The document discusses environments and version control for web development. It provides an overview of common version control systems like Git, Subversion, and Mercurial. It also discusses benefits of using different environments like local, staging, and production for development and testing. Maintaining consistent databases and file paths across environments is challenging but using source control and multiple environments is still considered worthwhile.

1. ENVIRONMENTS &
VERSION CONTROL
The Why & How
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2. WHO IS THIS GUY?
EE Reactor team member
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3. WHO IS THIS GUY?
Partner & Lead Developer
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4. Survey Submissions
4
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5. SURVEY SUBMISSIONS
Web Development Experience
35 6-10 years
24 3-5 years
19 Over 10 years
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6. SURVEY SUBMISSIONS
ExpressionEngine Experience
40 3-4 years
19 0-2 years
12 5-7 years
4 pMachine
3 None
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7. SURVEY SUBMISSIONS
Weekly Responsibilities
66 HTML/CSS/JS markup
64 EE site planning
38 PHP/MySQL development
21 Add-on development
20 Content management
19 Team leader
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8. Caught my Monty Python reference
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9. VERSION CONTROL
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10. SYNONYMS
• Version Control
• Revision Control
• Source Control
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11. COMMON SYSTEMS
• Git
• Subversion
• Mercurial
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12. SURVEY STATS
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13. Devs not currently using a VCS regularly
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14. Devs only using a desktop GUI for VCS
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15. Devs only using command line for VCS
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16. Devs using both CLI and a GUI for VCS
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17. Have used CVS
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18. Have used Mercurial
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19. Have used Subversion
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20. Have used Git
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21. WE USE GIT
Linux jQuery Rails Android
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22. WE USE GIT
And so do the cool kids
Linux jQuery Rails Android
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23. WE USE GIT
And so do the cool kids
Linux jQuery Rails Android
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24. OLD WAY Single Developer
1. Duplicate index.html
2. Test changes
3. (Maybe save a backup of the previous version)
4. Save over old version losing previous state
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25. NEW WAY Single Developer
1. Change and save the file contents
(Retain history of file for future use)
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26. OLD WAY Development Team
1. Bob changes part of index.html
2. Suzie changes a different part of index.html
3. Bob and Suzie carefully merge changes together
4. Overwrite old version of index.html
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27. NEW WAY Development Team
1. Change and save the file contents
(Retain history of file for future use)
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31. KEY CONCEPTS
• Track certain files
• Ignore certain files
• Commits (History)
• Branches
• Remote branches
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32. “WHAT DO I TRACK?”
VS
“WHAT DO I IGNORE?”
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33. IGNORED FILES
• Operating System files
• Caches
• .htaccess (possibly)
• Custom uploads from EE
• Dynamic images (captchas etc)
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34. .gitignore
# Lame OS files
Thumbs.db
.DS_Store
# EE System cache
/system/expressionengine/cache/*
# Local dev database file
/config/config.local.php
# Custom Upload Directories
/public_html/uploads/*
# Captchas
/public_html/images/captchas
# Asset minification
/public_html/min
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35. TRACKED FILES
• EE System directory
• Add-ons
• Template flat files
• Images, CSS, Javascript & other assets
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36. COMMITS
Create your history
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37. COMMIT TIPS
• Commit o en (common Git practice)
• Write detailed commit messages
• Review commit log when returning to a project a er
a break of any sort
• Review commits of development team members
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38. BAD COMMIT MESSAGE
Updated config file.
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39. GOOD COMMIT MESSAGE
Updated config file with new Minimee cache path
directory
This allows our cache path to be dynamicly absolute
based on the environment out code is in.
$config[‘minimee_cache_path’] = $base_path . ‘/min’;
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40. BRANCHING
Keeping things organized
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41. BRANCHING
WORKFLOW
Do what works best for you
Just make sure you do it for a reason
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42. REMOTE BRANCHES
• Destination for your repository / branch
• “Origin” of your repository / branch
• Server environment for your site
• Other team member’s repository / branch
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43. TOPICAL BRANCHING
• master
• dev
• feature/x
• upgrade/y
• bugfix/z
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44. “It's like not wearing a seatbelt in
your car because you haven't had
an accident yet.
Don't be silly, version your work.”
Iain Urquhart / @iain
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45. GIT RESOURCES
• Book: Pragmatic Version Control Using Git
• peepcode.com/products/git
• whygitisbetterthanx.com
• github.com
• More available with the presentation download
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46. ENVIRONMENTS
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47. AN ENVIRONMENT IS
any server running an instance of your site
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48. COMMON
ENVIRONMENTS
• Production - the public-facing “live” site
• Staging - typically used for a final test
• Development - shared team development
• Local - each developer’s local instance
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49. SURVEY STATS
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50. Devs currently using a Production Environment
100%
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51. Devs currently using a Staging Environment
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52. Devs currently using a Shared Dev Environment
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53. Devs currently using a Local Dev Environment
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54. Devs who keep using environments post-launch
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55. WHY DO YOU USE
ENVIRONMENTS?
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56. “Local development is incredibly
fast and you don't have to worry
about setting up crazy conditionals
and memeber preferences to hide
what you are working on on the live
site.”
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57. “Multiple environments allow us to
build locally without affecting others
and preview new features to clients -
without losing the ability to quickly
apply updates to the current live
site.”
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58. “Automated deployments and
multiple environments are essential
to any agile-oriented developer.
They save time, reduce errors and
streamline site maintenance.”
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59. GETTING SET UP
What is potentially unique to each environment?
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60. GETTING SET UP
What’s Unique?
• Server paths
• URL root
• EE upload paths
• Debug mode intentions
• URI support (PATH_INFO)
• Cache settings
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61. ROBUST CONFIG FILE
Saves time and adds flexibility
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62. GETTING SET UP
What can be changed?
✓ Server paths
✓ URL root
- EE upload paths
✓ Debug mode intentions
✓ URI support (PATH_INFO)
✓Cache settings
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63. GETTING SET UP
Directory and file structure
/config/
config.env.php
config.master.php
config.{ENV}.php
/public_html/
/system/
/tpl/
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64. GETTING SET UP
config.env.php sample
if ( ! defined('ENV'))
{
switch ($_SERVER['HTTP_HOST']) {
case 'focuslabllc.com' :
define('ENV', 'prod');
define('ENV_FULL', 'Production');
define('ENV_DEBUG', FALSE);
break;
case 'ohsnap.focuslabllc.com' :
define('ENV', 'stage');
define('ENV_FULL', 'Staging');
define('ENV_DEBUG', FALSE);
break;
default :
define('ENV', 'local');
define('ENV_FULL', 'Local');
define('ENV_DEBUG', TRUE);
break;
}
}
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65. GETTING SET UP
config.dev.php sample
<?php if ( ! defined('BASEPATH')) exit('No direct script access allowed');
/**
* Development config overrides & db credentials
*
* Our database credentials and any environment-specific overrides
*
* @package Focus Lab Master Config
* @version 1.1
* @author Erik Reagan <erik@focuslabllc.com>
*/
$env_db['hostname'] = 'localhost';
$env_db['username'] = '';
$env_db['password'] = '';
$env_db['database'] = '';
$config['webmaster_email'] = 'dev@focuslabllc.com';
/* End of file config.dev.php */
/* Location: ./config/config.dev.php */
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66. GETTING SET UP
config.master.php sample
/**
* Template settings
*
* Working locally we want to reference our template files.
* In staging and production we do not use flat files
* (for ever-so-slightly better performance)
* This approach requires that we synchronize templates after
* each deployment of template changes
*/
$env_config['save_tmpl_files'] = (ENV == 'prod') ? 'n' : 'y';
$env_config['tmpl_file_basepath'] = $base_path . '/../tpl/';
$env_config['hidden_template_indicator'] = '_';
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67. GETTING SET UP
config.master.php sample
/**
* Debugging settings
*
* These settings are helpful to have in one place
* for debugging purposes
*/
$env_config['is_system_on'] = 'y';
$env_config['allow_extensions'] = 'y';
$env_config['email_debug'] = (ENV_DEBUG) ? 'y' : 'n' ;
// Show template debugging if we're not in production
$env_config['template_debugging'] = (ENV_DEBUG) ? 'y' : 'n' ;
/**
* Set debug to '2' if we're in dev mode, otherwise just '1'
*
* 0: no PHP/SQL errors shown
* 1: Errors shown to Super Admins
* 2: Errors shown to everyone
*/
$env_config['debug'] = (ENV_DEBUG) ? '2' : '1' ;
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68. GETTING SET UP
config.master.php sample
/**
* 3rd Party Add-on config items as needed
*/
$env_config['minimee_cache_path'] = $base_path . '/min';
$env_config['minimee_cache_url'] = $base_url . '/min';
$env_config['minimee_remote_mode'] = 'auto';
$env_config['minimee_debug'] = 'n';
// Disable minimee in dev but not in staging and production
$env_config['minimee_disable'] = (ENV == 'local') ? 'y' : 'n' ;
// Greeny (auto-updating of upload directory paths)
$env_config['greeny_enabled'] = (ENV == 'prod') ? 'false' :
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69. FOCUS LAB
CONFIG SETUP
github.com/focuslabllc/ee-master-config
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70. MULTI-ENVIRONMENT
CHALLENGES
You didn’t think it was that easy, did you?
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71. BACK TO THE
SURVEY
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72. 100%
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73. Keeping database changes synced across environments
100%
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74. 72%
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75. Maintaining custom upload directory paths
72%
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76. Devs who say the headaches are worth the trouble
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70

77. DATABASE ISSUES
• New custom fields alter the DB schema
• Installing or updating add-ons can alter the DB
schema
• Updating EE can alter the DB schema
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78. DATABASE ISSUES
• Custom upload directory paths are stored in the DB
and cannot be dynamically altered
• Relative upload directory paths work sometimes, but
not with all add-ons
• “Content” is very likely changing in the Production
environment while you build and test in your other
environments
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79. http://expressionengine.com/forums/viewthread/196480/
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80. QUICK TIPS
• You need to understand EE’s database
• Learn about 3rd party add-on’s DB tables
• Establish a ruleset for your workflow
• Understand that there will be exceptions
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81. Schema / Structure
flows up stream
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82. Content flows
down stream
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83. FINAL NOTES
• These practices make you a better developer
• They help prepare you to work with a team
• They help your team work more efficiently
• You can provide a better service to your clients
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84. ERIKREAGAN
Partner Focus Lab LLC
FocusLabLLC
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