Re: Web application design considerations - a good reference ?

Do not under any circumstances try to do this from scratch. :-) Use an existing framework like Zend Framework or CakePHP or a CMS/framework hybrid like Drupal or a dedicated app for billing and processing. It will save you months of work, and countless security holes. Even if you don't use it directly, studying a large existing system like that will open your mind to better ways of thinking. I only half-joke when I say that everything I know about PHP I learned from Drupal. :-) On Monday 01 June 2009 11:50:36 pm Angus Mann wrote: > Hi all. > > I'm working on a PHP project for my own personal business use. It will > handle billing and invoices as well as payments and time management, > bookings, appointments and a few more. I may add things like personal > messaging between the various users and a customer login to check on the > progress of their accounts. > > It is a big project and will probably take a year or so to complete in my > spare time. > > I have made a couple of starts but I have no experience in creating such > large applications and I find I often end up with spaghetti code. I've > tried using session variables to keep track of where and what the program > is doing but there are so many permuations and combinations I found myself > writing endless streams of if's, and's and or's just to figure out what > page to display. > > The code is not the probblem for me...it's the flow and organization of the > code. > > Can anybody point me to a good book or tutorial that lays down the > principles and gives some suggestions for integrating the many subroutines > of a large application? I want to make the code readable and logical in its > flow, and avoid repetition of code segments. > > Much appreciated. > Angus -- Larry Garfield larry@garfieldtech.com