OpenLampTech - Developer Interview with Tanner Record
OpenLampTech - Developer Interview with Tanner Record
Senior Backend Engineer Tanner Record discusses PHP, WordPress, and SQL in this developer interview for OpenLampTech.
Welcome to this OpenLampTech text-based developer interview.
Tanner Record writes WordPress and PHP content in his Systematic WordPress Development newsletter, which I'm a recent fan of and highly recommend.
Currently working as a Senior Backend Engineer at Modern Tribe, Tanner definitely has a lot of knowledge and experiences to share.
Needless to say, I am very excited that Tanner participated in this recent developer interview for the OpenLampTech newsletter readers.
And now without any further ado, on to the interview.
Q: Please introduce yourself and tell us what you currently do for a living.
Hey 👋🏼, I’m Tanner and I’m currently working as a Senior Backend Engineer at Modern Tribe (a WordPress agency in the Liquid Web Family of Brands). I spend most of my time developing internal tools and applications in support of the brands we’re associated with so it gives me some really cool experience.
When I’m not working, you’ll usually find me playing with my daughter, hanging out with my wife, or learning to cook delicious meals.
Q: What PHP framework(s) and/or CMS(s) are you interested in the most or currently using (if any) and why?
I’m currently using WordPress in my day to day work, but I’ve started to really lean into modern PHP deeper. I’ve had a few projects that involved Laravel (and I’ve used Laravel in the past), but I would love to dig in deeper and spend some time building some tools with it. I’m sure I can learn things I can bring back into my WordPress plugin development.
Q: Do you think it is important for developers to know some SQL and not rely solely on an ORM? Why or why not?
ORMs (Object Relational Mappers) are extremely helpful, but I think it’s important for all developers to know why, and I challenge you to dig into SQL. It can be challenging, but having that basic knowledge will help you use an ORM so much more efficiently because you’ll have an understanding of what it’s doing for you under-the-hood.
I’ve recently discovered Aaron Francis’ course MySQL for Developers and it’s been really helpful in understanding how basic databases and queries function.
Knowing SQL helps you understand how ORMs work, and sometimes it’s even necessary to bypass the ORM because you can write queries that are more efficient.
ORMs are great, but if you’re a developer who wants to level up your career, learn SQL.
Q: What is one piece of software that you just cannot live without and why?
Xdebug is one that I just can’t live without.
It’s a tool that helps you debug PHP by pausing execution at a breakpoint that you set and you can step through line by line and see variable values as you step through your application.
Before I learned about Xdebug, I would echo things to the screen or write things to a log file to check what variables were at certain points.
Xdebug is a total game-changer and if you’ve never used it before—it’s like a super power
Q: You type all of your code in which IDE/Text Editor/Software?
VS Code all the way! I’ve had it since it came out and watched a webinar a while ago from Frontend Masters that had a ton of helpful configurations. Since then, I haven’t really changed it much—and I know there’s probably more efficient things I could be doing with it.
Q: How has working as a web developer/designer/professional benefited you other than the obvious paycheck and monetary value?
Since I solve problems every day, and spend a lot of my time debugging things. I’ve gotten really good at solving problems elsewhere in life.
Taking a step back, looking at all the variables, isolating the problem, and breaking things down has helped me in so many situations.
Q: Do you have a book, newsletter, blog, podcast, or other resource you would recommend to other developers?
I’ve mentioned some resources above in previous answers, but a friend recently recommended Swizec Teller’s newsletter. It’s a great one all about how to level up your career in development and I’ve gotten some really good value out of it so far (I’ve only been subscribed for a little over a week).
Q: What hobbies or activities do you do for fun?
Honestly, my days are pretty busy working a full time job and being a dad, but if I have some free time I really love listening to podcasts about marketing and business.
Q: Where can readers go to learn more about you and any projects you may have going?
My website (https://www.tannerrecord.com) or Twitter/X (@tarecord) are the two places where I’m most active these days.
I also write a newsletter called Systematic WordPress Development where every Saturday morning, I send out 1 actionable tip to simplify WordPress plugin development, maintenance, & deployment.
Q: Anything else you'd like to add or share with the OpenLampTech readers?
If you’re working on a shared codebase, please delete your merged branches 😉
Thank you, Tanner Record, for sharing your knowledge and insights with the OpenLampTech newsletter readers and community!
Thank you for reading. I hope you have a great rest of your week.
Take care.
Josh Otwell