Book Image

Mastering PHP Design Patterns

By : Junade Ali
Book Image

Mastering PHP Design Patterns

By: Junade Ali

Overview of this book

Design patterns are a clever way to solve common architectural issues that arise during software development. With an increase in demand for enhanced programming techniques and the versatile nature of PHP, a deep understanding of PHP design patterns is critical to achieve efficiency while coding. This comprehensive guide will show you how to achieve better organization structure over your code through learning common methodologies to solve architectural problems. You’ll also learn about the new functionalities that PHP 7 has to offer. Starting with a brief introduction to design patterns, you quickly dive deep into the three main architectural patterns: Creational, Behavioral, and Structural popularly known as the Gang of Four patterns. Over the course of the book, you will get a deep understanding of object creation mechanisms, advanced techniques that address issues concerned with linking objects together, and improved methods to access your code. You will also learn about Anti-Patterns and the best methodologies to adopt when building a PHP 7 application. With a concluding chapter on best practices, this book is a complete guide that will equip you to utilize design patterns in PHP 7 to achieve maximum productivity, ensuring an enhanced software development experience.
Table of Contents (14 chapters)
Mastering PHP Design Patterns
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewer
www.PacktPub.com
Preface

Environment variables in PHP source


Far too often you come across a project on GitHub and you notice that the original developer has left in a config.php file that contains (in the best case) useless database information or (in the worst case) incredibly important API keys.

When these files aren't accidentally versioned they are often shoved in a .gitignore file with a sample file attached for developers to amend as they need. One example of a platform that does this is WordPress.

There are some minor improvements to this, such as putting core configuration in an XML file that is buried in some obscure document with plenty of irrelevant configuration.

I've found that there tend to be two good ways of managing environment variables in PHP. The first method involves putting them in a file on your root folder in a format such as YML and reading these variables as required.

The second way, which I personally prefer, is a method implemented by a library known as dotenv. Essentially, what happens...