Modern PHP coding style guide

The PSR-1 and PSR-2 coding standards define how code should look like.

PSR-1 is the basic coding standard for PHP. PSR-2 is the coding style guide.

Prior to their definition one would copy a coding standard from one of the popular frameworks around, but now that PHP has an official coding standard, we should all aim to adhere to it.

PSR-1 in a nutshell

• Files SHOULD either declare symbols (classes, functions, constants, etc.) or cause side-effects (e.g. generate output, change .ini settings, etc.) but SHOULD NOT do both
• Namespaces and classes MUST follow an “autoloading” PSR: [PSR-0, PSR-4]
• Class names MUST be declared in StudlyCaps
• Method names MUST be declared in camelCase

PSR-2 in a nutshell

• Code MUST use 4 spaces for indenting, not tabs
• There MUST NOT be a hard limit on line length; the soft limit MUST be 120 characters; lines SHOULD be 80 characters or less.
• There MUST be one blank line after the namespace declaration, and there MUST be one blank line after the block of use declarations.
• Visibility MUST be declared on all properties and methods; abstract and final MUST be declared before the visibility; static MUST be declared after the visibility.
• Opening parentheses for control structures MUST NOT have a space after them, and closing parentheses for control structures MUST NOT have a space before.

Enforcing standards

It’s essential to know and understand the coding standards. Having your IDE or editor enforce it automatically is a big step towards complying with it.

On PHPStorm

It’s built-in. Go in Preferences -> Editor -> Code Style -> PHP, on the right click “Set from..” and choose “Predefined Style” -> “PSR1/PSR2”

On Sublime Text

Use sublime-phpfmt