Terms starting with "L"
Legacy Date Functions
PHP 5.0+
Using date(), mktime(), strtotime(), and date_create() instead of DateTimeImmutable — the legacy functions are mutable, timezone-unsafe, and cannot be easily mocked.
6mo ago
PHP intermediate
Lexing & Parsing
PHP 7.0+
3
Two stages of language processing — the lexer converts source text to tokens, the parser converts tokens to an Abstract Syntax Tree representing the program's structure.
6mo ago
Compiler advanced
Lines Too Long
Lines exceeding 120 characters force horizontal scrolling and break side-by-side diff views — PSR-12 recommends a soft limit of 120 and hard limit of no limit, but team conventions often enforce 120.
6mo ago
Style beginner
Linux Log Files
2
Log locations, rotation, and analysis tools on Linux — /var/log/ structure, journald, logrotate, and essential log analysis commands.
6mo ago
Linux intermediate
Linux Memory Management
1
How Linux allocates RAM — virtual memory, the page cache, swap, and the OOM killer — and what PHP developers need to know when PHP processes run out of memory.
6mo ago
Linux intermediate
Linux Networking Tools
PHP 5.0+
Essential tools for diagnosing network issues on Linux servers — ss, netstat, curl, dig, tcpdump, and ping each reveal different layers of connectivity problems.
6mo ago
Linux intermediate
Linux Package Managers
apt (Debian/Ubuntu), yum/dnf (RHEL/CentOS/Fedora), apk (Alpine) — tools for installing, updating, and managing system software packages and their dependencies.
6mo ago
Linux beginner
Linux Performance Tools
2
Essential tools for diagnosing CPU, memory, IO, and network performance on Linux — top, htop, vmstat, iostat, perf, strace, and ltrace.
6mo ago
Linux intermediate
Linux User & Group Management
2
Managing users and groups on Linux servers — useradd, usermod, passwd, groups — and best practices for PHP web server user isolation and privilege separation.
6mo ago
Linux intermediate
LLM Context Window
2
The maximum amount of text an LLM can process in one call — everything the model sees at once, including system prompt, conversation history, and retrieved context.
6mo ago
AI / ML intermediate
Log Levels Best Practices
PHP 5.0+
Using the correct severity level — ERROR, WARNING, INFO, DEBUG — ensures alerting triggers on real issues while debug noise stays suppressible in production.
6mo ago
Observability intermediate
Long Polling vs SSE vs WebSockets
PHP 5.0+
1
Long polling (HTTP hacks), SSE (one-way push over HTTP), WebSockets (full-duplex) — use SSE for server-to-client only, WebSocket for bidirectional.
6mo ago
Networking intermediate
Low Cohesion
A class or module that does many unrelated things — high coupling's counterpart, making code hard to understand, test, and reuse.
6mo ago
Code Quality intermediate
Large Class
A class that has grown to accumulate too many responsibilities, fields, and methods — a sign it should be split into focused, cohesive classes.
6mo ago
Code Quality beginner
Large Language Models (LLMs)
2
Neural network models trained on vast text corpora that can generate, summarise, translate, and reason about text — the technology behind ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini.
6mo ago
AI / ML intermediate
Late Static Binding (static::)
PHP 5.3+
1
static:: refers to the class actually called at runtime rather than the class where the method is defined, enabling polymorphic static methods.
6mo ago
PHP advanced
Law of Demeter
A design guideline: a method should only call methods on itself, its parameters, objects it creates, and its direct fields.
6mo ago
Code Quality intermediate
Law of Demeter — PHP Examples
The Law of Demeter (don't talk to strangers) limits method chains — each unit should call only its direct collaborators, not traverse object graphs.
6mo ago
Code Quality intermediate
Lazy Class
A class that doesn't do enough to justify its existence — the cost of understanding it exceeds the value it provides.
6mo ago
Code Quality beginner
LDAP Injection
PHP 5.6+
Unsanitised input manipulates LDAP query filters, bypassing authentication or exposing directory data.
CWE-90 OWASP A3:2021
6mo ago
Security intermediate
7.5