What are some of the things junior PHP developers should know, but don’t often know?

PHP Developers

There are over 3000 built-in functions in PHP. A lot of PHP developers implement slow code in PHP when they could do the same work many times faster and in one line of code by using a built-in function. It pays to go read the documentation on all the built-in extensions and functions. But the most common gap in knowledge for junior PHP developers is: PHP itself.

What should be known?

1.    Here is the list of few complimentary knowledge that most of the junior developers don’t have:

•    PHP: The right way of coding and implementing.
•    PSR-1: Basic coding standard
PSR-2: Coding Style Guide
•    Security: How much secure is your work?
•    Source control with Git
•    Object-Oriented PHP
•    Frameworks like Laravel
•    Exception handling
•    Unit testing with PHP unit

2.    All the junior developers need to learn some of the following things:

•    How to properly plan to code: Don’t just start up writing codes. Before doing that first think of what test cases you will need to pass.

•    How to properly write code: You must try to write the absolute least amount that would be able to complete your next test. Don’t try to write the whole situation all at once.

•    How to Structure code properly: Try to keep your code modular and Don’t Repeat Yourself. Write each modular part in such a manner that it performs its one function without having to know all sorts of outside knowledge about the functions that are calling it.

•    How to comment code properly: You must follow the commenting standards of the project. Remember that just because you know why a certain coding choice was made right now, you won’t remember that when you have to return to your code later on.

•    How to test code properly: You need to understand some of the testing like Unit testing,integration testing and functional testing. You must start with the unit testing and make sure that it is the absolute smallest possible unit at that.

•    Appreciate the values of standard: Learn and follow the coding standards for the project on which you are working. It doesn’t matter whether the standards correspond to your preferred way of doing things, you may expect the variation from your normal ways.

If a junior developer wants to grow as an engineer, they should not just rely on one language but dig into one or more other programming languages. The junior developers should keep a proper communication with their peers, with the manager and with people in other teams. They should know it is very important to comply with code conventions and standards, as eventually it saves times to them and everyone else.

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