A Nice PHP Learning Resource
The Jobtensor PHP Tutorial site is cleanly designed, has decent coverage of language features, and allows users to code right on the site.
Inflatable Press
Articles
archive
POPP Diary #5 - The Grind of Chapter 4
PHP Objects Patterns, and Practice diary week #5: A monster chapter with over a hundred code examples proves a challenge.
POPP Diary #4 - The First Submission
PHP Objects Patterns, and Practice diary week #4: A chapter submitted! Using Github for book writing/editing. More new features.
POPP Diary #3 - Actually Writing
PHP Objects Patterns, and Practice diary week #3: Writing begins in earnest. I face a tighter schedule than expected. I begin to encounter new features.
POPP Diary - Revision Timetable Edition
PHP Objects Patterns, and Practice edition 6 - revision diary. Week #2: Diverted by the promise of Markdown and writing many lovely tools.
POPP Diary #1
A diary for work on the new edition of PHP Objects Patterns, and Practice. Week #1: Firing up vagrant, fixing my tests, finagaling dependencies, building PHP...
Exporting and Importing with wp-cli
If you’re a WordPress self-hoster and you’re anything like me, you’re constantly tweaking, moving posts from staging systems to live, and then exporting co...
WordPress with Vagrant: spin up local...
Here’s why you should consider deploying WordPress with Vagrant for development and testing – and how to do it! I throw in some Composer for WordPress and ...
Including classes in WordPress plugin...
Perhaps not the snappiest title for a blog post, but it does sum up what I’m hoping to do with this one. When I started work on Pressmonkey – our lovely Wo...
Hitting beta – Pressmonkey is scary a...
Scary and free? Well the scary part is mine. The free bit is for you. That is if you are a WordPress kind of person and you like to tweet. Pressmonkey is a...
PHP Objects Patterns and Practice (5t...
I’m delighted to announce (a little behind the fact if I’m honest) that the 5th Edition of PHP Object Patterns and Practice is now available – and with a lov...
Day 25 – What next?
I am writing this having eaten far too much (the time of writing being Christmas day and this being the final ‘window’ in an advent series of twenty-five for...
Last window but one: the advent serie...
And so the end of this advent series draws near — twenty-five posts in twenty-five days. Also the end of the year looms too, but the less said about 2016 the...
Pushing and pulling post data between...
Now that I have two sites that mirror one another with VersionPress (gistaging – the origin and gidev – the clone) it’s time I tried out this plugin’s abilit...
VersionPress – getting to a clone (wi...
Running late with this blog – partly due to external factors, partly because I have disappeared down in interesting but intricate VersionPress-related rabbit...
Day twenty – check in
Client work largely ate the day today leaving little time for the site reboot or for this blog. Nevertheless, I have been chucking bits of content at WordP...
Getting started with VersionPress: in...
Today I began my evaluation of the VersionPress plugin Setup is not without its wrinkles, but then it’s alpha software and covers some quite complicated grou...
A Nineteenth Day Check In
Just a check-in today. I have been roughing out content and playing with layouts – some issues with getting Bootstrap plugins to play nice with Twenty Sevent...
Overriding Parent Themes with CSS
Three days, three overrides! I started two days ago with the bluntest of blunt instruments – switching out a whole template. I narrowed things yesterday wi...
Overriding Parent Themes with Filters
Yesterday, I used a fairly crude mechanism for overriding a single line in a template. I added my own version of the file to my child theme – thereby clobb...
Overriding a Parent Theme at the Temp...
So after my day of doodling yesterday, I’m back today with a little bit of code, and some discussion of overriding parent themes. I intend to use the mult...
Homepage Sketch and Little Else
Playing with themes today and wondering what should go where. photo credit: karen horton Germany postage stamp: fifteen via photopin (license)
Day 14: Stripping down, setting up an...
Yesterday I migrated an entire database from one WordPress installation to another, a process somewhat complicated by the fact that the source WordPress en...
Migrating the WordPress Database with...
In yesterday’s post, I toured a few options for WordPress migration. I still like the look of VersionPress because the full clobber of most solutions out t...
A Quick Check In on Migration
More a report than an article today. I am beginning to think about working with some real content at last. To that end, I have been experimenting with vari...
Playing Nice: Sharing Permissions wit...
If you’re managing a WordPress site primarily through the browser, there’s a good chance you don’t ever have to think about permissions once your initial s...
Child Themes the Easy (CLI) Way
After yesterday’s post, I received some correspondence (AKA tweets) from @tomcoady. He pointed me to the WordPress codex documentation on child themes whic...
Creating a Basic Child Theme
Hello from Brussels. The Christmas market is in full swing here and I am stuffed with tartiflette and waffle – with beer to come I hope. Amidst the bustle,...
Twenty Seventeen – a Thin Post
Today my team and I launched a new iteration of a client’s product. Always something of a white-knuckle ride. Available time for diving into anything but t...
Themes again. And the Winner is…
I left you yesterday with an exciting cliffhanger. Then I applied my thinking to the theme choices out there. The plan was to sift through the options, wei...
The Dance of the Themes
Today, things begin to get a bit more real. It’s time to choose a theme. Or at least to kick off the process. This stage is always problematic for me – par...
Adding a WordPress Project to a Git R...
Day Five already. And Monday too. If you’re reading along, well done. Let’s take a breath. OK. Today I’m going to add my project to a git repository. This...
From Composer Install to Hello World
Today I’m going to work from an inert file structure (the composer install process we covered yesterday) to a running WordPress site. I have complicated ma...
Using Composer to deploy WordPress Co...
So far I have decided I need a new version of this site (day 1) and worked out roughly how I’d like to structure my components (day 2). I still haven’t wor...
Day 2: Directory Structure
For today’s window, I’m going to organise my directories. This is one of those deceptive choices that seems trivial at first blush, but can bite you hard lat...
Day 1: The Decision to Act
So this week I finally delivered the proof corrections for edition five of PHP Objects Patterns and Practice and inevitably my thoughts turned to blogging ...
Happy New Year from getInstance()!
The thing about blogs is that they show you up. Leave it a while and there’s that previous post sitting around to tell the world just how long it’s been sinc...
WordPress, snapshots, automated insta...
I love WordPress. It’s a truly slick application, and I find myself using it increasingly for mediumweight projects. Like many coders, I’d really rather be p...
Foundations
How to tame or nuke conditionals
Conditional statements are at the core of decision-making in coding but they can go rogue. Here’s how to tame them.
Chat comes to the OpenAI API
Chat has arrived in the OpenAI API. Here’s how to invoke it from PHP.
Hello, Hal. Connect PHP to GPT models
Connect to the OpenAI GPT models from your PHP projects..
Use the Unsplash API to automate blog...
Use the Unsplash API with PHP to resize, download and save images and to generate attribution text.
Convert HTTP objects between Symfony ...
If you need to shift a project between Symfony and Slim it can be useful to convert Request and Response objects between implementations. Here’s how.
A PHP Web app in twenty minutes with ...
Get up and running with Slim, a super-clean and extensible PHP micro-framework.
How and why to use PHP-DI: a PHP depe...
What is a dependency injection container? How and why to use PHP-DI to create objects and pass them to your components.
PHPUnit: Getting from Zero to Test
PHPUnit: Get testing fast. Why you should test. How you’re probably testing already.
PHP Command line scripting basics
How to build useful and flexible command line scripts with PHP and why you should.
Check values and set defaults for PHP...
Check that your PHP variables and array elements are set or apply default values using some super-clean and compact techniques
PHP 8 - Constructor Property Promotion
This lovely PHP 8 feature cuts down boilerplate in class definitions by at least half, making your code more readable and less prone to errors.
Eight must-have Linux skills for LAMP...
Even if you code on a Mac or Windows computer, you will need these essential Linux skills if you want to call yourself a Web developer.
Do one thing at a time
Is your code trying to do too much? Dramatically improve the design of your system by focusing each component on a single responsibility.
Access a PHP object like an array wit...
The ArrayAccess interface lets you manage a PHP object like an array. Set, get, delete and test values using array syntax - with Callbacky - a working exampl...
Explore the filesystem with a PHP dir...
Continuing the Foundations series - create a PHP directory list class using the elegant DirectoryIterator. Create reusable and extensible code to mine subdir...
The dreaded white screen of doom – ho...
A fatal PHP error can leave you with an empty screen. Here’s how to find and manage error information in your system to get your code back on track.
Tools
Talk at PHP Sussex: The Shelley AI ch...
A talk about Shelley, a PHP-based command line AI chat client. Access GPT from your console!
Chat comes to the OpenAI API
Chat has arrived in the OpenAI API. Here’s how to invoke it from PHP.
Cross-posting Markdown to Medium with...
Use PHP and the Medium API to cross-post Markdown articles that include local images.
Hello, Hal. Connect PHP to GPT models
Connect to the OpenAI GPT models from your PHP projects..
Use the Unsplash API to automate blog...
Use the Unsplash API with PHP to resize, download and save images and to generate attribution text.
Convert HTTP objects between Symfony ...
If you need to shift a project between Symfony and Slim it can be useful to convert Request and Response objects between implementations. Here’s how.
A PHP Web app in twenty minutes with ...
Get up and running with Slim, a super-clean and extensible PHP micro-framework.
PHP Command line scripting basics
How to build useful and flexible command line scripts with PHP and why you should.
Foundations: The key issue – setting ...
Setting up SSH keys on a Linux server can be a chore. An overview of key files, how to generate and to install on Github. Plus troubleshooting advice!
Eight must-have Linux skills for LAMP...
Even if you code on a Mac or Windows computer, you will need these essential Linux skills if you want to call yourself a Web developer.
A PHP Twitter API OAuth example using...
A complete PHP Twitter API authorisation flow using the lovely Silex micro-framework and Guzzle 6 - from the user’s first click to a proof of concept query.
A PHP Enum class
Here’s one approach that addresses the current lack of a native PHP enum class. An Enum type allows you to define and enforce a limited set of values, and...
News\Misc
Announcing PHP 8: Objects Patterns an...
PHP 8: Objects Patterns and Practice, 7th Edition Volume 1 is out! Volume 2 is complete in draft.
Python for PHP Programmers cover reveal
A sneak peek at the new cover design for Python for PHP Programmers, including some hat-oriented versions.
PHP Library for OpenAI Assistants API
UPDATED. We wrote a PHP API client for OpenAI’s Assistants API… by accident. Maintain state! Build smart knowledge bases! Integrate third party tools!
A late November check-in
Get the latest updates from Hidden Hat HQ, including new articles and book projects.
How not to be be an asshole
It’s nice to be nice. But even if you’re a meanie deep down inside, being good to your team is strategically the way to go.
Can Code be Art?
Where is the beauty in beautiful code? Can code be art or even poetry? Let’s kick that around a little.
Taking stock: a second site check in
How is the Hidden Hat project doing after two weeks? What is the plan to build traffic?
Hidden Hat: what’s in a name?
Why is this site named for a Hidden Hat? The answer takes in code debugging and a beloved 1970s TV character.
Hidden Hat Diary #1
In the first Hidden Hat diary entry, I introduce the site and the mission. Then I call for help.
A standing desk
Coders and writers are a sedentary bunch by and large. Because I’m both, I probably get a double dose of sitting around. Apparently sitting is the new smokin...
Hello world! (Inevitably)
This is the inevitable test post for this soft-launched iteration of Matt Zandstra’s getinstance() site. It’s all a bit bare bones round here at the moment ...
Python for PHP Programmers
Reading and writing files with Python
How to read and write files in Python from a PHP coder’s perspective
Encoding and Decoding JSON in Python
Like PHP, Python provides built-in support for encoding and decoding JSON data. We cover the fundamentals in this article.
Testing for variable existence in Pyt...
PHP offers isset() to test for the existence of variables and elements. A look at some equivalent tools that Python provides.
Basic type checking in Python
Learn how to use Python’s type() and isinstance() functions, the Pythonic counterparts to PHP’s gettype() and instanceof.
Pick a card - random numbers in Python
A look at Python’s random module – how it differs from PHP’s rand() and what it adds.
Multiline strings in Python
PHP supports multiline strings with the heredoc text syntax. We take a look at a commonly used Python equivalent.
Iffing and elsing in Python
Most programs of any complexity must change their behaviour according to circumstances. Conditional statements are among the principle tools for the job.
Defining functions in Python
Accepting and processing raw materials, rendering back useful products, functions are the magic machines at the heart of your programs.
Working with Python variables
At the core of coding is the ability to change data and behaviour. For that you need to define variables and assign data to them.
The print() function and string forma...
You have to start with “Hello, World”, and that means printing it. We begin the project by digging in to Python’s print function.
Why PHP coders should learn Python too
Languages are not tribes. Diversify to improve your skills and earning power.
Design
How and why to use PHP-DI: a PHP depe...
What is a dependency injection container? How and why to use PHP-DI to create objects and pass them to your components.
Managing return values with PHPUnit m...
How to use PHPUnit mock objects to create a virtual laboratory for testing components. Set up stub objects to return values via simple method calls.