When your unit test suite gets larger, it can take quite a long time. One of the many ways to speed this up is to hunt down and fix slow tests. Let’s use PHPUnit’s test listeners to do just that. (more…)

It’s great to run code coverage at the very end before you push your changes. This gives you some idea what’s tested and what’s not. But you don’t have to wait till the end; code coverage can help you all throughout writing your test suite, too. (more…)

When talking to junior developers, I hear the same question over and over: “how can I demonstrate what I know, or show experience, if I haven’t had any gigs yet?” Old-timers tell you to build a portfolio, but how do you do that? Where do you get ideas? How do you choose a project that’s not overwhelming? Let me explain my rationale as well as demonstrate how I might make my first portfolio project. (more…)

CSS contains custom properties or variables which make style reuse a breeze. But, when you use the inspector on your favorite browser, you only see a definition of the variable, not the value itself. If you want to see the value of the variable, it just takes an extra step or two in your favorite browser. Let me show you how. (more…)

I’m a sucker for those little badges at the top of the README files in Github repos. I know you can get them from external services, but could I host my own? Let’s find out. (more…)

Oh, what a scary thought: a manager must always be perfect. But, stick with me here. (more…)

With the Shortcuts app on your iOS device, it’s easy to create a motivational message for after your alarm. (more…)

Apache’s mod_rewrite module can create redirects with the proper configuration. Let’s dig in. (more…)

This is part of a series of articles from the retired The Dev Manager website. (more…)

I’ve been trying to balance automation with interaction with my social media broadcasting. I want to automatically tweet new blog entries, yet I want to target hashtag trends. Luckily IFTTT Pro has launched and can help us do this. (more…)