Learn to go from Cowboy Coding to Professional Developer. My WordCamp Kansas City 2015 presentation. Slide notes and links available at http://brudtkuhl.com/cowboy-coding-to-professional-developer-wckc-2015/

1. From Cowboy Coding to
Professional Developer
Andy Brudtkuhl
@abrudtkuhl
YouMetAndy.com/wckc

2. What Is Cowboy Coding?
… and why it is a necessary evil

3. TL;DR
Don’t code live on your production server. Use version control.
Be nice, use standards, and avoid shiny object syndrome.

4. What makes a better developer?

5. Be pragmatic.

6. Be empathetic.
(this is not easy)

8. Use standards.
(please)

9. Tools Don’t Matter.
Tools Mean Everything

10. Be a good teammate.

11. Avoid Shiny Objects

12. Be verbose.
(comment your code, describe your commits)

13. Automate your busy work.

14. Test your software
(because someone else will)

15. Don’t Repeat Yourself.

17. Setup a local dev
environment.

18. Local Dev Environment
• MAMP Pro
• Desktop Server
• VVV

19. Use version control.

20. What goes in Git?
• Entire Site
• Single Plugins and Themes
• Never commit your wp-config.php file
• Google “Git Ignore WordPress” for an
example .gitignore file

21. Sync your data.

22. WP DB Migrate Pro
• Use WP DB Migrate Pro
• Migrate Data
• Push / Pull Sync Data
• Use WP_CLI addon to automate

23. Deploy with sanity.

24. Deploy with sanity
• Dev / Test / Production environments
• Stop doing things manually
• Use WP-DB-MIGRATE to move data
• Use WP-Pusher to deploy updates (no FTP, yay!)
• Use Git on your server
• Capistrano or Chef

25. Being A Better
WordPress Developer
Tips and tools to be a better WordPress developer

26. define( 'WP_DEBUG', true );

27. Separate Concerns
• Use Plugins for functionality and Themes for
design
• Don’t abuse functions.php
• Use functionality plugins

28. the loop.

29. Follow WordPress Standards
• Read the Codex
• Follow WordPress developer standards for
Themes, Plugins, and Core Contribution

30. Use Core Features
• Theme Customizer
• Settings API
• Options API
• Image Thumbnails
• Menu System
• Widgets, Shortcodes
• Custom Post Types & Taxonomies

31. Enqueue All The Things
• Include scripts and stylesheets in Themes and
Plugins by enqueuing them
• NEVER include your own version of jQuery

32. Use Template Parts
• Create reusable template parts
• Build reusable loops
• Reduce and Reuse code

33. Validate, Sanitize, Escape
• Validate = check user input
• Sanitize = clean user input
• Escape = securing user generated output

34. Transients FTW
• Simple Caching
• Big Performance
• Store data you expect to expire

35. Use Starter Templates
• WordPress Plugin Boilerplate
• Theme templates like sage, roots, _s
• GenerateWP.com

36. Know variable scope
• Don’t define your own Globals
• Use namespaces and classes to properly scope
your variables

37. WP-CLI
• A WordPress command line interface
• Setup, install, configure sites from your terminal
• Easily create scripts to spin up new sites
• Automate Database migrations
• Schedule Database Migrations

38. Manage Dependencies
• Use plugin_exists( ‘my-plugin’ ), class_exists( ‘MyClass’ ),
or function_exists( ‘my_awesome_function’ )
• TGM Plugin Activation
• Require / Recommend dependencies in your custom
themes and plugins
• Use composer
• custom plugin or theme with third party dependencies

39. My Workflow
1. Grab a task (Jira or Trello)
2. Pull latest version of project from Bitbucket
3. Pull latest version of data from Staging / Production
4. Code feature / fix bug
5. Commit and push updated code with comment and
link back to ticket in Jira/Trello
6. Deploy with WP Pusher or Git

40. My Tools
• Editor: Atom.io
• Local Dev: MAMP Pro
• Terminal: iTerm
• Source Control: Git with Bitbucket
• Data Management: WP DB Migrate Pro
• Deployment: WP Pusher
• Site Management: InfiniteWP

41. YouMetAndy.com/wckc
@abrudtkuhl