Cowboy Coding to Professional Development

WordCamp Kansas City 2015 Presentation on moving from cowboy coding to professional development.

Slide notes and links available at http://brudtkuhl.com/cowboy-coding-to-professional-developer-wckc-2015/

Transcript

1. From Cowboy Coding to
   Professional Developer
   Andy Brudtkuhl
   @abrudtkuhl
   YouMetAndy.com/wckc
   

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2. What Is Cowboy Coding?
   … and why it is a necessary evil
   

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3. TL;DR
   Don’t code live on your production server. Use version control.
   Be nice, use standards, and avoid shiny object syndrome.
   

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4. What makes a better developer?
   

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5. Be pragmatic.
   

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6. Be empathetic.
   (this is not easy)
   

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8. Use standards.
   (please)
   

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9. Tools Don’t Matter.
   Tools Mean Everything
   

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10. Be a good teammate.
    

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11. Avoid Shiny Objects
    

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12. Be verbose.
    (comment your code, describe your commits)
    

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13. Automate your busy work.
    

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14. Test your software
    (because someone else will)
    

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15. Don’t Repeat Yourself.
    

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17. Setup a local dev
    environment.
    

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18. Local Dev Environment
    • MAMP Pro
    • Desktop Server
    • VVV
    

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19. Use version control.
    

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20. What goes in Git?
    • Entire Site
    • Single Plugins and Themes
    • Never commit your wp-config.php file
    • Google “Git Ignore WordPress” for an
    example .gitignore file
    

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21. Sync your data.
    

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22. WP DB Migrate Pro
    • Use WP DB Migrate Pro
    • Migrate Data
    • Push / Pull Sync Data
    • Use WP_CLI addon to automate
    

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23. Deploy with sanity.
    

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24. Deploy with sanity
    • Dev / Test / Production environments
    • Stop doing things manually
    • Use WP-DB-MIGRATE to move data
    • Use WP-Pusher to deploy updates (no FTP, yay!)
    • Use Git on your server
    • Capistrano or Chef
    

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25. Being A Better
    WordPress Developer
    Tips and tools to be a better WordPress developer
    

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26. define( 'WP_DEBUG', true );
    

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27. Separate Concerns
    • Use Plugins for functionality and Themes for
    design
    • Don’t abuse functions.php
    • Use functionality plugins
    

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28. the loop.
    

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29. Follow WordPress Standards
    • Read the Codex
    • Follow WordPress developer standards for
    Themes, Plugins, and Core Contribution
    

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30. Use Core Features
    • Theme Customizer
    • Settings API
    • Options API
    • Image Thumbnails
    • Menu System
    • Widgets, Shortcodes
    • Custom Post Types & Taxonomies
    

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31. Enqueue All The Things
    • Include scripts and stylesheets in Themes and
    Plugins by enqueuing them
    • NEVER include your own version of jQuery
    

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32. Use Template Parts
    • Create reusable template parts
    • Build reusable loops
    • Reduce and Reuse code
    

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33. Validate, Sanitize, Escape
    • Validate = check user input
    • Sanitize = clean user input
    • Escape = securing user generated output
    

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34. Transients FTW
    • Simple Caching
    • Big Performance
    • Store data you expect to expire
    

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35. Use Starter Templates
    • WordPress Plugin Boilerplate
    • Theme templates like sage, roots, _s
    • GenerateWP.com
    

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36. Know variable scope
    • Don’t define your own Globals
    • Use namespaces and classes to properly scope
    your variables
    

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37. WP-CLI
    • A WordPress command line interface
    • Setup, install, configure sites from your terminal
    • Easily create scripts to spin up new sites
    • Automate Database migrations
    • Schedule Database Migrations
    

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38. Manage Dependencies
    • Use plugin_exists( ‘my-plugin’ ), class_exists( ‘MyClass’ ),
    or function_exists( ‘my_awesome_function’ )
    • TGM Plugin Activation
    • Require / Recommend dependencies in your custom
    themes and plugins
    • Use composer
    • custom plugin or theme with third party dependencies
    

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39. My Workflow
    1. Grab a task (Jira or Trello)
    2. Pull latest version of project from Bitbucket
    3. Pull latest version of data from Staging / Production
    4. Code feature / fix bug
    5. Commit and push updated code with comment and
    link back to ticket in Jira/Trello
    6. Deploy with WP Pusher or Git
    

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40. My Tools
    • Editor: Atom.io
    • Local Dev: MAMP Pro
    • Terminal: iTerm
    • Source Control: Git with Bitbucket
    • Data Management: WP DB Migrate Pro
    • Deployment: WP Pusher
    • Site Management: InfiniteWP
    

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41. YouMetAndy.com/wckc
    @abrudtkuhl
    

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