PHP has become an omnipotent scripting language today. Almost any site that you see is based on PHP. So why is it so? Basically, PHP is a multi-purpose server-side scripting language. It was initially developed for website designing and development that could facilitate dynamic web pages. PHP developers would swear that it is one of the first developed server-side scripting languages that were embedded into an HTML source document. Before PHP, usually an external file was called in to process the data.
Today, since PHP is being used predominantly across various sites, it has become a hot topic for discussion. But, knowing what PHP is not going to sort your purpose if you own a PHP domain. As a developer, or even a website owner, there is much more to PHP that you must know.
Feeds
PHP has many functions. It can enable you do design a site much better that how you could have without it. So, for instance, you can forego using RSS deed and choose to put an XML parser feed. Once you get your configuration file, you can easily collect all the settings (of preference) at one place itself. You can then incorporate them in the script. If you follow this method while incorporating changes, you will end up saving a lot of your time.
Security
Apart from this, another very popular function of the PHP language is the ability to sanitize the data. Of course, there are other functions that can help you protect the HTML scripts. This can be done by reversing the HTML characters and you can safeguard your application from any cross site scripting. And while you are building your application turn your error reporting on.
Error Reporting
A handy tip would be to keep your error reporting turned on while working on your scripting. This will ensure that you can immediately identify the reason of your errors and from where it is being generated. That way, you can immediately rectify it without creating too many problems. Once you are done, you can turn this function down.
Code Management
Another thing that you can do to make a better website using PHP is to manage your code well. You may be tempted to code all the comments at some times, but try and make sure that your code is easy to recognize and to be read by the developers.
Multipurpose coding
PHP is sure to thrive in the future. Therefore ensure that whatever coding you do, make it multipurpose. The combined expansion settings have features which collect and keep the snippets in place. These snippets can be used later. But ensure that you are using a good developer to do this.
Source Editor
A very important thing to bear in mind while you work with PHP is that you must not hesitate from investing in a good source editor, because in the long run, it is going to save a lot of time and money for you. Whether it is highlighting things on the page or a code hint, or even if you want to work around code navigation and built in debugging tools for streamlining the coding, a good source editor is a must.
Conclusion
PHP is a beautiful scripting language that has helped many developers build beautiful and dynamic sites. Most of the popular websites today are based on PHP. One can notice that a well-designed PHP site has become an asset to most business owners who have chosen to go the PHP way.
These sites are attractive and engaging and always keep the users interacting with them. This ensures that the user feels like being on the site more often and spending more time on it. The greatest asset of having a great PHP site is the fact that it is extremely user friendly. So the end user is sure to like the navigation and other features, but the admin will also find it very convenient.
Author Bio
Jack Sutton is a professional PHP programmer currently associated with Viteb-UK. Targeting businesses based in London custom eCommerce web design and development services are the forte of Viteb-UK.