Developing applications with PHP has become the most popular method of app development on the market today, with PHP being extremely versatile and powerful. Web developers are always on the lookout for faster PHP techniques and this guide will suggest 5 methods for increasing your efficiency and decreasing the amount of time to develop a quality application.

Reuse PHP Strings and Script

Modifying existing PHP scripts for your app development project will save you tons of time and money, spent otherwise on creating a framework or skeleton from scratch. Reuse of your perfected scripts with minor changes will allow you to take existing PHP script skeletons and make the necessary changes to work with your app development guidelines. Not only will this save time, but you will better understand PHP coding and become more versatile in your ability to create strings that work for specific applications.

Less is Always More

Since the beginning of computers and application programming languages, less clutter and more functionality has always been key. The simpler you keep your PHP MySQL code, the easier it is to fix glitches and errors, and the less likely you will make those errors in the first place. If it seems necessary to re-do your coding structure, the time spent to simplify your scripts will prevent frustration and confusion later on. Keep things simple and don’t let your time and money go to waste, especially if you hired one of those expensive offshore programmers.

Back Everything Up

This method for saving time while developing a PHP application is slightly more obvious than the others. If you spend 3 hours working on a PHP script and you accidentally delete the data or MySQL has errors, you lost 3 hours of work. Backing up your code can save time wasted on re-doing your hard work.

Upgrade your Text-Editor

We all know that coding PHP in Notepad is impressive, but when you’re trying to save time, upgrading to a more efficient text-editor is a wise choice. EditPlus2 or PHPEdit are highly recommended and are similar to editors like Dreamweaver, color coding important commands so they are easy to find. You will save time from preventing yourself from searching walls of confusing, colorless text and fixing errors that Notepad cannot detect. Upgrading is usually satisfying as well, right?

Label Code and Document Properly

Above your code, document and put hints or explanations of your strings to make editing easier for you and other coders alike. You will save tremendous amounts of time during complicated troubleshooting by giving your PHP code proper documentation.

Follow these simple steps for PHP app development and you’ll be in the momentum of saving time and developing project after project, while your competitors are stuck, frustrated with their sloppy code, unorganized labels and complicated PHP strings.

By: Justin Bajonda

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