WordCamp Atlanta 2017 is this weekend, and if you’re attending, then I hope to see you there. I’ll be speaking about Namespaces and Autoloading in WordPress.

For those who are coming, I’ll be speaking on Saturday at 10 am.
Software Engineering in WordPress, PHP, and Backend Development
WordCamp Atlanta 2017 is this weekend, and if you’re attending, then I hope to see you there. I’ll be speaking about Namespaces and Autoloading in WordPress.

For those who are coming, I’ll be speaking on Saturday at 10 am.
Recently, I’ve been working on a project that requires a lot of work with dates. Depending on the nature of the work, there are times in which this can be easier than others.

On the one hand, if you’re making a simple comparison between, say, the values of two months then that’s not a big deal. On the other hand, if you’re dealing with months, days, years, the current date, timezone offsets, and different formats, then it can be a bit more complicated.
The point of all of the above, though, is not about strictly working with dates. Instead, it’s about the challenges that come with needing to write, test, and work with source code.
And if you’re in the habit of writing code, testing it in a browser, doing some form of debugging or dumping information onto a screen, and then repeating the process, there are easier ways to deal with this.
When retrieving information from the WordPress database I prefer to avoid using direct database queries, but there are times in which they can be useful (and it’s important that it’s done right).
One use case in which it might be helpful is when you need to retrieve a set of data of a single type. Case in point: Say you need to load all WordPress custom fields.
At the time of this writing, there’s no function of which I’m aware that will do this, so here’s how I query the database to do so.
Since bringing on a couple of contractors, one question that others ask is:
oWhat is it like to go from working on projects by yourself to working on projects with a team?
Or, more simply, what’s it like having contractors? The short answer is that I dig it because it affords some advantages:
The other side of this, though, is that I feel like I have to learn what it’s like to start a business all over again.

Like starting with a blank slate.
This, by no means, is a bad thing. It’s the opposite. But when you go from working on projects on your own and developing your setup, then there’s a period of adjustment that happens.
I’m still experiencing this and working through it. It requires both conversations with your team and a bit of introspection to determine if what you’re doing is still right for the way you work or if you should adjust it.
I don’t write much about blogging on this site because it’s a bit meta and because I try to focus on WordPress development and related topics.

Talking about blogging is a bit meta, isn’t it?
But one of the questions that I receive from fellow developers who are interested in blogging has asked this question enough times that I thought it might be worth providing a short answer here if for no other reason than I have a place to which I can link them when others ask me.
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