A common programming pattern when using WordPress filters is the early return pattern (also know as the “short-circuit” pattern). This pattern is useful when you want to allow a filter to override a value that is “expensive” to calculate.
Dev Tips
zsh alias with fallback
In my zsh configuration I define a number of aliases. One particular zsh alias maps gl to my custom Git alias “git lg”. Since my zsh configuration is portable, I want to define a fallback if my custom Git alias does not exist on the machine.
Manually Trigger WordPress Heartbeat from Browser
When developing code related to the WordPress heartbeat, it is frustrating to make your code changes and then wait for the next heartbeat to occur. You can trigger the WordPress heartbeat in the browser manually to eliminate this delay.
WordPress Hooks and PHP Namespaces
While PHP namespaces allow you to refer to a function in file without using the fully qualified name, there is a catch when adding a WordPress hook or filter. The PHP __NAMESPACE__ magic constant can be helpful in this situation.
Remove newline at end of text file
Sometimes when I’m working with files in Git, I find myself with a change in a file that says “No newline at end of file”. This occurs when my editor adds the missing newline at the end of the file. While you should have a newline at the end of the file, you may have a reason for not wanting to add this change. In that case, you can remove the newline from the end of the file.
phpunit.xml vs phpunit.xml.dist
As a PHP programmer I’ve seen projects with a phpunit.xml file or a phpunit.xml.dist file (or even both, which is a mistake). These are configuration files for PHPUnit but why the two different file names? PHPUnit first tries to use phpunit.xml and if that file does not exist, then it tries to use phpunit.xml.dist instead. PHPUnit only uses one of these files, never both.
JavaScript Or (||) Versus Nullish Coalescing Operator (??)
The “or” (||) operator and the “nullish coalescing operator” (??) can often be used in similar ways when reading a property from an object that may or may not exist. When dealing with strings you’re typically better off using “or” (||) and for numbers you’re typically better off using the “nullish coalescing operator” (??).
SemVer TLDR
Semantic versioning (SemVer) is a standard for defining the version numbers. A version number consists of three numbers separated by periods (X.Y.Z). The type of change being introduced (e.g. a new feature or a change that breaks backwards compatibility) determines which numbers are incremented.
Git Alias Open Pull Request on GitHub
I want to be able to type “git open-github-pr” and have my browser open to the GitHub URL to create a Pull Request (PR) for my current branch on the current project I’m working on. Here is how I built this.
Your edited hunk does not apply
When using git add -p and faced with a hunk that can not be split sufficiently for your purposes, you can use the e option (manually edit the current hunk). Unfortunately, after manually editing the current hunk it is common to get the message “Your edited hunk does not apply.” I’ve found there are some things I can do to avoid this failure.