Here you are! In front of a powerful CTO of the best we-will-disturb-the-market startup in town. You answered a job offer promising money and glory, soon they will be all yours! But first, you need to decipher if this company will bring you to the asylum before the wealth flows from your pockets. How to assess that you might be able to tolerate spending 8 hours a day in there? »
Today is a great day: you will begin to develop the new greenfield project of the soon-very-successful startup you work for, as a PHP Ninja Wizard of the Crown. But wait! You're teaming with Dave, your colleague developer! He's creating an Anemic Domain Model! Why? Is it that bad? »
First you need the mindset. Then, you need the tools. Without the mindset, you won't use the tools correctly, in a consistent way. Without the good tools, you won't be efficient and you won't enjoy the process. This article is about the tools: what do I use to successfully manage and ship my side projects? »
Did you heard about development environments centered around this fantastic tool, the Terminal? No? You think it's stupid? Whatever your judgements, let them at the door of this article. Here's the chance to prove to the world that you're a powerful open-minded developer: come with me, I will show you what it looks like to feel efficient with your development environment. »
First you need the mindset. Then, you need the tools. Without the mindset, you won't use the tools correctly, in a consistent way. Without the good tools, you won't be efficient and you won't enjoy the process. This article is about the mindset: what do you need to understand and apply, to successfully begin, build and finish your side projects? »
Oh no! You're working on an application which is as messy as your flat! You don't understand anything, every bug takes weeks to fix. You need to improve the quality of your PHP code... but how? What tool to use? A hoover? Don't worry, dear reader, I have some answers for you. »
The DRY principle (Don't Repeat Yourself) is easy to understand but difficult to apply. Should we never repeat our code? What was the true purpose of the principle's authors? Let's decipher what should be DRY in our code, and what should not. »
What are the traps you can fall into, using PHP 7.2? Should you use everything implemented in this new version? Don't introduce ambiguity in your codebase: everything in PHP is not necessarily good to use. »
Tips and tricks for Vim, about everything related to search, find or replace content in one or multiple files, with or without plugins. »
This list range from the obvious to the underestimated skills and mindsets you should have if you want to be a better web developer. Spoiler ahead: it's not only being good technically. Interest and motivation will drive you faster than any knowledge in the last ephemeral trend. »