Before I start writing my own PHP tutorials, I would to set the coding standards I will be following in the course of this tutorial. This aims to standardize all my snippets ( small chunk of code) in all examples I will be giving. I would like to emphasize that this is not a standard to all PHP programmers but just my personal preferences which we all do have.
Comments - - comments are piece of information that programmers usually put to their code to explain what it does. Comments are not actually part of the execution of a program but instead they are ignored by the PHP interpreter. It is a good practice in a programmer to put comments on his code because in the future, comments are the only guide a programmer can follow to understand a big pile of code. Comments may vary depending on what type comment to put.
1. single line comments - for single line commenting I use the double forward slash //
Example:
// this line will print your name
print "My name is Juan dela Cruz";
2. multi-line comment - for multi line I use /* and the closing */
Example:
/*
This is a multi-line comment
and goes all the way
up to this point
*/
Variables
for variables I use the camelize form. Meaning letters in my variable have combination of upper and lower case. But in addition I am affixing a single letter prefix that will determine the datatype of that variable. For example, if I would declare an array variable I would write $aMyArray.
Example:
$aMyArray = array(1,2,3,4); // contains array values
$sYourName = "Conai"; // contains string values
$iLoop = 100; // contains integer values
$oDBConnection = mysql_connect("localhost", "username", "password"); // object
$bIsTrue = false; // boolean
$mMixedVariable = "test"; // mixed variable, a variable that may vary in datatype
For single usage or single letter variable there is an exemption on my rule.
for ($x=1; $x<count($aMyArray); $x++) {
<statement here>
}
in the above example $x dont have any prefix on what datatype it is. I have sited this as my exemption.
Constants
as a rule constants should all be in uppercase and words separated by underscore(_)
Example:
define('HOST', 'localhost');
define('USER_NAME', 'root');
define('PASSWORD', '1234567a');
Conditional Statements
if statement
if ($x == 1) {
<statement here after 4 solid spaces>
}
if - else statement
if ($x == null || $y != false) {
<statement of if after 4 solid spaces>
} else {
<statement of else after 4 solid spaces>
}
if -else if - else
if ($x > count($aResults)) {
<statement of if after 4 solid spaces>
} else if ($x < count($aResults)) {
<statement of else fif after 4 solid spaces>
} else {
<statement of else after 4 solid spaces>
}
Loop statement
for loop
for($iCounter=0; $iCounter<10; $iCounter++) {
<statement of for loop after 4 solid spaces>
}
while
while( !feof($oHandle) ) {
<statement of while loop after 4 solid spaces>
}
do-while
do {
<statement after 4 solid spaces>
} while( $iLoop > 10) ;
Functions - function names are the same as the camelize form of my variables. Function names usually starts with small letters.
Example:
function checkThisVariable($mVariable) {
if( is_integer($mVariable) ) {
return "integer";
} else if ( is_array($mVariable) ) {
return "array";
} else {
return "undetermine";
}
}
Class - class name are also in camelize form but the first letter is Capitalize to signify that it is a class when placed among other variables.
Example:
class Cabinet {
var $sDrawer;
function Cabinet () {
$this->sDrawer = true;
}
}