user notes: code snippets
| From: | Philip Olson | Date: | Thu, 08 Apr 2010 19:29:15 +0000 |
| Subject: | user notes: code snippets | ||
| Groups: | php.doc | ||
| Request: | Send a blank email to phpdoc+get-969381603@lists.php.net to get a copy of this message | ||
It feels like everyone agrees to accept what user notes have become (everything), so let's dive
deeper into each category with this thread being about code snippets. Warning: this thread may
contain crazy rambling thoughts and ideas, but that's okay (today).
A few thoughts that come to mind:
* Tagged as a code snippet
* Users rate it, 1-10
* Ensure the copyright/license stuff is clear
* Syntax highlighting, and worrying about <?php
* Dealing with PHP version requirements?
* One [good] snippet on multiple manual pages?
* Users comment on individual snippets?
* Some notes will contain a lot of words with a small code snippet, what tag is it?
* Define what makes a good one (teaches about the topic, secure, concise, ...)
* Define what makes a bad one (generic, insecure, too long, overly complex, ...)
Example of good versus bad:
* A piece of code is well written, about 20 lines, and is about creating a password. It happens to
use strlen() a couple times so is posted under function.strlen. Good? Bad?
A few other questions:
* Let's say a piece of code is great, voted up, and uses 5 internal PHP functions. Should we
scan it, then automagically make the snippet linked to the 5 manual pages?
* We don't plan on becoming a full blown code repository, or do we? Worth worrying about?
* Should we suggest (not enforce) coding standards?
And lastly, one problem about coding examples is how good practice can dilute the example. So for
example, while teaching people about $_GET['foo'] we may end up with one of:
A) echo htmlspecialchars($_GET['foo'], ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8'); // Hello World
B) echo $_GET['foo']; // Hello World
The (A) dilutes the idea of $_GET whereas (B) is clear. So which is the better example? Probably (A)
in this case but the point is it's not straightforward.
All thoughts welcome. Or, KISS? :)
Regards,
Philip