Since its inception, PHP is one programming language that has never stopped to gain traction. A scripting language that was presumably written to build web pages and applications for personal use has come a long way, today.
The geniuses at various PHP Web Development Company have gone on using this coding language to make remarkable, heavyweight, and highly scalable products and applications. The dynamism and scope of possibilities with this language are remarkable. No wonder, many legacy systems of government organizations in many countries are running successfully on this language.
Apparently, PHP Development Services are in much demand by small businesses, emerging companies, and startups too. The reason is simple – PHP promises faster turnaround time, enhanced security, and of course, affordability. The contribution of PHP-Masters to the open-source is but praiseworthy!
The intention of this article is to make some worthy suggestions to those looking for tips and techniques to enhance the performance of their PHP-based applications. With that, we have also covered a few bottlenecks (apart from the codes) that any PHP Developer should best take care of. Let’s begin:
1) Leverage on OPCache
OPCache is a PHP extension (Caching tool) that saves compiled codes into its memory. So when coders need to make a small change, instead of recompiling the code, they can leverage on OPCache. But of course, every time you run recompiled identical codes on your website, it slows down the performance of the application.
2) Database access time
Many times, it is not the codes but the issues with database that leads to delayed execution, hence negatively impacting the performance of the website. Therefore, take a close look at the SQL logs. You may find issues like the same queries are being made multiple times during a specific execution, etc. Tackle these challenges to ensure that execution time is improved.
3) Better manage third-party APIs
Nowadays, almost every digital product is leveraging on remote APIs to include the cutting edge features and functionalities in the portal. However, these APIs can sometimes negatively impact the performance of the website due to some of their inefficiency. The biggest challenge is that it is out of your control to fix the issues with the APIs. In that case, it is wise to create some systems that can help you better manage such downtimes. For example, you can choose to cache API output, as well as make API calls in the background. Establishing reasonable timeouts for API requests is a great thing to do. Also, if possible, do develop some outputs to display without an API response.
4) Is your file system clean
Scan your filesystem for inadequacies and discrepancies. It is essential to ensure that the filesystem isn’t being used for any session storage. Above all, it is necessary to keep checking out on codes that can trigger any file stat like file_exists(), filesize() or filetime(). When you leave any of these functions in a loop kind of thing, more often than not, it is going to lead to performance issues.
Now let us move forward to look at a few other holdups that any PHP Development Company or PHP Developer must tackle well to ensure that the performance of the website is not negatively impacted:
1) The Network
Is your network powerful enough to handle the amount of data being transmitted through it? Give this one a double check to ensure the performance of the site is not impacted due to the poor capacity of the network.
2) CPU
Unlike HTML pages, PHP codes tend to drain the server much faster. Create arrangements or server that has multiple processors, of course, depending on your requirement, to ensure that the PHP codes are being processed efficiently.
3) Filesystems
Things to ponder over are – Is your filesystem becoming fragmented over time? If your file cache is using RAM to speed up disk access, does it have enough memory?
4) Process Management
Keep checking if your server is overburdened with unnecessary processes. In case you find any unused networking protocols, mail servers, hardware drives, and also antivirus scanners, make sure that they are immediately removed. With that, running a PHP code on a multi-threaded mode tends to result in improved response time.
In Sum:
Writing clean codes is essential, so are the other supporting aspects to ensure that your PHP-enabled website is performing at its optimum. One of the biggest mistakes most of the PHP coders do is to ignore the other variables like caching, database, file management, server management, etc. that can cause a serious negative impact on the website if not appropriately managed.
