Patterns for PHP

Posted by santosj on July 7, 2006

Unlike another PHP Pattern site, the site uses a white background with black text that is easy to read. It does have color to spice things up with an great layout and nice banner.

SPL Patterns

The Standard PHP Library has a few patterns for developers to use. There are other Wikis trying to document and help with using them, I still think that they should document the usage on the site also. The documentation and help for SPL is what is keeping it from the main stream and a lot more novices would enjoy it better if it wasn’t so hard to learn.

You really have to look hard for good descriptive SPL sites that tell you what you need to know. Some of the lesser known SPL classes are impossible to find help for and you are on your own on reading the SPL documentation and doing your own tests on how to use the classes.

I think it would make Patterns for PHP a great resource if it included SPL patterns and how to use them, even if SPL iterators are discussed more often than any other SPL object.

Linking to SPL PHP Wiki could just cover that part and allow for writers to add their information there instead of having duplicated information across both sites with nothing in depth. I still think that a few of the SPL patterns should be covered on a PHP patterns site.

Observer Pattern

The Observer Pattern really needs to be better defined in its usage. Yeah, it is nice and all, but most people I have seen write about it either don’t know its there, or doesn’t see a point of using it. Part of the issue is that it wasn’t added until PHP 5.1 and some hosts might still be on PHP 5.0.

Iterator Pattern

I try to use this pattern more often than I probably should. It is really awesome, but I have had some speed concerns that could be caused by my lack of optimization or with the overhead that the class brings. My vote is on my lack of mad skillz, but that could also be brought forward in a Proper Usage and Optimization Section.

The Iterator Pattern also includes FilterIterator and LimitIterator, which I have used in the past, but don’t give any speed benefits over SQL. However, in other areas it only seems to be a millisecond or two slower. I should note that my speed comparsions aren’t acceptable and I didn’t use XDebug for the tests.

Both FilterIterator and LimitIterator are easy to use and can be extended for classes that give a better description of what the Filter would be used for.

MVC Pattern

It is one of the hardest patterns for me to understand. I’m wating for this Pattern to be added to see how well I can understand it with the Patterns for PHP site as compared to the PHP Patterns site.

Plugin/Adapter Pattern

This seems to be very popular pattern. The issue is that there are so many different ways to implement it. There is no right or wrong way, but a generic method would get developers started on how they can go about implementing the model themselves.

The Plugin and Adapter Patterns are easy to implement, but even they can get complex when the speculations grow.

PHP Patterns Site

Where is the love? There really isn’t any, most people complain about the black background and the lack of ability to read the text very well. The site has a wealth of knowledge on PHP Patterns, but the navigation is god awful. They try to organize the site in a fashion that they think people would be able to find information. I had to attempt three times to successfully find the pattern I was looking for.

You can’t replace PHP Patterns, but competition is good for the soul. It could get the contributors of PHP Patterns heads out of their asses and fix the problems with their site. The two will complement each other until Patterns for PHP grows to the point where they crush PHP Patterns. I suppose I hate PHP Patterns because of the blue links on green background. Easier on the eyes my ass!

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