PHP development in a devcontainer with preinstalled code quality tools
- Updated 2024-02-23, install Rector automatically
- Updated 2024-02-29, install Error Lens and Code Spell Checker
Let's imagine one of the following situations:
-
You are working with several people on the same PHP project and you notice that one or other person does not comply with your quality criteria when it comes to the layout of the code. You like to use four spaces for indentation, you want the brace that marks the start of a function to be on the line, you don't want to see any more useless spaces at the end of the line, ... and damned! you notice that some people don't care about this.
-
You are working alone on a project and don't want to lose time to configure your VSCode experience. You wish to start very quickly with a lot of tools already installed in VSCode so you can put your focus to the code, not the editor.
The ultimate solution: using a devcontainer in VSCode.
By using a devcontainer, you (and your team colleague) will use a preinstalled environment and everyone will have exactly the same. You'll save yourself a lot of time by not having to configure your system, and you'll be able to start coding straight away, supported by a range of quality analysis tools.
This article is written in the form of a step-by-step tutorial. If you don't want to take the time to create the configuration files yourself and download them directly, please run the commands below in a Linux console. You'll then get all the files and every time the tutorial below tells you to create a file, you'll already have it.
mkdir /tmp/devcontainer_php && cd $_
curl -LOJ --silent https://github.com/cavo789/php_devcontainer/archive/refs/tags/1.0.0.tar.gz
tar -xzvf php_devcontainer-1.0.0.tar.gz --strip-components 1 && rm -f php_devcontainer-1.0.0.tar.gz
The php_devcontainer repository will evolve over time. If you wish to download the latest version and not the use frozen for this article, please use the following commands and not the ones of here above:
mkdir /tmp/devcontainer_php && cd $_
curl -LOJ --silent https://github.com/cavo789/php_devcontainer/archive/refs/heads/main.tar.gz
tar -xzvf php_devcontainer-main.tar.gz --strip-components 1 && rm -f php_devcontainer-main.tar.gz
:::
1. Create the project
Let's start immediately a new project by creating a temporary directory by running mkdir /tmp/devcontainer_php && cd $_.
Since we'll create a few files, please run code . to start Visual Studio Code (aka VSCode).
Create a new file called index.php with the PHP code below:
<?php
function sayHello( ) {
$text="Hello World!";
return $text;
}
echo sayHello();
On the screen capture here above, you can see dots to illustrate spaces and you can see there are a lot of spaces here and there and there are just unneeded.
As you have noticed, VSCode saved our file as it was: with a layout that was just disgusting. Remember that, and we'll see that VSCode can do much better than that.
We can run that script in a browser by running docker run -d -p 80:80 -u $(id -u):$(id -g) -v .:/var/www/html php:8.2-apache (read The easiest way to run a PHP script / website post if a refresh is needed).
As you can expect, the script is running fine:
... you're one of those people who thinks The script works, doesn't it? So why all the noise?, please turn off your computer and promise never to touch a single line of code again. Even if the code work ... it stinks.
In this article we'll learn how to configure Visual Studio Code to comes with preinstalled extensions and configured for your targeting version of PHP (would be 8.2 but you can change this very easily).
A devcontainer is a pre-configured, isolated development environment running in a Docker container, offering consistent tools and settings across different machines.
2. Install first the ms-azuretools.vscode-docker VSCode extension
In VSCode, please press CTRL+SHIFT+X to open the Extensions pane and search for the Microsoft Docker extension called ms-azuretools.vscode-docker and if you don't have it yet, please install and enable it.
3. Create the devcontainer.json file
The next step is to create a folder called .devcontainer and, there, a file called devcontainer.json with the content below.
In the rest of this article, we'll come back to this file.
{
"name": "php_devcontainer",
"build": {
"dockerfile": "Dockerfile",
"args": {
"PHP_VERSION": "8.2",
"COMPOSER_VERSION": "2.5.5",
"PHPCSFIXER_INSTALL": "true",
"PHPCSFIXER_VERSION": "3.46.0",
"PHPCBF_INSTALL": "true",
"PHPCBF_VERSION": "3.7.2"
}
},
"workspaceMount": "source=${localWorkspaceFolder},target=/var/www/html,type=bind",
"workspaceFolder": "/var/www/html",
"remoteUser": "docker",
"customizations": {
"vscode": {
"settings": {
"[php]": {
"editor.formatOnSave": true,
"editor.defaultFormatter": "junstyle.php-cs-fixer"
},
"editor.codeActionsOnSave": {
"source.fixAll": true
},
"editor.formatOnSave": true,
"editor.renderWhitespace": "all",
"files.autoSave": "onFocusChange",
"files.eol": "\n",
"files.insertFinalNewline": true,
"files.trimTrailingWhitespace": true,
"intelephense.environment.phpVersion": "8.2",
"intelephense.telemetry.enabled": false,
"php-cs-fixer.config": "/var/www/html/.config/.php-cs-fixer.php",
"php-cs-fixer.executablePath": "/usr/local/bin/php-cs-fixer.phar",
"php-cs-fixer.onsave": true,
"php-cs-fixer.rules": "@PSR12",
"php.validate.executablePath": "/usr/local/bin/php",
"phpsab.executablePathCBF": "/usr/local/bin/phpcbf.phar",
"phpsab.executablePathCS": "/usr/local/bin/phpcs.phar",
"phpsab.fixerEnable": true,
"phpsab.snifferShowSources": true,
"phpsab.standard": "/var/www/html/.config/phpcs.xml",
"telemetry.telemetryLevel": "off",
"terminal.integrated.profiles.linux": {
"bash": {
"path": "/bin/bash",
"icon": "terminal-bash"
}
},
"terminal.integrated.defaultProfile.linux": "bash"
},
"extensions": [
"bmewburn.vscode-intelephense-client",
"junstyle.php-cs-fixer",
"ms-azuretools.vscode-docker",
"ValeryanM.vscode-phpsab",
"zobo.php-intellisense"
]
}
},
"postCreateCommand": "composer require rector/rector --dev"
}
4. Create the Dockerfile file
Please continue and create a second file called Dockerfile with this content:
ARG PHP_VERSION=8.2
ARG COMPOSER_HOME="/var/cache/composer"
ARG COMPOSER_VERSION=2.5.5
ARG PHPCSFIXER_INSTALL=true
ARG PHPCSFIXER_VERSION=3.46.0
ARG PHPCBF_INSTALL=true
ARG PHPCBF_VERSION=3.7.2
ARG TIMEZONE="Europe/Brussels"
ARG OS_USERID=1000
ARG OS_USERNAME="docker"
FROM composer:${COMPOSER_VERSION} as composer_base
FROM php:${PHP_VERSION}-fpm
ARG TIMEZONE
ENV TZ=${TIMEZONE}
ARG PHPCSFIXER_INSTALL
ARG PHPCSFIXER_VERSION
RUN set -e -x \
&& if [ "$PHPCSFIXER_INSTALL" = "true" ] ; then \
printf "\e[0;105m%s\e[0;0m\n" "Install php-cs-fixer.phar ${PHPCSFIXER_VERSION}" \
&& curl -L https://github.com/PHP-CS-Fixer/PHP-CS-Fixer/releases/download/v${PHPCSFIXER_VERSION}/php-cs-fixer.phar -o /usr/local/bin/php-cs-fixer.phar \
&& chmod +x /usr/local/bin/php-cs-fixer.phar ; \
fi
ARG PHPCBF_INSTALL
ARG PHPCBF_VERSION
RUN set -e -x \
&& if [ "$PHPCBF_INSTALL" = "true" ] ; then \
printf "\e[0;105m%s\e[0;0m\n" "Install phpcbf.phar ${PHPCBF_VERSION}" \
&& curl -L https://github.com/squizlabs/PHP_CodeSniffer/releases/download/${PHPCBF_VERSION}/phpcbf.phar -o /usr/local/bin/phpcbf.phar \
&& chmod +x /usr/local/bin/phpcbf.phar \
&& curl -L https://github.com/squizlabs/PHP_CodeSniffer/releases/download/${PHPCBF_VERSION}/phpcs.phar -o /usr/local/bin/phpcs.phar \
&& chmod +x /usr/local/bin/phpcs.phar ; \
fi
ARG COMPOSER_HOME
ENV COMPOSER_HOME=${COMPOSER_HOME}
RUN set -e -x \
&& mkdir -p "${COMPOSER_HOME}/cache/files" \
&& mkdir -p "${COMPOSER_HOME}/cache/vcs" \
&& chmod -R 777 "${COMPOSER_HOME}"
COPY --from=composer_base /usr/bin/composer /usr/bin/composer
ARG OS_USERID
ARG OS_USERNAME
RUN set -e -x \
&& useradd --password '' -G www-data,root -u ${OS_USERID} -l -d "/home/${OS_USERNAME}" "${OS_USERNAME}" \
&& mkdir -p "/home/${OS_USERNAME}" \
&& chown -R "${OS_USERNAME}":"${OS_USERNAME}" "/home/${OS_USERNAME}"
RUN set -e -x \
&& printf "\e[0;105m%s\e[0;0m\n" "Install Linux binaries" \
&& apt-get update -yqq \
&& apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends curl libzip-dev zip unzip \
&& docker-php-ext-install zip \
&& docker-php-source delete \
&& apt-get clean \
&& rm -rf /tmp/* /var/list/apt/*
WORKDIR /var/www/html
5. Reopen in the container
So, we've now three files: a disgusting index.php, .devcontainer/devcontainer.json and .devcontainer/Dockerfile.
What we will do now is to jump in a Docker container. Take a look at the bottom left of your screen:
You'll see something like, in my case, WSL: Ubuntu-20.04. It can be different on your computer depending on your operating system. What VSCode says here is I'm coding on my machine.
Click on that status or, as an alternative way, press CTRL+SHIFT+P to open the Command Palette and then search for Reopen in Container and press Enter.
Visual Studio Code will do a lot of stuff and, the first time, it can take a few minutes.
6. Working in the container
Now the magic happens: please reopen the so badly formatted index.php file and save the file without any changes. Just press CTRL+S and tadaaa 🎉🎉🎉
This because we taught VSCode to use a specific formatter for our PHP file and we told him to format the file each time it's saved. And do you know where we did it? In our .devcontainer/devcontainers.json and .devcontainer/Dockerfile files, of course!
This is why we're working in a Devcontainer! We've done the configuration once and for all, so all we have to do is reuse it, whatever the PHP project.
The first tool we've used here is PHP-CS-Fixer
When we save a file in VSCode, we have configured a formatter which will adapt the layout of the file according to the rules we have determined. For example, the number of spaces for indentation or the fact that braces must be aligned (and many other things). That tool is PHP-CS-Fixer.
But let's understand when PHP-CS-Fixer was installed...
Please reopen your .devcontainer/devcontainer.json file and look at the highlighted lines below:
{
// ...
"build": {
"dockerfile": "Dockerfile"
},
// ...
"customizations": {
"vscode": {
"settings": {
"[php]": {
"editor.formatOnSave": true,
"editor.defaultFormatter": "junstyle.php-cs-fixer"
},
// ...
"files.autoSave": "onFocusChange",
// ...
"php-cs-fixer.config": "/var/www/html/.config/.php-cs-fixer.php",
"php-cs-fixer.executablePath": "/usr/local/bin/php-cs-fixer.phar",
"php-cs-fixer.onsave": true,
"php-cs-fixer.rules": "@PSR12",
//...
},
"extensions": [
// ...
"junstyle.php-cs-fixer",
]
}
}
}
So, we're asking VSCode to, for PHP files, run a formatter when the file is saved and the tool to use for the formatting is junstyle.php-cs-fixer. Look directly at the end, in the extensions section, we instruct VSCode to install that extension.
We also instruct VSCode to automatically saved the file as soon as the focus changes i.e. for instance, if we select another file, if we click elsewhere (no more in the editor), ...
Finally, junstyle.php-cs-fixer requires some settings that we need to initialize like f.i. php-cs-fixer.executablePath.
Right now, you can think: Wait a minute, I don't have the /usr/local/bin/php-cs-fixer.phar file on my computer. And you are probably right but think again: are you coding on your computer or are you inside a Docker container?
By running VSCode in a container, you're no more on your machine.
And now, you need to take a look on the third file we've created: Dockerfile.
Please reopen the .devcontainer/Dockerfile file and look at the highlighted lines below:
ARG PHP_VERSION=8.2
// ...
ARG PHPCSFIXER_INSTALL=true
ARG PHPCSFIXER_VERSION=3.46.0
// ...
FROM php:${PHP_VERSION}-fpm
// ...
ARG PHPCSFIXER_INSTALL
ARG PHPCSFIXER_VERSION
RUN set -e -x \
&& if [ "$PHPCSFIXER_INSTALL" = "true" ] ; then \
printf "\e[0;105m%s\e[0;0m\n" "Install php-cs-fixer.phar ${PHPCSFIXER_VERSION}" \
&& curl -L https://github.com/PHP-CS-Fixer/PHP-CS-Fixer/releases/download/v${PHPCSFIXER_VERSION}/php-cs-fixer.phar -o /usr/local/bin/php-cs-fixer.phar \
&& chmod +x /usr/local/bin/php-cs-fixer.phar ; \
fi
// ...
That file will instruct VSCode to download a php:8.2-fpm Docker image and to install PHP-CS-Fixer (since PHPCSFIXER_INSTALL has been set to true).
The version 3.46.0 of the PHP-CS-Fixer executable will be downloaded and stored, in the Docker image, as usr/local/bin/php-cs-fixer.phar. This is why, in our devcontainer.json we can write "php-cs-fixer.executablePath": "/usr/local/bin/php-cs-fixer.phar",, because we've already downloaded and installed the executable.
Still in VSCode, open a terminal by pressing CTRL+´ and, in the prompt, type ls -l /usr/local/bin. As you can see, php-cs-fixer.phar is well there. It was installed downloaded and installed by VSCode when you've jump in the container.
PHP-CS-FIXER - Configuration file
The .devcontainer/devcontainer.json file also contains this line: "php-cs-fixer.config": "/var/www/html/.config/.php-cs-fixer.php".
So, we can have our own configuration file for PHP-CS-Fixer (with our own rules) and that file has to be created in a folder called .config and should be named .php-cs-fixer.php.
Let's try and this time we'll make sure all our PHP files will have a header block with our copyright or license information or anything else.
In VSCode, please create the .config folder and there the .php-cs-fixer.php file with this content:
<?php
$finder = PhpCsFixer\Finder::create()
->in('.')
->exclude([
'.config', '.devcontainer', '.git', 'node_modules','vendor'
]);
$header = file_get_contents(__DIR__ . '/licenseHeader.txt');
$config = new PhpCsFixer\Config();
return $config->setRules(
[
'@PSR12' => true,
'header_comment' => [
'header' => rtrim($header, "\r\n"),
'location' => 'after_declare_strict',
'comment_type' => 'PHPDoc',
],
]
)
->setCacheFile('/tmp/.php-cs-fixer.cache')
->setIndent(' ')
->setLineEnding("\n")
->setFinder($finder);
Please also create a second file called licenseHeader.txt file with the content you wish, f.i.:
This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
(at your option) any later version.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY
or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License
for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
with this program. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
Now, please reopen your index.php file and just press CTRL+S to save the file again and tadaaa...
As you can see, when formatting the file, PHP-CS-Fixer will also, now, injects our header.
Please go to https://mlocati.github.io/php-cs-fixer-configurator or https://github.com/FriendsOfPHP/PHP-CS-Fixer to learn more about the php-cs-fixer configuration file options.
PHP-CS-FIXER - Fix all files at once
One step further: is it possible to run PHP-CS-Fixer not just on the file being edited in VSCode but on all files in your repository. Yes, of course.
In VSCode, please press CTRL+´ (or click on the View menu then Terminal) to open a terminal. Make sure you're in the /var/www/html folder (run cd /var/www/html if needed) and run the following command:
/usr/local/bin/php-cs-fixer.phar fix --config /var/www/html/.config/.php-cs-fixer.php .
This will run PHP-CS-Fixer on all your codebase (.). If you want to exclude some folders, open the .config/.php-cs-fixer.php file and update the exclude array.
The second set of tools is PHPCBF and PHPCS
Our Dockerfile container was configured to download and install PHP_CodeSniffer tools called phpcbf and phpcs.
phpcbf is a Code beautifier tool: just like PHP-CS-Fixer, phpcbf will make some minor changes to your files accordingly to enabled rules.
For instance, please update your index.php script with this content:
<?php
function sayHello($firstname)
{
if($firstname == "") {
$text = "Hello World!";
}else{
$text = "Hello " . $firstname;
}
return $text;
}
echo sayHello();
What's wrong with this syntax? Almost nothing but ... the standard (PSR12) ask to put one space after the if keyword and one space before and after else.
Did you've noticed? You have copied/pasted the script below where there were no spaces before and after the else keyword. But as soon as you save the file, boum, the file is refactored by PHP-CS-Fixer and, among other things, spaces have been added before and after else but not for if. This is because, actually, there is not ONE MAGIC TOOL for everything. Sometimes PHP-CS-Fixer can't make some changes but PHPCBF well or the opposite.
Like for PHP-CS-Fixer, we already have installed PHPCBF and PHPCS in our container. See your .devcontainer/devcontainer.json file:
{
// ..
"customizations": {
"vscode": {
"settings": {
// ...
"phpsab.executablePathCBF": "/usr/local/bin/phpcbf.phar",
"phpsab.executablePathCS": "/usr/local/bin/phpcs.phar",
"phpsab.fixerEnable": true,
"phpsab.snifferShowSources": true,
"phpsab.standard": "/var/www/html/.config/phpcs.xml",
// ...
},
"extensions": [
// ...
"ValeryanM.vscode-phpsab",
// ...
]
}
}
}
And the two executables /usr/local/bin/phpcbf.phar and /usr/local/bin/phpcs.phar have been downloaded thanks to your Dockerfile. Just take a look if needed.
PHPCS and PHPCBF - Configuration file
In VSCode, please create in the .config folder a file called phpcs.xml file with this content:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<ruleset name="MyRules">
<arg name="colors" />
<arg name="extensions" value="php" />
<arg value="s" />
<arg value="p" />
<rule ref="PSR12" />
</ruleset>
Now, since we have defined our coding standard (PSR12 here), just display the index.php script again:
Open a terminal by pressing CTRL+´ (or by clicking on the View menu then Terminal) and run this command:
/usr/local/bin/phpcs.phar --standard=/var/www/html/.config/phpcs.xml /var/www/html/index.php
And you'll get this output:
FILE: /var/www/html/index.php
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOUND 1 ERROR AND 1 WARNING AFFECTING 2 LINES
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 | WARNING | [ ] A file should declare new symbols (classes, functions, constants, etc.) and cause no other side effects, or it should execute logic with side effects, but should not do
| | both. The first symbol is defined on line 18 and the first side effect is on line 29. (PSR1.Files.SideEffects.FoundWithSymbols)
20 | ERROR | [x] Expected 1 space(s) after IF keyword; 0 found (Squiz.ControlStructures.ControlSignature.SpaceAfterKeyword)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PHPCBF CAN FIX THE 1 MARKED SNIFF VIOLATIONS AUTOMATICALLY
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There is one warning and one error concerning coding convention violation and the nice thing is phpcbf can fix some..
Now, run almost the same command but no more phpcs (to detect violations) but phpcbf (to fix them -the ones that can be fixed automatically-).
/usr/local/bin/phpcbf.phar --standard=/var/www/html/.config/phpcs.xml /var/www/html/index.php
You'll get this:
PHPCBF RESULT SUMMARY
----------------------------------------------------------------------
FILE FIXED REMAINING
----------------------------------------------------------------------
/var/www/html/index.php 1 1
----------------------------------------------------------------------
A TOTAL OF 1 ERROR WERE FIXED IN 1 FILE
----------------------------------------------------------------------
And, indeed, if you look at your PHP script, now, there is a space after the if keyword.
PHPCS and PHPCBF - All files at once
You've probably already understood the syntax. Just use the . to scan the entire codebase:
- To fix violations, run
/usr/local/bin/phpcbf.phar --standard=/var/www/html/.config/phpcs.xml . - To scan remaining violations, run
/usr/local/bin/phpcs.phar --standard=/var/www/html/.config/phpcs.xml ..
The third tool is SonarLint
Here too, SonarLint was already installed in our Docker container thanks our .devcontainer/devcontainer.json file:
{
// ...
"customizations": {
"vscode": {
"extensions": [
// ...
"sonarsource.sonarlint-vscode",
// ...
]
}
}
}
SonarLint don't need external tool; it's a stand-alone VSCode extension so no need to foresee something in our Dockerfile.
So, please reopen the index.php file you've and now pay attention to the echo sayHello() line:
<?php
function sayHello($firstname)
{
if ($firstname == "") {
$text = "Hello World!";
} else {
$text = "Hello " . $firstname;
}
return $text;
}
echo sayHello();
Move the mouse cursor on the sayHello() variable and get extra information from SonarLint as a popup. You can, too, press CTRL+SHIFT+M to show the Problems pane (or menu View then Problems) to get the list of every SonarLint problems encountered in the current file and, too, in any file you'll open from now.
One solution would be to update the prototype of sayHello like this: function sayHello($firstname = "").
Unlike the tools we've seen here above, it's no longer about formatting, but about alerting the developer to potential bugs and fatal errors as they write their code.
The fourth tool is Intelephense
Next to SonarLint, there is also Intelephense who will also detect a certain number of potential bugs.
In the previous example; when the prototype was function sayHello($firstname), Intelephense was also alerting the developer about the missing parameter.
<?php
function sayHello($firstname)
{
if($firstname == "") {
$text = "Hello World!";
} else {
$text = "Hello " . $firstname;
}
return $text;
}
echo sayHello();
This example illustrates this point: to date, in February 2024, we still have to juggle with several extensions and tools to achieve clean, bug-free code.
The best for last, the fifth tool is Rector
Rector is a tremendous application to scan and automatically upgrade your codebase to a given version of PHP and this means, too, to inspect how you're coding.
Perhaps you're still using a way of programming that's worthy of PHP 5.4 but unworthy of a modern developer who's up to date with the latest developments.
I really LOVE Rector since he'll help me to learn new features of PHP. When I run it on any of my codebase, I can see where I can improve my code by refactoring some part and do better.
I REALLY LOVE RECTOR.
This time, we'll need to install Rector for our project and for this, we'll follow the official documentation: https://github.com/rectorphp/rector?tab=readme-ov-file#install but ... it's already done in our .devcontainer/devcontainer.json file.
If you reopen it, take a look on the postCreateCommand node:
{
// ...
"customizations": {
// ...
},
"postCreateCommand": "composer require rector/rector --dev"
}
Rector will be added to the composer.json file (and the file will be created if not yet present).
Composer has been installed in our DockerfileIf you're thinking Yes, but I haven't installed composer..., well, it's wrong. We installed it in our container. See again your .devcontainer/Dockerfile if needed.
Rector - configuration file
The second step in the installation guide asks us to run the command below. When prompted, please answer yes to create your rector.php configuration file.
vendor/bin/rector
Finally, open the rector.php configuration file and update it like this:
<?php
declare(strict_types=1);
use Rector\Config\RectorConfig;
return RectorConfig::configure()
->withSkip(
[
'.config', '.devcontainer', '.git', 'node_modules','vendor'
]
)
->withPhpSets(php82: true)
->withPreparedSets(codeQuality: true, deadCode: true, typeDeclarations: true);
Rector will suggest you changes but to do this, he needs to know which version of PHP you're running. Indeed, Rector won't suggest you a PHP 8.2 syntax f.i. if you're still running on an older version (see PHP Version Features).
You've noticed that Rector has created his configuration file in the root directory of your project. I prefer to move it to the .config folder.
Run Rector
To illustrate what Rector can do, please edit the index.php with this content, once again:
<?php
function sayHello($firstname = "")
{
if($firstname == "") {
$text = "Hello World!";
} else {
$text = "Hello " . $firstname;
}
return $text;
}
echo sayHello();
In a terminal, run vendor/bin/rector process index.php --dry-run --config .config/rector.php as we did before.
Take a look on the image here above. In red, your current code and, yes, we knew that, didn't we, the code quality is poor.
Indeed, one concept in clean code approach is to avoid using the if ... else ... conditional statement. Most probably, we don't need else (see https://phpmd.org/rules/cleancode.html#elseexpression).
Rector suggests removing completely the if .. else ... expression and to use a ternary expression. And, also, to directly return the value instead of using a dummy $text variable.
And that's correct, we can write return $firstname == "" ? "Hello World!" : "Hello " . $firstname; to get the exact same thing.
And if you think it's over, you're wrong. Rector now look at our function parameter and understand it's a string so he'll suggest to add a type hint and, too, to add a return type for the same reason.
Since we've analyzed the suggestions of Rector and we agree with, please rerun the same command but, this time, without, the --dry-run flag.
vendor/bin/rector process index.php --config .config/rector.php
Rector has updated our index.php file! Now, our function is just one line and no more seven. Nice improvement!
Our new, improved, code is now:
<?php
function sayHello(string $firstname = ""): string
{
return $firstname == "" ? "Hello World!" : "Hello " . $firstname;
}
echo sayHello();
Rector is absolutely brilliantly powerful. Learn more about it by reading carefully his documentation site: https://getrector.com/documentation/.
We can do one more improvement by extracting the Hello prefix. Rector has not yet see this but until when?
<?php
function sayHello(string $firstname = ""): string
{
return "Hello " . ($firstname == "" ? "World!" : $firstname);
}
echo sayHello();
Rector - All files at once
Back in your terminal and run the command below to scan your entire codebase.
vendor/bin/rector process . --dry-run --config .config/rector.php
Dry-run means no changes are made, just displayed
When running Rector using vendor/bin/rector process . --dry-run --config .config/rector.php, no files will be rewritten. Rector will only suggest changes.
If you allow Rector to make changes to your files, run vendor/bin/rector process . --config .config/rector.php instead but, here, you need to be sure it's OK.
If you're using a code versioning system, you can push your actual codebase to Github, create a new branch like for instance refactoring then run Rector safely on your disk. If something should be broken, you can always retrieve your source before any changes.
And we can add more tools
There are still several code analysis tools for PHP:
You can certainly also add them to your container.
Extensions
Some extensions will be automatically installed:
- bmewburn.vscode-intelephense-client - PHP code intelligence for Visual Studio Code,
- junstyle.php-cs-fixer - PHP CS Fixer extension for VS Code, php formatter, php code beautify tool, format html,
- ms-azuretools.vscode-docker - Makes it easy to create, manage, and debug containerized applications,
- sonarsource.sonarlint-vscode - Linter to detect & fix coding issues locally in JS/TS, Python, PHP, Java, C, C++, C#, Go, IaC. Use with SonarQube & SonarCloud for optimal team performance.,
- streetsidesoftware.code-spell-checker - Spelling checker for source code,
- usernamehw.errorlens - Improve highlighting of errors, warnings and other language diagnostics,
- ValeryanM.vscode-phpsab - PHP Sniffer & Beautifier for Visual Studio Code and
- zobo.php-intellisense - Advanced Autocompletion and Refactoring support for PHP