Best Coding Practices

Optimising Codes

Optimising your server side scripts such as ASP and PHP is very important for better utilisation of server resources. Even a high end server can fail to deliver the speed and performance that you look for, if the codes are not optimised.

For ASP & MS Access 2000 Websites:

1. It is a good method to store connection string in a common file. This common file can be included as a header in all the pages, wherever it is required.

2. Do not use multiple recordsets in a single page. If your program requires mulitple recordsets in a single file, close the already opened recordsets before opening the new one. [ Use rs.close ]

3. Always close the connection at the end of each asp page. [ Use conn.close ]

4. Always use provider based or dsnless connection. DSN connections use direct system resources. Moreover, the website is not portable if a System DSN is used.

5. IMPORTANT : Avoid using multiple loops in a single pages. Most of the programmers make mistakes in handling loops thus the asp pages will not be executed after few hits.

6. Do not unnecessarily use asp pages. It is strongly adviced to keep the home page as “.html” and not as “.asp”

7. Access database has a very high restriction on simultaneous users. Hence, if your site receives higher number of hits, plan for migrating to MS SQL as Access cannot handled too many simultaneous users.

8. Table Size should be kept at minimum. Avoid opening multiple tables at a time. Moreover, avoid querying a single large table.

For PHP & My SQL:

1. It is a good method to store connection string in a common file. This common file can be included as a header in all the pages, wherever it is required.

2. IMPORTANT : Avoid using multiple loops in a single pages. Most of the programmers make mistakes in handling loops thus the asp pages will not be executed after few hits.

3. Do not unnecessarily use asp pages. It is strongly adviced to keep the home page as “.html” and not as “.php”

4. Table Size should be kept at minimum. Avoid opening multiple tables at a time. Moreover, avoid querying a single large table.