Category: Development

Tips, techniques, and deep dives into PHP coding, architecture, and tools—focused on writing cleaner, faster, and more maintainable code.

  • Optimizing Large PHP Codebases Without Breaking Everything

    Optimizing Large PHP Codebases Without Breaking Everything

    When you’re working in a large PHP codebase, optimization isn’t just about speed—it’s about survival. You can’t just go in and start swapping out loops or rewriting core logic without risking a domino effect that’ll take your entire app down with it. So here’s how I approach optimizing large PHP projects without blowing them up.…


  • How Eager Loading Works in ORM (With PHP Examples)

    How Eager Loading Works in ORM (With PHP Examples)

    When I first started using ORMs in PHP, I loved how clean and readable my code became. But I quickly ran into performance problems—things were getting sluggish, and I couldn’t figure out why. That’s when I discovered the magic (and danger) of lazy loading, and why eager loading is a tool every developer needs in…


  • How to Implement MySQL Pagination in PHP (Step-by-Step Guide)

    How to Implement MySQL Pagination in PHP (Step-by-Step Guide)

    Pagination: it’s how you turn ā€œHere’s a mullion rowsā€ into ā€œHere’s 20 rows per page” without melting your server. Alright, before we dive in—this post assumes you already know how to connect to MySQL using PHP’s PDO. If that sounds like gibberish, hit pause and go learn that first. I’ll wait. šŸ˜Ž Still here? Great.…


  • 10 PHP Performance Pitfalls and How to Fix Them Like a Pro

    10 PHP Performance Pitfalls and How to Fix Them Like a Pro

    Let’s be real—most PHP performance issues aren’t caused by exotic edge cases. They’re caused by small mistakes that quietly accumulate until your server starts sweating. Over the years, I’ve fallen into every performance trap in the book—and watched others do the same. So here’s a list of the top 10 PHP performance pitfalls I’ve seen…


  • Why Developer Experience Matters in Plugin UX

    Why Developer Experience Matters in Plugin UX

    When we talk about plugin UX, we usually think about the end user. Is the UI intuitive? Does the feature solve the user’s problem? Is the performance snappy? All valid questions—but often, we forget one critical piece: the developer’s experience building and maintaining that plugin. Developer Experience (DX) isn’t just an internal concern—it has a…


  • How to Onboard a New Developer to Your Plugin Codebase

    How to Onboard a New Developer to Your Plugin Codebase

    Bringing a new developer into your plugin project can go one of two ways: smooth and productive—or completely chaotic. I’ve seen both. Whether you’re working on a public WordPress plugin or a custom solution for a client, onboarding a new dev isn’t just about giving them access to the repo and saying ā€œgood luck.ā€ It’s…


  • The Hidden Costs of Not Documenting Your Plugin Code

    The Hidden Costs of Not Documenting Your Plugin Code

    We’ve all done it. You’re deep in the flow, building out a plugin feature, squashing bugs, hitting milestones—and you think, ā€œI’ll document this later.ā€ Then later becomes never. I used to think documentation was a ā€œnice-to-have.ā€ Something you do when the real work is done. But over the years—especially maintaining my own WordPress plugins and…


  • Why I Still Love Developing for WordPress After 25 Years

    Why I Still Love Developing for WordPress After 25 Years

    It’s been 20+ years since I started developing with WordPress, and a lot has changed in the tech world. Frameworks have come and gone, trends have shifted, and countless tools have promised to ā€œreplace WordPress.ā€ And yet—after all this time—I still find myself coming back to it. Not out of nostalgia or habit, but because…