CODEWITHSUNDEEP
phpmysql
ionFish
ionFish

Reputation: 1024

PHP Code (modules) included via MySQL database, good idea?

The main script includes "modules" which add functionality to it. Each module is set up like this:

<?php
//data collection stuff
//(...) approx 80 lines of code
//end data collection
$var1 = 'some data';
$var2 = 'more data';
$var3 = 'other data';
?>

Each module has the same exact variables, just the data collection is different.

I was wondering if it's a reasonable idea to store the module data in MySQL like this:

[database]
|_modules
  |_name
  |_function (the raw PHP data from above)
  |_description
  |_author
  |_update-url
  |_version
  |_enabled

...and then include the PHP-data from the database and execute it? Something like, a tab-navigation system at the top of the page for each module name, then inside each of those tabs the page content would function by parsing the database-stored code of the module from the function section.

The purpose would be to save code space (fewer lines), allow for easy updates, and include/exclude modules based on the enabled option. This is how many other web-apps work, some of my own too. But never had I thought about this so deeply. Are there any drawbacks or security risks to this?

Upvotes: 3

Views: 183

Answers (3)

Raffael Luthiger
Raffael Luthiger

Reputation: 2211

I would recommend against it. One of the disadvantages is that the code can not be cached by an op-code cache like e.g. APC. Furthermore it is not that easy to manage the code in a version control system. And later on when you want to have unit tests, continuous integration tests etc. it will be a lot more cumbersome too.

Upvotes: 2

mickburkejnr
mickburkejnr

Reputation: 3690

I don't think there is a hard and fast answer for this. The method you describe would benefit certain applications, usually small websites like a blog site for example.

The traditional way of keeping everything as files on a server would benefit larger applications due to the time taken to read the files on the server rather than retrieveing them from a database.

So it really depends on what you're trying to achieve really.

Upvotes: 1

feeela
feeela

Reputation: 29932

For example MODx uses this approach. The PHP "snippets" and modules are stored in the database. Most of those PHP snippets just set some configuration values and afterwards include the main module code from files on the server.

The main advantage is the flexibility in editing the module configuration as all modules may be edited in the backend of the CMS. On the other hand, Wordpress also allows to edit the plugin-PHP-code from within the backend, but stores everything as files on the server, without storing PHP in the database.

Well, not really an answer, but I think that is a matter of taste.

Upvotes: 1

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