What is a coding convention? What is the standard coding convention for PHP, or is there even a standard out there? If I wanted to follow a known convention, how would I choose? This article takes a deep dive into what coding conventions are and explores the reasons why adhering to a recognized standard should be important to any developer. Examples of four different well-known standards are also presented to help with the process of selecting a suitable coding convention. –by Andrew Podner

Documentation is always a part of any project. Sometimes, however, a project ends with no, or very little, documentation as it is normally one of the first things that gets thrown out the door when deadlines loom. Developers are very good at saying, “I’ll circle back to this when I’m finished”. Often, though, this time never comes. Now when I say documentation, I’m not just talking about code comments. Documentation is an idea that encompasses code comments, but is so much more. Documentation allows new developers to quickly pick up on a project and get to work. Documentation helps new users find what they need to do so they get their jobs done more quickly. Documentation is important, so what can we as developers do to help make documentation better? –by Chris Tankersley

As modern-day PHP developers, we have the luxury of many different testing tools and frameworks at our disposal. Yes, sometimes using the tool you are most comfortable with is the best decision. However, what if you are missing out on a testing paradigm which fits your project better? Today, we will look at the popular PHP testing tools and when they are most appropriately used. –by Jeff Carouth

Last month, I started this column about fixing bugs for ZF2 (Zend Framework 2) with an explanation of the new bug fixing process – which outlined several roads you can take if you want to fix some code – and I also fixed a very minor issue. This month, I’m going to try something that’s very much related, but on the other hand, new to me: fixing documentation. –by Bart McLeod

There are a number of formats that make content creation easy in web applications, but for simplicity, you can’t go past Markdown. In this month’s column, I take you through a very simple, very effective library which you can use to integrate Markdown support into your applications today with minimal overhead – php-markdown. –by Matthew Setter

Magento was released almost five years ago. Since that time, it has come to be the most widely-adopted PHP-based enterprise eCommerce application in the world. However, despite millions of downloads and over 100,000 active sites, demand for skilled Magento developers remains high while finding quality, experienced Magento developers remains impossible. I believe that this unfulfilled demand is the result of a steep learning curve and lack of documentation which leaves developers stymied. My goal with this monthly column is to shed some light on core framework concepts, workflows, and tools to help developers find their way into the busy world of proper Magento development. In order to properly introduce Magento, though, it’s necessary to start with some observations and some history. –by Ben Marks

Introductions, a new beginning, and looking to the future. –by Eli White

Conferences can change your life. Don’t miss out on all the benefits. –by Elizabeth Tucker Long