Brent — Curator of Stitcher’s Community Feed, a community-driven, hand-curated content aggregator highlighting thoughtful, high-quality writing from across the web. The feed focuses on software engineering, open source, web development, infrastructure, and the human side of building technology. Readers can browse recent picks, follow via RSS, or contribute their own suggestions.
250 articles from this blog
A look at PHP's modern features, active development, and thriving community in 2021, debunking the myth that the language is dead.
Practical strategies for updating PHP projects when external dependencies don't yet support the latest PHP version, including testing, contributing, and finding alternatives.
A reflection on API design and developer responsibility, using a historical Windows Kernel function as a case study.
A developer's critique of Twitter's algorithmic Home feed, explaining why it failed to show relevant tech content and seeking alternatives.
An overview of modern PHP features in 2022, including PHP 8.1's enums, readonly properties, and the growing static analysis ecosystem.
Analysis of PHP version usage statistics from January 2022, showing adoption rates for PHP 8.1, 8.0, and older versions.
A step-by-step guide to upgrading PHP to version 8.1 on macOS using the Homebrew package manager, including handling extensions and Laravel Valet.
Real-world performance benchmarks comparing PHP 8.1 to PHP 8.0, showing a 5-8% speed improvement.
Overview of new features in PHP 8.1, including enums, fibers, performance improvements, and new syntax like readonly properties.
A concise overview of PHP 8.1's new features, including enums, readonly properties, fibers, and array unpacking, demonstrated through code examples.
A video and transcript explaining how to implement and use generics in PHP via docblocks, with support from PHPStan, Psalm, and PhpStorm.
A developer's analysis of using attributes for routing in PHP, weighing pros and cons and proposing solutions for scaling.
PHP 8.1 introduces the 'new in initializers' feature, allowing the use of `new` expressions in parameter defaults, attributes, and more.
A reflection on how frameworks are born from revolutionary ideas and how popularity can lead to their eventual decline, using examples like Laravel and Joda Time.
Explains PHP 8.1's new readonly properties for creating immutable data transfer and value objects, comparing code examples from older PHP versions.
A software engineer draws parallels between the perfect, durable design of an IKEA clock and the principles of good software design.
A response to Matthias Noback's blog post on PSR abstractions, discussing their role in PHP framework interoperability and the value of standardized interfaces.
A nuanced look at using named arguments in PHP open source projects, addressing maintainer concerns about backwards compatibility and cleaner syntax.
A programmer questions the inconsistency in using fully qualified class names in doc blocks versus real PHP types, exploring rational thinking in coding habits.
Argues that static analysis can replace runtime type checks in PHP, enabling features like generics without performance cost.
