Modern PHP development is about combining proven engineering principles with contemporary tooling. Key pillars include maintaining Architecture Decision Records and Technical Debt Records, enforcing coding guidelines beyond mere formatting, using PHPStan for static analysis and PHPUnit for automated testing, and applying mutation testing to validate test suites. AI-assisted development is addressed as a practical workflow where humans write tests and coding agents generate production code, but only works well when backed by high automation, comprehensive test coverage, and well-documented quality goals.
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