How many lines of PHP code is too many for one file?

Question

I\'m creating a PHP file that does 2 mysql database calls and the rest of the script is if statements for things like file_exists and other simple variables. I have about 2000

Answer 1

It really doesn't matter, so long as you have documented your code properly, modularised as much as possible, and checked for any inefficiencies. You may well have a 10,000 line file. Although I usually split at around 500-1000 for each section of an application.

Answer 2

2k lines sound too much to me... Though it depends what code style you are following, e.g. many linebreaks, many little functions or good api-contract comments can increase the size though they are good practice. Also good code formatting can increase lines.

Regarding PHP it would be good to know: Is it 2k lines with just one class or just one big include with non-OOP PHP code? Is it mixed with template statements and programm logic (like I find often in PHP code)?

Usually I don't count these lines, when to split. They just went into habits. If code gets confusing I react and refactor. Still having looked into some code we as a team wrote recently, I can see some patterns:

• extract function/method if size is bigger than 20LOC (without comments) and usage of if/else clauses
• extract to another class if size >200-300LOC
• extract to another package/folder if artifacts >10

Still it depends what the kind of code I have. For instance if loads of logic is involved (if/else/switch/for), the LOC per function decreases. If there is hardly any logic involved (simple stupid one-path code statements) the limits increase. In the end the most-important rule is: Would a human understand the code. Will she/he be able to read it well.