As a programmer we are always learning, so it is important to follow the best practices and adjust to them.
CakePHP Conventions
CakePHP Conventions
There are actually CakePHP coding conventions which should be followed. I will highlight a few things,
1) Control Structures. So often you see programmers get this wrong,
and in even some cases bring practices for other coding languages.
CakePHP expects the following syntax:
if ((expr_1) || (expr_2)) {
// action_1;
} elseif (!(expr_3) && (expr_4)) {
// action_2;
} else {
// default_action;
}
In the control structures there should be 1 (one) space before the
first parenthesis and 1 (one) space between the last parenthesis and the
opening bracket. So this means that the following is incorrect:
if ($foo) {
$bar = true;
if ($action) {
$to = false;
}
The indentation needs to line up correctly.
I often hear programmers say “but I am too busy to make the code
neat….” My response is – “trust me, neat code will stand the test of
time”. Writing code which isn’t readable will be a nightmare to come
back to if you need to make a change in a few months.
Fat Models, Skinny Controllers
Good CakePHP
code will have the logic in the model files. This takes a bit to get
used to, but once mastered there is no looking back! A controller file
should be used for what it is intended for in the MVC pattern –
controlling! So use your controller file to handle user actions, while
let the code logic go in the model file.
The default add function is as follows:
public function add() {
if ($this->request->is(‘post’)) {
$this->Post->create();
if ($this->Post->save($this->request->data)) {
$this->Session->setFlash(__(‘Your post has been saved.’));
return $this->redirect(array(‘action’ => ‘index’));
}
$this->Session->setFlash(__(‘Unable to add your post.’));
}
}
This controller action is fine for a simple add, but what would
happen if you wanted to do things such as send an email to the admin
when a post was added, or update another model association when a post
was added. This is additional logic, but this logic shouldn’t go into
our controller file.
Instead we would write a function for this in our App.php model, perhaps something like this:
public function addPost($data = array(), $emailAdmin = true) {
$this->create();
$this->save($data);
$this->create();
$this->save($data);
// update any other tables
// send the email to the admin user
if ($emailAdmin) {
if ($emailAdmin) {
}
// if all is successful
return true;
}
return true;
}
This would then result in a small change to the controller action as follows:
public function add() {
if ($this->request->is(‘post’)) {
if ($this->Post->addPost($this->request->data)) {
$this->Session->setFlash(__(‘Your post has been saved.’));
return $this->redirect(array(‘action’ => ‘index’));
}
$this->Session->setFlash(__(‘Unable to add your post.’));
}
}
if ($this->request->is(‘post’)) {
if ($this->Post->addPost($this->request->data)) {
$this->Session->setFlash(__(‘Your post has been saved.’));
return $this->redirect(array(‘action’ => ‘index’));
}
$this->Session->setFlash(__(‘Unable to add your post.’));
}
}
As you can see, the new action is actually one less line, because the
$this->Post->create() has been moved to the model file.
This is a perfect, everyday example of where moving logic to the
model file is a good idea – and it certainly makes for a much cleaner
code base!
Source: CodeWebber
