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Using PHP is great for dynamic website. However, more dynamic means more resource hungry. Here is a short list of tips you should follow to avoid putting the PHP interpreter in difficulty.

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* Replace print() with echo().
* If you have a string, wrap it inside single quote (‘) instead of double quote (“).
* Use unset() to clean memory from unneeded large variables or arrays.
* Replace require\_once() with require().
* When including or requiring a file, include the full path. This will save the time taken to resolve the OS path.
* Use str\_replace() instead of preg\_replace().
* Whenever possible, use “elseif” instead of case/switch.
* Avoid using error suppression with @.
* Always close the database connection when not needed anymore.
* When working with arrays, always use $row\[‘id’\] instead of $row\[id\].
* Avoid using PHP shortcode opening tags like ” Use a caching addon ([eAccelerator](http://eaccelerator.net) or [memcache](http://bg.php.net/memcache)) to avoid having the PHP interpreter compile the scripts every time.
* When increasing numerical variables like “$i++”, use “++$i” instead. Does the same job for less server time.
* Always clean user input with mysql\_real\_escape\_string() (for MySQL data) and htmlspecialchars() (for data to be shown on the browser).
* Use md5() or another hashing function to store sensitive information like user passwords.
* ip2long() and long2ip() can be used to convert IP address from string to integer (for storing in database or other uses).
* When redirecting users to another page with header(“Location: “. $url); make sure to include exit; or die(); immediately afterwards to avoid script execution.

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Optimize PHP Script – Best Tips