milesjohnson

If you have been following my Twitter, you would of heard me complaining about converting a SimpleXML object into an array. I am still having that problem, so if you can get it working correctly (my test so far below), I would be greatly appreciative. If you have never used the SimpleXML object, it can be quite awesome when actually reading an XML document - but once it comes to converting it to something else, it comes straight from the darkest depths of hell. Continue reading...

Getters and Setters are the backbone of many PHP classes (or any programming language class), as they allow you to alter and retrieve class properties during runtime. Many well thought and powerful scripts and frameworks make use of Getters and Setters, but is there a thing as too much? Or are there better and easier alternatives? Continue reading...

Recently on my Twitter I mentioned this exact tip, "PHP Pro Tip: Don't close your PHP documents with ?>.", and got many responses asking why or if its possible. I will briefly explain the benefits of this technique and when it applies. Many assumed I meant that you should never close your PHP scopes with ?>, but that's not the case, I was merely stating that the closing tag (at the very very bottom of your PHP file) does not need to be there. Continue reading...

Lately all I have seen is the "Pure OOP is the way to go mentality" without much reasons to back up why its beneficial. I write OOP code, but I don't write overly verbose, bloated and cluttered OOP code either. I attend Zendcon, I have my PHP certification, I read PHP blogs on a daily basis, I have had multiple OOP discussions with other developers, but in the end I still ask the question, "Why do you spend so much time writing and separating your objects? When in the end its unnecessary as you are not extending them in the future anyways." Continue reading...

If you haven't heard of Namespaces, or even PHP 5.3, you need to stop living under a rock. I've had quite a bit of fun the past month messing around with namespaces in 5.3, and I have got to say, they are the greatest addition to PHP yet. If you are unfamiliar with namespaces, it's a feature that allows you to add another layer of ownership and packaging to functions and classes, similar to how classes add a layer onto methods (ala functions). Continue reading...