wpday bologna 2013

How to become a better WordPress Developer

1

WPDAY - BOLOGNA - SEPTEMBER, 13 2013

DANILO ERCOLI

AGENDA

WPDAY BOLOGNA - SEPTEMBER, 13 2013

• Development Tools

• The WordPress Codex

• Coding Standards

• Data Validation

• wpshell

• Caching

• Debugging

WORDPRESS DEVELOPMENT TOOLS


DEVELOPMENT TOOLS

• A good IDE can help you program faster and better: Sublime Text 2, PHP Storm, Eclipse for PHP, Netbeans for PHP, Coda

•Code completion, easy WordPress function reference, project management, database editing, file comparison, FTP, debugging facilities

•Codex and PHP Manual always loaded in the browser

•Keep a copy of WordPress core in your IDE

•Use wpshell for fast testing. Use command line interface (wp-cli)

• Install XDebug on your local/remote installation (live debugging)


THE WORDPRESS CODEX


CODEX

•The WordPress codex, and PHP Manual always under your hands.

• codex: The online manual for WordPress Developers http://codex.wordpress.org

•The Codex is a wiki, meaning anyone can edit it. It grows and thrives off of individual contributions from people like you

•The best starting place for learning about how to develop pluginshttp://codex.wordpress.org/Writing_a_Plugin

•Working with Themes https://codex.wordpress.org/Theme_Development

•WordPress Coding Standards

http://codex.wordpress.org/WordPress_Coding_Standards

General information about coding standards for WordPress development


http://codex.wordpress.org

http://codex.wordpress.org

http://codex.wordpress.org/Data_Validation


https://codex.wordpress.org/Theme_Development

https://codex.wordpress.org/Theme_Development



CODEX: CODINGS STANDARDS

•Single quotes unless you need to evaluate a variable

<?php echo 'a great string'; ?>

vs

<?php $dog_name = 'Winston';

echo "my dog's name is: $dog_name"; ?>

•Naming is important

$myGreatVariable = 2; //not so much

$my_great_variable = my_function(); //Correct


CODEX: CODINGS STANDARDS

•Yoda conditionsif ( $city == 'Montreal' )

vs.

if ( 'Montreal' == $city )

•Don’t get too clever

isset( $var ) || $var = some_function();

Easier to read:

if ( ! isset( $var ) )

$var = some_function();


WPSHELL


WPSHELL

• wpshell is a command line shell suitable for any php project, includes code indexing, searching, and displaying built-in

• It gives you a command shell that accepts native PHP code as well as all the functionality your regular WordPress install would give you

• http://code.trac.wordpress.org/ - http://hitchhackerguide.com/2011/11/13/wpshell-a-shell-for-wordpress/

• This is intended for advanced developers. If you don’t know what you’re doing you can easily mess up your WordPress install. You can delete posts/users/anything in few commands

• I would not run this on production, but only in a local development environment. We will run it in production on WordPress.com (but rollback is easy there)

• Example: switch_to_blog( 11719333 ); $lastposts = get_posts( 'numberposts=1' ); var_dump( $lastposts );


DEBUGGING


DEBUGGING TECHNIQUES

• echo The simplest approach, useful for seeing what a value is during run-time. This just outputs the value of a variable to a page you’re working on.

• var_dump() / print_r() / var_export()These functions displays structured information of a variable.

• console.log() / alert()If you’re writing Javascript, then you’ll probably be using one of these approaches. Alert will pop up a blocking dialog that you need to confirm to close (be careful about doing this in a loop!) while console.log() will write to your browser’s developer’s console (accessible via Web Inspector, Firebug, etc).

• debug_backtrace The debug_backtrace() function generates a backtrace.



• PHP “Magic Constants”Use PHP macros in combination with your various output techniques, like so: sprintf( "%s: %s", __FILE__, __LINE__ )

Spamming this down a file/function will help you figure out the path of execution, and also the last place your script was before “stopping” It can generate a lot of output but it’s pretty useful at times

• error_log()Instead of outputting a value directly to a page, using this to output it to your sandbox’s (or production) php error log file.

error_log( print_r( $results, true ) );

It’s often handy to have a Terminal window open with the following command running, which will show you the most recent entries in the log:

tail -‐f /tmp/php-‐errors


https://opengrok.a8c.com/source/s?defs=error_log&project=trunk

https://opengrok.a8c.com/source/s?defs=error_log&project=trunk

https://opengrok.a8c.com/source/s?defs=print_r&project=trunk

https://opengrok.a8c.com/source/s?defs=print_r&project=trunk

https://opengrok.a8c.com/source/s?defs=results&project=trunk

https://opengrok.a8c.com/source/s?defs=results&project=trunk

https://opengrok.a8c.com/source/s?defs=true&project=trunk

https://opengrok.a8c.com/source/s?defs=true&project=trunk


• My favorite logging combo

error_log( "Request headers : \n\n".var_export( my_get_request_headers(), true ) );

error_log( "backtrace: \n" . print_r( debug_backtrace( DEBUG_BACKTRACE_PROVIDE_OBJECT, 2 ), 1 ) );

Request headers :array ('x-forwarded-for' => '151.28.191.79','x-ip-trail' => '151.28.191.79','x-forwarded-port' => '443','x-forwarded-proto' => 'https','host' => 'public-api.wordpress.com','connection' => 'close','authorization' => 'Bearer tra-lallero-trallalà-XXXX','accept' => '/','accept-encoding' => 'gzip, deflate','accept-language' => 'en;q=1, fr;q=0.9, de;q=0.8, ja;q=0.7, nl;q=0.6, it;q=0.5','content-type' => 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded; charset=utf-8','cookie' => 'wordpress_test_cookie=WP+Cookie+check','content-length' => '188','user-agent' => 'wp-iphone/3.7.1 (iPhone OS 6.1, iPhone Simulator) Mobile',)



debug_backtrace: Array( [0] => Array ( [file] => /home/wpcom/public_html/wp-content/mu-plugins/push-notifications.php [line] => 244 [function] => xmmp_log [class] => Mobile_Push_Notifications [object] => Mobile_Push_Notifications Object ( [log_recipients:Mobile_Push_Notifications:private] => Array ( [0] => [email protected] )

[log_target_users:Mobile_Push_Notifications:private] => Array ( [0] => eritreocazzulati [1] => 7272jean )

)

[type] => -> [args] => Array


mailto:[email protected]



• Email!!Email isn’t dead! You can send debugging information directly to an email account using something like this:

mail( '[email protected]', 'Really Important Debugging Information', print_r( $important_data, true ), 'From: [email protected]' );

Note that I like to use my direct @gmail.com address to get the fastest possible delivery, and setting a From address can help avoid getting these things sent to your spam folder.

•XDebug If you’d like to connect to your ( remote | local ) server from your local machine and use xdebug to get very detailed debug info, breakpoints, etc.






DEBUG PLUGINS

• Debug Bar

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/debug-bar/

Adds a debug menu to the admin bar that shows query, cache, and other helpful debugging information.

• Debug-Bar-Extender

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/debug-bar-extender/

Extends the debug-bar plugin with additional tabs to measure runtimes between checkpoints and lookup variable content. (Do not use in a production site).

• Debug Bar Console

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/debug-bar-console/

Adds a PHP/MySQL console to the debug bar. Requires the debug bar plugin.


CACHING


DIFFERENT TYPES OF CACHING

Full page caching

•WP Super Cache•Batcache•W3 Total Cache

Object level caching with native caching APIs

•W3 Total Cache•WP File Cache•APC•Memcached Object Cache


FULL PAGE CACHE: BATCACHE

What is Batcache?

Batcache is a plugin to store and serve cached versions of rendered pages.

• Batcache uses memcached as its storage and is aimed at preventing a flood of traffic from breaking your site. It does this by serving old pages to new users.

• This reduces the demand on the web server CPU and the database. It also means some people may see a page that is up to 5 minutes old.

•Development testing showed a 40x reduction in page generation times: pages generated in 200ms were served from the cache in 5ms.

• Traffic simulations with Siege demonstrate that WordPress can handle up to twenty times more traffic with Batcache installed.


http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/batcache/








PAGE CACHE: BATCACHE

Who receives a cached pageview?

• By default, all new users receive a cached pageview.

• New users are defined as anybody who hasn’t interacted with your domain —once they’ve left a comment or logged in, their cookies will ensure they get fresh pages.

• Note that URLs with query strings are automatically exempt from Batcache.

$batcache['max_age'] = 300; // Expire batcache items aged this many seconds (zero to disable it)

$batcache['times'] = 4; // Only batcache a page after it is accessed this many times.



Because Batcache caches fully rendered pages, per-user interactions on the server-side can be problematic.

This means usage of objects/functions like $_COOKIE, setcookie,$_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'], and anything that’s unique to an individual user cannot be relied on as the values may be cached and cross-pollution can occur.

In most cases, any user-level interactions should be moved to client-side using JavaScript.

In some cases, we can help you set up Batcache variants if you’re limiting your interactions to a small set of distinct groups.(e.g. serve different content for users depending on whether the cookie “customer-type” is set, or equals “paid” or “pending”). Please get in touch if this something you’re interested in setting up.


http://vip.wordpress.com/documentation/vary_cache_on_function/

http://vip.wordpress.com/documentation/vary_cache_on_function/


if ( Jetpack_User_Agent_Info::is_blackbeberry() ) {

! $batcache['unique']['mobile'] = 'blackberry';

} elseif ( Jetpack_User_Agent_Info::is_WindowsPhone7() ) {

! ! $batcache['unique']['mobile'] = 'windows-phone7';!

} elseif ( Jetpack_User_Agent_Info::is_S60_OSSBrowser() ) {

! $batcache['unique']['mobile'] = 'dumb';

} elseif ( in_array( jetpack_is_mobile( 'smart', true ), array( 'iphone' ) ) ) {

! $batcache['unique']['mobile'] = 'iphone';

} elseif ( jetpack_is_mobile( 'dumb' ) ) {

! $batcache['unique']['mobile'] = 'dumb';

}

Batcache Variants


WORDPRESS NATIVE CACHING APIS

Transients

• Persistent out of the box• Stored in wp_options: _transient_{key} • WordPress uses for certain internal functions • set_, get_, and delete_transient()

Object Cache

•Not persistent without a plugin, such as W3 Total Cache or Memcached Object Cache•Storage depends on server's and plugin's capabilities•Used extensively within WordPress Cache objects can be grouped wp_cache_add(), _set, _get, _delete


DATA VALIDATION


PROPERLY VALIDATE, SANITIZE, AND ESCAPE YOUR DATA

Your code works, but is it safe?

Rule No. 1: Trust Nobody

The idea is that you should not assume that any data entered by the user is safe. Nor should you assume that the data you’ve retrieved from the database is safe – even if you had made it ‘safe’ prior to inserting it there.

•In fact, whether data can be considered ‘safe’ makes no sense without context.

•Sometimes the same data may be used in multiple contexts on the same page.

Rule No. 2: Validate on Input, Escape on Output

To escape is to take the data you may already have and help secure it prior to rendering it for the end user


DATA VALIDATION

A must-read for WordPress contributors. Describes the functions used by WordPress to validate and sanitize data. Developers should be familiar with these functions and ideas





VALIDATING: CHECKING USER INPUT

To validate is to ensure the data you’ve requested of the user matches what they’ve submitted.

There are several core methods you can use for input validation; usage obviously depends on the type of fields you’d like to validate.

http://codex.wordpress.org/Data_Validation#Input_Validation

Let’s take a look at an example.

<input id="my-zipcode" type="text" maxlength="5" name="my-zipcode" />

We’ve limited the input to five characters of input, but there’s no limitation on what they can input. They could enter “11221″ or “eval(“. Or even more characters if they change the HTML.


VALIDATING: CHECKING USER INPUT

1 $safe_zipcode = intval( $_POST['my-‐zipcode'] );

2 if ( ! $safe_zipcode )

3 $safe_zipcode = '';

4 update_post_meta( $post-‐>ID, 'my_zipcode', $safe_zipcode );

The intval() function casts user input as an integer, and defaults to zero if the input was a non-numeric value.

We then check to see if the value ended up as zero. If it did, we’ll save an empty value to the database. Otherwise, we’ll save the properly validated zipcode.


SANITIZING: CLEANING USER INPUT

Whereas validation is concerned with making sure data is valid – data sanitization is about making it safe. Even ‘valid’ data might be unsafe in certain contexts.

You cannot ask “How do I make this data safe?”. Instead you should ask, “How do I make this data safe for using it in X”.

<input id="title" type="text" name="title" />

Tex$title = sanitize_text_field( $_POST['title'] );2

update_post_meta( $post-‐>ID, 'title', $title );t

We could sanitize the data with the sanitize_text_field() function:


SANITIZING: CLEANING USER INPUT

Behinds the scenes, the function does the following:

•Checks for invalid UTF-8

•Converts single < characters to entity

• Strips all tags

•Remove line breaks, tabs and extra white space

• Strip octets

The sanitize_*() class of helper functions are super nice for us, as they ensure we’re ending up with safe data and require minimal effort on our part.


http://core.trac.wordpress.org/browser/tags/3.3.1/wp-includes/formatting.php#L2918

http://core.trac.wordpress.org/browser/tags/3.3.1/wp-includes/formatting.php#L2918

ESCAPING: SECURING OUTPUT

For security on the other end of the spectrum, we have escaping. To escape is to take the data you may already have and help secure it prior to rendering it for the end user.

WordPress thankfully has a few helper functions we can use for most of what we’ll commonly need to do:

esc_html() we should use anytime our HTML element encloses a section of data we’re outputting.

</pre><h4><!-‐-‐?php echo esc_html( $title ); ?-‐-‐></h4><pre>

esc_url() should be used on all URLs, including those in the ‘src’ and ‘href’ attributes of an HTML element.

<img alt="" src="<?php echo esc_url( $great_user_picture_url ); ?>" />


http://codex.wordpress.org/Data_Validation#Output_Sanitation

http://codex.wordpress.org/Data_Validation#Output_Sanitation

ESCAPING: SECURING OUTPUT

esc_js() is intended for inline JavaScript.

var value = '<?php echo esc_js( $value ); ?>';

esc_attr() can be used on everything else that’s printed into an HTML element’s attribute.

<ul class="<?php echo esc_attr( $stored_class ); ?>">

It’s important to note that most WordPress functions properly prepare the data for output, and you don’t need to escape again.

<h4><?php the_title(); ?></h4>


Danilo ErcoliAutomattic Inc.

http://daniloercoli.com

RELATORE

Danilo ha più di 10 anni di esperienza nello sviluppo di soluzioni software per il web e per il mobile. Ha lavorato con i più disparati linguaggi di programmazione, dall’assembler a SmallTalk, dal C all’ Object-C passando per Lisp, Java e PHP. Sviluppatore certificato PHP e Java2 SE. Molto tempo fa ha anche scritto un compilatore per il linguaggio Tiger. Attualmente lavora in WordPress.com passando gran parte del tempo sviluppando le soluzioni mobili offerte da WordPress e sviluppando componenti server a supporto del mobile. Lead Developer di WordPress for BlackBerry and PlayBook.

BIO


http://www.dominio.it/

http://www.dominio.it/

wpday bologna 2013

Technology