
Events Do Not Equal MVC
A while ago a developer who’s articles I read and who I have a lot of respect for suggested that WordPress is not suited to MVC and that the filters and hooks system(call it an event system, or an implementation of the observer pattern if you so wish) kind of negated the need for using […]

On Technical Debt and Craftsmanship
Technical debt is something we, as developers, live with every day. Sometimes a pragmatic solution needs to take precedence over a perfect solution. A software craftsmanship purist would argue that you should always strive for the perfect solution but in my opinion this is not always practical.

No Script : Size Really Does Matter
Really it does. Did you know that according to Netmarketshare.com17% of browsing happens on mobile devices. Maybe this comes as a surprise, maybe it doesn’t. What it does show is that the popularity of browsing on mobile devices is becoming more popular. Now I am all for an interactive browser experience using any and all […]

Every Library Needs and Index
Imagine walking into a library, and having to walk up and down the aisles trying to find the book you want. You may find the book eventually, or you may not. One thing is for sure it would take you a long time. If it takes you too long, most probably you’ll end up walking […]

Release Regularly, Release Often
When writing plugins, as a SOHO developer, the trickiest part is testing your software. Users are like aliens from another world. When they get their hands on your plugin, I can guarantee that they will use it in ways that you have never thought. Consequently, your code is never really tested until it gets into […]

The Perils Of A Polished Prototype
Prototypes are good. Well I think so. They give you a better idea of how an application should hang together, where the abstractions are, where there are opportunities for refactoring and re-use. But are there downsides? The classic one

Writing Beautiful Code
Like most of us I like pretty things. And when I see a thing of beauty it makes my heart sing. However this is not why I struggle to write beautiful code. Now I’m not talking about style, although that helps. And I’m not talking about coding standards, although that is also a significant factor. […]

WordPress Designer vs WordPress Developer, The Developer Role
If you read my article on the Designer role recently then you may well be wondering what is the developer role in all this is then? Well if a designer’s key skill is creating a visual destination then I believe the developer role is to create a functional destination. Now this isn’t about just building […]

WordPress, Custom Filters And Decoupling
I’m sure you are aware that having loosely coupled classes in your WordPress plugins is important for maintenance and bug fixing. If you are not sure what coupling is, this is when you have two software modules which are closely linked together. Where you have tightly coupled modules a change in one module has a […]

WordPress Designer vs WordPress Developer, The Designer Role
Something I often see on the internet, and especially in reference to WordPress is the discussion about the difference between a designer and a developer. Why does it matter? Even though the skills for each role overlap a lot, it is unusual to find someone who is good at both. I do think there is […]