Patterns

Patterns have been a big topic in computer science since at least 1994 when the "Gang of Four" (Erich Gamma, Richard Helm, Ralph Johnson, and John Vlissides) wrote the book Design Patterns. Actually, that work was based on work by Ward Cunningham and others going back to a presentation made in 1987. Check out Ward's Portland Pattern Repository; and books like EJB Design Patters (PDF, 289pp)

With the advent of PHP5 in 2004, more object-oriented programming capabilities were available to the PHP developer. To be a good software architect, you should use patterns or recognize them when they present themselves to be able to implement good solutions. So, take time to learn about the common patterns and leverage the object-oriented facilities in PHP.