What is the best practice to use when using PHP and HTML?

Question

I have been designing websites for a while now, but there is one thing that I have never been quite sure of when using PHP and HTML. Is it better to have the whole document

Answer 1

There are varying opinions on this. I think there are two good ways:

• Use a templating engine like Smarty that completely separates code and presentation.

• Use your second example, but when mixing PHP into HTML, only output variables. Do all the code logic in one block before outputting anything, or a separate file. Like so:

  
  
  
           
    
  Content
  
  
  

Most full-fledged application frameworks bring their own styles of doing this; in that case, it's usually best to follow the style provided.