WordPress is able to boast of powering over half of the sites on the web. That is incredible. To reach such a feat, WordPress had to ensure compatibility. This meant writing *extra* code to check, extend, or even add required functionality. The result is over 120,000 lines of PHP code. When you have a code base that size, it is unlikely to be very performant. In this article, we will look at 21 ways to improve WordPress’ performance. –by Jason McCreary

One of Drupal’s strengths is the extent to which a site builder can put together complicated functionality. From fieldable entities in core to essential modules like Views to searching contributed modules, there’s very little you can’t do by selecting and configuring the right modules (for better or for worse). If you stick to modules that can export their configuration and leverage the Features modules or your own custom update hooks, you can deploy what you build to other environments without the headaches or mind-numbing tedium that came before. Inevitably, though, there are times when need to write some custom code and wrap it in a Drupal module. In this article, I’ll share some code snippets that come in handy across projects, and you’ll see how you can put them to use too. –by Oscar Merida

Yii is a framework that is often overlooked as it is sometimes overshadowed by some of the bigger, more well-known frameworks. With Yii 2.0 reaching alpha status and soon to be a stable release, I will go over some of the basics of getting a Yii 2.0 powered application up and running as well as cover some of the differences between Yii 1.1 and Yii 2.0. –by Philip Moorjani

Whether you are going to a PHP conference or organizing a user group, there’s a community-developed tool which makes feedback really simple. It’s called Joind.in, and today, we’re going to use it to experiment with the more collaborative nature of the community spirit underpinning PHP development. –by Matthew Setter

I’m going to say something that I never thought I’d say in my life. In fact, I’m not sure that a single programmer has ever said this! Ready? Going to church at a young age helped me be a better programmer. What? I know, but stick with me, and I’ll explain. –by Aaron Saray

In this month’s column, we’re going to be looking at one of the fastest frameworks available for PHP, Phalcon (). If you’re tired of frameworks that provide so much, but consequently don’t have the performance you need as a result, then you’ll want to know about Phalcon. I will be giving you a rapid run-through of Phalcon by building a simple app which shows conference talks, a little like a baby version of Joind.in. –by Matt Setter

Laravel makes authenticating users extremely easy. It’s so easy, that we as developers run the risk of forgetting some of the important complexities that we need to understand to keep our users’ accounts protected. –by Dirk Merkel

“Fork it, Fix it, or F@#$ off” How often have you heard this phrase said in the programming community? How often? How recently? Have you said it yourself? –by Eli White

PHP used to be a small, inconsequential thing – a fad that would pass with time. Though some do still try, it’s not possible to say that now. PHP has come into its own, and like any large-scale entity, a set of leaders has emerged. This is not to say that every project isn’t important and useful in its own way. Everything we build has a purpose (even if it’s sometimes just to remind us what not to do). However, some projects have outpaced the others, setting the trends that the rest of us, whether we like it or not, need to follow if PHP is going to have a unified front moving forward. –by Beth Tucker Long