I wonder..

[jwilson122]

I know I am probably posting this in the wrong place, SORRY! lol Not sure where to post this.. but anyways.

I am wondering if I am approaching coding php the correct way or not.. About how long would YOU put into making a full register script with address yada yada? Like.. It takes me days, but I'm never happy with the way it looks lol Any suggestions or something? lol

 

Thanks!

[btherl]

It would take me between an hour and a day, depending on the exact spec.

 

As for suggestions, start with something simpler and build up from there.  Eg start with a script taking one input and displaying it.  Then change it so it stores that one input into the database instead.  Then have it check for duplicates before storing.  Then add a second input item.  Then add the rest of the input items.

[jwilson122]

It would take me between an hour and a day, depending on the exact spec.

 

As for suggestions, start with something simpler and build up from there.  Eg start with a script taking one input and displaying it.  Then change it so it stores that one input into the database instead.  Then have it check for duplicates before storing.  Then add a second input item.  Then add the rest of the input items.

 

hmm k Well, I know php fairly well now.. I use a class like $db->q("yada yada"); etc. But, my main struggle is the security in fields. Such as, sanitizing user input :/ I know how to do like.. if ($_POST['username'] == '') or (empty($_POST['username'])) and I'd make sure that username doesn't already exist.. But its like.. all the things together looks messy to me :/

[btherl]

You can make a function, eg "validate_username()".  Then put all the messiness inside there.  Creating a function (or object, structure, etc etc) to hide the messiness is one of the most effective ways to simplify a program and make it easy to understand and get working properly.

[jwilson122]

You can make a function, eg "validate_username()".  Then put all the messiness inside there.  Creating a function (or object, structure, etc etc) to hide the messiness is one of the most effective ways to simplify a program and make it easy to understand and get working properly.

 

So you mean create a function for everything pretty much? lol

like.. validate_username(), validate_email() etc?

[BlueSkyIS]

... or not, leaving all the messiness on one file.

[btherl]

Yep, exactly.  Then your main code looks a bit like this:

 

if (! validate_username($username)) {
  # Validation error, do something here
}
if (! validate_email($email)) {
  # Validation error, do something here
}

 

which is much easier to read than

 

if (empty($email) || !preg_match('|[a-zA-Z0-9]+unreadable*regexp^goes?here|', $email)) {
  # Validation error
}

 

Then down below you have

 

function validate_email($email) {
  if (empty($email)) return false;
  if (!preg_match('|messy regexp for email validation, found from google|', $email)) return false;

  # Email looks valid
  return true;
}

[jwilson122]

Yep, exactly.  Then your main code looks a bit like this:

 

if (! validate_username($username)) {
  # Validation error, do something here
}
if (! validate_email($email)) {
  # Validation error, do something here
}

 

which is much easier to read than

 

if (empty($email) || !preg_match('|[a-zA-Z0-9]+unreadable*regexp^goes?here|', $email)) {
  # Validation error
}

 

Then down below you have

 

function validate_email($email) {
  if (empty($email)) return false;
  if (!preg_match('|messy regexp for email validation, found from google|', $email)) return false;

  # Email looks valid
  return true;
}

 

ah k cool. So question. How would you do errors? I usually just echo then out, create a var like.. $errors = true; under the echo'd message, then do.. if ($errors == false) create user.. yada yada. But I'm sure there are easier better ways..

[btherl]

That's good enough.  I always keep seperation between code and display, so I would store the errors in a variable and then display all of them at once, along with all the other output.  But it's basically the same idea as what you are doing.