I’m a firm believer in the statement, “There’s always a better way.” When I started learning PHP, I assumed that what I was reading was hardcore `gospel` truth. What I realized later as I was trying to maintain my code was, there is a better way to do this. I was really irritated when my epiphany hit me. Irritated that I didn’t think of it sooner, but I was the novice and I chalked it up to learning, then I got really irritated at the authors of the PHP information I was reading because they never provided a clue, “there’s an easier way to do this…”

My epiphany was that I could create a configuration file and store my global variables that I needed to call over the whole site in one place. Not a hard concept to conceive, yet my focus was on learning PHP, and the authors of the books and tutorials I was reading were focused on providing that information in the smallest bits available.

The thing I’ve learned though is that I’m not the average programmer, and I don’t consider my self a programmer. I consider my self a web developer. What I build are web site applications and I develop the process by which an end user can control all or a portion of their web site based on their needs.

I don’t stick to conventional programming schema, instead I program the best, quickest and simplest solution I can think of at the time. Over time I have developed a solid core of modular files that I have been using for years now use as the base to my web applications. I’ve been working with PHP now since 2001 and I’m still finding better ways to work with my core files.

What will make you successful, is never settle for what your told. Accept it as a piece of the puzzle. Find out where it fits, and the as you learn more and more about PHP, find out how to shape it to fit better.

Good luck.