PHPStorm 8 - Is it the most intelligent PHP IDE

Why IDE? IDE stands for “Integrated Development Environment”. From its name, we can understand what it is for? IDE is the interface on which a developer writes his code for any application in different languages. Usually IDE are language specific like there are some IDE for PHP, some IDE for java and so on. There are many IDE available in the industry. Most of them have similar functionality with some special features within them that make them unique from others. All these IDEs are developed to provide assistance during the coding process for the developer. Few common features of IDE are code assistance, indentation and framework compatibility etc. PHPStorm 8 is one such IDE for the PHP developers. It has gained an overwhelming response from around the industry due to its extra-ordinary efficiency and effectiveness. Let us discuss about some of the advanced features of PHPStorm8.

Outsource PHP Development - The Most Popular Trend to Develop Website

As a powerful server-side scripting language, PHP is used widely for developing modern websites with a lot of content and visitors. It further supports with major operating systems, web servers and databases. The free and open source nature of PHP, at the same time, makes it easier for the small and local businesses to go online. However, a gradual increase is being noted in the number of businesses outsourcing their PHP development projects. There are also a number of reasons why outsourcing PHP website development has emerged as a popular trend.

Best practices in PHPStorm

PHP is only language that had shown courage to fight against industry leading IT giants i.e., java and dot net before a decade. Nobody had expected such a tremendous popularity of PHP that too in an exponential rate in the industry during its inception. PHP made it possible with its outstanding features and continuous corrective measures throughout its life. Hence it has achieved such respectable place in the industry and it is providing supports for different software farms in the form of their frameworks, plugins and IDEs etc. PHPStorm is one such IDE which is dedicated for PHP developer’s community. PHPStorm is not just an IDE rather it is a compressive package for a PHP web developer. It has many awesome features that enable a web developer to develop attractive and futuristic web solutions for the industry. Today we will discuss few must know concepts of PHPStorm to take the maximum advantage of this intelligent IDE.

Few ways to avail PHP development benefits

Why PHP: PHP is a new generation web domain specific language that has received a tremendous overnight popularity within a very less span of time. In recent trend all types of activities are getting transformed into web form due to extensive use of web applications in our day-to-day life. If we say we are getting addicted to the cyber industry, then it will not be an over statement. All most all industries are depending upon the web industry in different prospective. As a result there is a tremendous demand of web developers and web technologies like PHP. Again PHP qualifies some added advantages over other languages for which it has received such a tremendous popularity in the industry.

Best practices in PHP for 2015

PHP- No more introductions needed: PHP is the only language which had showed courage to fight against JSP and ASP when they were at the peak stage and hence it is always admired by the experts. The best this about PHP is it is not just about courage rather the ability to sustain in the industry for more than a decade. Though it has seen many ups and downs in its success path but at the end of the day, PHP is a winner. The industry demands more and more PHP developers. PHP is becoming more frugal over time with its advanced features with every update and upgrade. This post is dedicated to the PHP developers who are developing future web applications for the industry. We will discuss about few best practises and common mistakes done by PHP developers.

PHP development outsourcing to India - Few Reasons

PHP A perfect web technology: Website development is becoming a passion for everyone. The numbers of websites being developed in different languages are getting increased in an exponential rate. Among those, PHP is at the top of the list. This is because of its open source nature and easy to learn approach. Unlike languages like JSP and ASP, PHP doesn’t have frontend and backend separate pages for a web application. This makes it more popular among the web developers in the industry. You can develop any type of web application using PHP in less time than in any other language. Hence clients are demanding to develop their web application in PHP; because they want their web application to be developed quickly and at an affordable cost. To make the things even better you can also opt for outsourcing your PHP web development process to the world’s best destination i.e., India in order to gain some added advantages for your project.

Why do customers prefer Zend certified PHP programmers?

The Zend PHP Certification is a widely recognized program that measures the expertise of the PHP professionals. The employers use this certification to evaluate their prospective employees. This certification is offered by the company that includes several areas required to develop applications. The reason why customers are increasingly opting for Zend certified PHP programmers is that every company is looking forward for maximum returns at low costs. In addition the competition is rising as well. Under such circumstances the Zend.

How easy is it to develop agile applications using PHP?

The development of agile software seems to be a difficult task if one is not familiar with specific frameworks that are designed for this purpose. In such cases, indulging oneself in building complex software applications may turn out to be a highly time consuming affair. In-depth knowledge of appropriate frameworks powered with proper utilization help in the faster development of agile applications.

List of PHP file uploader and downloader scripts

PHP is an open source scripting language that is widely used for web development. There are several tasks involved in creating a full-fledged website. Tools of various sorts are used to achieve this end. The PHP uploader and downloader scripts are such tools which are used to by the developers to upload videos, images, audios and a particular file format to the website that is being built with the PHP framework. This is a huge library with numerous such scripts.

Tips to keep your PHP code well documented

Right now, PHP can be considered as the most popular language in the world of web development. Some sites like Facebook, Wikipedia, etc as well as some of the biggest open source projects of the world, like Drupal and WordPress, use this language. In this language, there are no fixed rules as such; the content can be almost anything but the actual codes as well as tags are most important. Due to its permissive nature, common mistakes may be made, which may pose problems in the behavior of the program. The key here, is to make the codes clean, easy readable as well as well documented. So, here are some tips which will make sure that the ultimate code turns out to be perfectly documented and functional.

Naming of classes, functions along with variables- The code pieces can be named in whichever way you want. This factor should be used to your full advantage so that the code is kept understandable. Always make sure that clear names are chosen instead of making up strange abbreviations or using names which may be ambiguous. There is no need for you to be scared of making typos when using longer names; as it is you will be warned by your IDE about inconsistencies like unused variables in the code. Proper naming will surely help you figure out whatever goes on in the code.

Method visibility- Method visibility is another concept worth noting. If you want to write an object-oriented code that is high in quality then the class methods should be assigned with proper visibility. This helps show the code representing the part of logic which should be inside the class; this must not be exposed to the other classes that are there in application. It also exposes some class methods for public access, which helps us call from outside the specific class, so that communication with other application parts may be maintained. Codes including properly-set method visibility, aid other developers to quickly find out the working method of the class developed by you. Anybody will be able to figure out the few public methods that can be referred to in the code. The logic that private class methods handle and which should not be touched, is also noticed easily. Again, your IDE interprets such hints. The editor used by you, in all probability, will be able to show you class methods enlisted as well as their visibility.

Type hinting- Interface/ class names or callable/ array keywords may be put next to function parameter. This restricts the making of wrong function call. However, anyone who reads the code will be able to use it as important information. The function body does not have to be examined to know about calling of the function.

Importance of comments- If a complex script is developed but there are no comments, an error might come up when someone wants to reuse it some time after. In this case, it will take a huge amount of time to fix the problem since just trying to understand the code it will turn out to be a time-consuming task. Here comments can help since they are not only extended but almost all developers understand them. All docs can be seen at conclusion but there will be some specific special parameters that will start with @. During this format, a tool may be used so that the documentation may be exported as a html, pdf or another file even from IDE that is been currently used. Comments act as additional explanation which helps people know whatever is going on.

Over-commenting the code- The code should be properly documented through comments in the scripts but there is no need for commenting in each single line. The source code's complicated parts should have comments so that they may be revisited later to remember everything but the simple things like MySQL connection should not have comments. Most times, good codes are self-explanatory.

Apart from these tips, inserting custom text in doc block will also help by serving as function or class documentation. This will be a good option, if documentation for the project has to be made available from outside the code. So, be patient and incorporate these tips which will help you become better developer with time.

You can hire developers from top custom php development companies in India who can help you build products within allocated budgets and time schedules.

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The 5 Most Relevant PHP Frameworks in 2013

Most developers use PHP frameworks to build robust web applications without putting extra time and effort. Each framework also comes with a set of classes and functions to help programmers in writing code in a quicker and structured way. Also, the PHP frameworks make it easier to implement specific design patterns. For instance, a programmer can use the Model-View-Control (MVC) architecture to separate the database-talking-code from the code related to the look and feel of the application.

As a developer has option to choose from a variety of frameworks, he often chooses the one that complements the specific requirements of the project. It is also important for a programmer to evaluate the pros and cons of each framework to take the best decision. However, each web application developer can avail some additional advantages by switching to some of the most popular PHP frameworks. So programmers must keep track of the most relevant PHP frameworks.

5 Most Relevant PHP Frameworks in 2013

Symfony: As free software, Symfony is popular among web developers across the world to build and maintain robust internet applications at a rapid pace. The framework is further effective in replacing the repetitive coding tasks with speed, flexibility and reusable components. Along with supporting the MVC system, Symfony also comes with a set of PHP code classes. A programmer also has option to use specific software building blocks like forms management, translation management and dependency injector.

Yii: The component based PHP framework is designed with the features and tools required to build web 2.0 applications. The combination of powerful caching system and features to work seamlessly with AJAX enables developers to build the application at a rapid pace. At the same time, Yii also enable programmers to use the MVC pattern to separate presentation and business logic. The framework also makes it easier for programmers to optimize the security of the website by availing features like output filtering, input validation, SQL injection and option to prevent cross-site scripting.

CakePHP: As an open source web application development framework, CakePHP is designed based on some of the widely used software design patterns and software engineering concepts. The framework is further written in PHP, and supports MVC architecture. CakePHP further makes it easier for programmers to set up the database, and start developing the website without using any complex XML or YAML files. Also, a programmer can avoid writing longer lines of code by availing features like database access, caching, translation, authentication and validation.

Laravel: Laravel is hugely popular among PHP developers as a classy and clean framework that does not require spaghetti coding. In addition to supporting a variety of databases including SQL Server, MySQL, SQLite and Postgres, the framework also allows programmers to create templates using the Blade templating engine. As Laravel is developed based on key Symfony components, it provides a solid foundation to the website through code that is reliable and well-tested. It is also powered by a composer that allows seamless integration of third-party applications into a website.

Zend: PHP programmers across the world use Zend as a PHP-based and object oriented web application development framework. The framework also has many open source contributors who are passionate about making coding easier. The framework is popular due to its effectiveness in building high-traffic websites and business-critical web applications at a rapid pace. It also allows users to secure the application by using a set of cryptographic and secure coding tools. At the same time, the programmers have option to adapt Zend according to the specific needs of the project, along with integrating seamlessly with other applications and frameworks.

The PHP frameworks are further being upgraded at regular intervals. The latest version of the framework also comes with a set of innovative tools and features to complement the current trends in php application development. So businesses must monitor the fluctuations in the popularity of these frameworks among PHP developers, because of the updates happening in the frameworks and choose one for their needs after precise validation and matching against their needs.

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Why do we use frameworks in PHP development?

It helps a lot to understand why we use frameworks in PHP development before zeroing in on a particular framework. A PHP Framework forms the basis of the platform that allows software developers to develop web applications. Hence it provides the detailed structure to develop an application.

The advantages of using a PHP Framework are manifold. First of all it helps save time. Secondly, it helps avoid the need to produce repetitive code, and thus helps the developer go for Rapid Application Development (RAD). Therefore one can always imagine how difficult it would be not to have a PHP Framework in place. These difficulties manifest while producing applications because the developer has to repeatedly code a lot of PHP. Notwithstanding the above fact, it also becomes imperative for the developer to execute the connection between his database and the application that he has been trying to develop from scratch. In these circumstances using a PHP framework makes custom PHP development easier by ensuring that this connection remains intact.

Essentially, PHP development is based on the Model View Controller (MVC) fundamentals which is an architectural pattern featured in a number of popular programming languages. The MVC architecture helps separate the domain logic from the user interface. Hence it is often quoted that, the key to understanding PHP Frameworks better comes through a thorough knowledge about the MVC architecture.

Although it may seem very convenient to pick up the most popular PHP framework in the market, it is also quite important not to get confused with what you need your framework to do and the features that are already bundled in the framework. Not every PHP Framework offers the same support for databases, communities, and an easy to follow user guide. At the same time if you are an end user company and you would like to build a content management system for your company using PHP, then you would obviously require some expert counsel from a professional PHP development company. When you are at this juncture of the software development phase then you can always approach Mindfire Solutions to address your PHP development needs. With over 10 years of custom PHP development experience along with deep expertise in the numerous PHP frameworks widely available in the market, Mindfire Solutions can be your ideal software development partner to help you from start to finish of your project. Not only will it help you decide judiciously on the framework to be used, it will undertake with utmost professionalism all the tasks that are essential towards the completion of the project.

Mindfire Solutions is a 12-year old leading Software Development and IT services company with a strong track record of working with SMBs like you who are present across geographies. Our 750+ spirited software engineers located across three advanced development centres in India have collectively executed more than 1000 projects for our 300+ client base. Along with a guaranteed Mindfire promise of unparalleled quality, we also have 100 hours risk free trial* for new clients.