PinnedSafely upgrade from PHP 7.4 to 8.1 using RectorI have to say it from the start, the only thing that comes close to safely upgrading a codebase is having a solid set of automated tests. Nothing gives you more comfort than a bunch of green checkmarks dancing on the screen. With that said, we’re going to upgrade a…PHP4 min readPHP4 min read
PinnedRefactoring #7: Upping the coding style game in PHP using RectorContinuing from the last post, we’re now exploring other Rector configurations that help us improve our code. It’s funny actually, Rector is a refactoring tool, but I’d be lying if I didn’t use it to learn a good practice or two. …PHP5 min readPHP5 min read
PinnedRefactoring #1: Using ternary and null coalescing operators in PHPTake a look at this little method below. Three issues come to mind the first time you see it. Unnecessary calls to array_key_exists, long chaining of if conditions, and a redundant nested code. Let's see how it can be improved, without changing its behavior. Using the null coalescing operator The first thing we want…Laravel3 min readLaravel3 min read
Apr 9Doing stricter checks in PHPA nice refactoring I’ve learned recently is to utilize types in conditionals. For years I’ve been doing if (!empty($posts)), but Rector, a tool to automatically refactor code, changed that to if ($posts === []). …PHP3 min readPHP3 min read
Feb 26Upgrading to Eloquent accessors & mutators from Laravel 9Laravel 10 is making the headlines these days. However, many apps are stuck in older versions, or at least still use the syntax and methods of older releases. One of the most significant changes introduced in Laravel 9 is the syntax for accessors and mutators. The old syntax used a…PHP3 min readPHP3 min read
Feb 1Development Driven TestingOne of the first roles that I’ve been working on since I went full-time remote was that of the unit tester. I wasn’t used to being the QA guy before and although this was new to me, I’ve gotten the hang of it. However, as part of my role, I…Testing4 min readTesting4 min read
Jan 22Allowing users to send emails with their own SMTP settings in Laravel 9Various guides exist on how to do this in Laravel, but all the ones I found (this and this) worked only up to Laravel 8. The reason is that in v9 the Swift Mailer was no longer supported in favor of Symfony Mailer. The Laravel docs show how to write…PHP3 min readPHP3 min read
Sep 4, 2022Refactoring #8: What is dead may never runIt’s important to take a good look at your code and clean up when you’re done with it. Once in a while, we tend to forget this little detail and just move on, leaving behind trails of unreachable statements. Here’s a very blatant example of a dead piece of code.PHP4 min readPHP4 min read
Aug 11, 2022Refactoring #6: Improve Code Quality in Laravel using RectorI recently discovered Rector and was completely blown away by its power and effectiveness. The promise is simple: you install and run the package, you get instant automated upgrades and refactorings. Damn, that’s bold, I thought as I dry ran it into one of my projects. While still reading their…PHP4 min readPHP4 min read
Apr 28, 2022Adding user-specific settings in LaravelThe latest feature we added to OLM is the ability to make yourself known to the world using your social media accounts. The links to your accounts appear on the photos you upload, in the Global Map. See the end result in this photo on the map. …Laravel3 min readLaravel3 min read
