© 2018 FileMaker, Inc.

FILEMAKER DEVCON 2018AUGUST 6-9 | GRAPEVINE, TX

Steve’s top ten tips to being a better developerAnd a sales pitch for free stuff!

CWP User Group

Steve Winter Matatiro Solutions@SteveWinterNZ

#FileMakerDevCon© 2018 FileMaker, Inc.

- One of those people the CBP don’t like - FileMaker, web application and software developer >20 years!- Run Matatiro Solutions- Regular DevCon speaker

Who am I?

Steve Winter

ride.bluecrocodile.co.nz

#FileMakerDevCon© 2018 FileMaker, Inc.

1. Use an IDE

• Code completion (type less code)• Linting (validate what you’ve written)• Built-in debugging (find problems more easily)

#FileMakerDevCon© 2018 FileMaker, Inc.

2. Use version control

• Know the state of your code at any point in time• Go back to that point if you need to• Share, distribute and deploy easily

#FileMakerDevCon© 2018 FileMaker, Inc.

3. composer install, yarn (npm) install

• Know versions of all dependencies• Dependency resolution• Don’t reinvent the wheel• Add you libraries to Packagist / npm if they aren’t already there

• API: composer require matatirosoln/filemaker-api • https://github.com/matatirosolutions/filemakerapi

#FileMakerDevCon© 2018 FileMaker, Inc.

4. Use a (modern) framework

• And modern coding practices!• PSR-2, PSR-12 from Framework Interoperability Group (FIG)

#FileMakerDevCon© 2018 FileMaker, Inc.

5. Test your code

• Unit tests• Integration tests• Functional (UI) tests

#FileMakerDevCon© 2018 FileMaker, Inc.

6. Use a DBAL / ORM

• Create models (entities) in your code the match the business domain• CWP Doctrine driver

• https://github.com/matatirosolutions/doctrine-filemaker-driver

• Data API Doctrine driver• https://github.com/matatirosolutions/filemaker-data-api-bundle

#FileMakerDevCon© 2018 FileMaker, Inc.

7. Use data separation

• Dedicated interface file (deployed from version control)• Dedicated layouts (with only the fields you need)• (Heavily) restricted access

#FileMakerDevCon© 2018 FileMaker, Inc.

8. Package your assets

• Use (something like) webpack to package your assets• Only deploy to production final builds• Minify and compress• Fewer files, from fewer domains, with smaller file sizes aids

performance

#FileMakerDevCon© 2018 FileMaker, Inc.

9. Automate all the things

• From IDE -> version control -> staging -> production• Chef, Puppet, Ansible• post-commit (to run tests)• post-receive (to deploy to staging and run tests)• Jenkins to make things simpler

#FileMakerDevCon© 2018 FileMaker, Inc.

10. Sharpen your skills

• You should be embarrassed by the code you wrote 2 years ago!• Use modern coding practices • Go to user groups, meetups, conferences

#FileMakerDevCon© 2018 FileMaker, Inc.

One more thing - Come to my session!

• ITG01 - Introduction to the FileMaker Data API• Data API provides significant opportunities (particularly if you’re

good with JavaScript)• https://msdev.co.uk/fms-cross-origin

#FileMakerDevCon© 2018 FileMaker, Inc.

FILEMAKER DEVCON 2018AUGUST 6-9 | GRAPEVINE, TX

Thank You!

Oh - and come to my session tomorrow!!