PHP The Right Way: Best Practices and Quick Tips

Introduction

The book "PHP The Right Way: Best Practices and Quick Tips" (author — Phil Sturgeon, 2017, 198 pages) is not a classic textbook on syntax basics, but rather a guide to best practices and modern approaches in PHP development. It was born from the popular online resource of the same name and quickly became a desktop reference for thousands of developers worldwide. Unlike outdated guides, this book focuses on how to write clean, maintainable, secure, and efficient code in the realities of PHP 7.x.

What is this book about?

The book does not teach the basics of the language — it assumes the reader is already familiar with basic PHP syntax. Instead, it answers the question: "How do I write code correctly?". The author systematically covers key aspects of modern PHP development:

• Installation and configuration: proper server configuration, choosing a PHP version, configuring php.ini for development and production.
• Coding basics: PSR standards (PSR-1, PSR-2, PSR-4), naming, class autoloading with Composer.
• Working with databases: PDO, prepared statements, ORM (e.g., Eloquent), migrations and fixtures.
• Security: protection against SQL injection, XSS, CSRF, input validation, password hashing.
• Testing: unit tests (PHPUnit), TDD, integration testing, mock objects.
• Architecture and design patterns: MVC, Dependency Injection, Service Container, Repository Pattern.
• Tools and ecosystem: Composer, Git, CI/CD, debugging (Xdebug), profiling.
• Best practices for frameworks: Laravel, Symfony, Zend — general principles, not tied to a single tool.

Who is this book for?

The book is aimed at intermediate PHP developers who have already written several projects but want to move to a new level of quality. It will be useful for those who:

• use outdated practices (e.g., mysql_* functions, global variables, spaghetti code);
• want to master modern standards (PSR) and tools (Composer);
• strive to write testable and maintainable code;
• plan to switch to a framework or improve the architecture of an existing project.

What will the reader learn?

After reading the book, the reader will be able to:

• Set up a development environment for PHP 7+ considering all modern requirements.
• Organize code according to PSR standards and use autoloading.
• Safely work with databases via PDO and prepared statements.
• Protect the application from major vulnerabilities (SQL injection, XSS, CSRF).
• Write unit tests using PHPUnit and implement TDD in their process.
• Design application architecture using Dependency Injection and other patterns.
• Effectively use Composer for dependency management.
• Set up continuous integration and automated testing.

Strengths of the book

1. Practical focus. Each chapter contains specific code examples and tips that can be immediately applied in a project. No fluff — just the essentials.

2. Relevance. Despite the book being published in 2017, most of the recommendations (PSR, Composer, PDO, security) remain the gold standard even in 2025. The material is also applicable to PHP 8.x with minor adjustments.

3. Structure. The book is divided into short, logically complete sections. It is convenient to use as a reference — you can open the desired topic and quickly find the answer.

4. Neutrality. The author does not impose a specific framework but provides universal principles that work in any environment. This makes the book useful for developers using