless you explicitly override(configure) it.

Craige
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I think you need to learn OOP and a template system like Smarty.

Note : this will make you code well but slowly

Here are some guidelines that may also help:

  • Use comments in PHP// # /* */ not HTML.
  • Use good variable names to denote what you are using.
  • Cut the style as header , nav , right , left , center , footer , others.
  • Move styles codes a separate file and just link it.
  • Move PHP code to the top of the file and the forms and HTML to the bottom. You you can use PHP with HTML(when required). Ex: you can make your query and row check in the top of the page and merge the loop with HTML.
Craige
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SamarLover
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Learn Object-Oriented Programming:

http://php.net/manual/en/language.oop5.php

http://www.zend.com/en/services/training/

http://www.phpfreaks.com/tutorial/oo-php-part-1-oop-in-full-effect

http://www.killerphp.com/tutorials/object-oriented-php/

Jared Farrish
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  • I would argue that OOP code isn't any cleaner that procedural code, per say. I've seen OOP code that is messier and less organized than comparable procedural code. – Craige Apr 21 '11 at 17:06
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    OOP is way of organizing, not a panacea. That's why I said *learn* and not *do*. :) – Jared Farrish Apr 21 '11 at 17:08