Amit Verma
Founder / Senior Software Engineer
Amit leads engineering at Being Idea. With 15+ years building scalable software products across global markets, he drives architecture decisions and engineering culture across every engagement.
Articles by Amit · 44
- Gen AI24 July 2026
Generative AI in 2026: Why It Matters and What Comes Next
Generative AI stopped being a demo somewhere around 2024. By 2026 it is infrastructure — the same way a database or a payment gateway is infrastructure. Here is a practical look at what Gen AI actually is today, why 2026 is the year it becomes non-optional for businesses and developers, and what comes next.
- Javascript3 May 2023
Axios Timeouts and Cancellation: What the Default Actually Does
How Axios timeouts really behave — why timeout does not cover connection time, cancelling with AbortController, retry with backoff, interceptors, and an honest comparison with fetch.
- Javascript26 Apr 2023
Regex Explained, and Why Email Validation Is Not a Regex Problem
A practical guide to regular expressions plus honest email validation — what a simple pattern catches, why RFC-compliant regexes are a trap, the ReDoS vulnerability lurking in clever patterns, and the only check that actually proves an address works.
- Javascript25 Apr 2023
What Is Lexical Scope in JavaScript? A Clear Explanation with Examples
Lexical scope decides which variables your code can see, based on where you wrote it. Understand the scope chain, closures, the temporal dead zone, and why `this` is the one thing that does not follow these rules.
- Javascript24 Apr 2023
map, filter and reduce in JavaScript: A Practical Guide
How map, filter and reduce actually work, with real-world examples beyond doubling numbers — chaining, grouping with reduce, the empty-array crash, and when a plain for...of loop is the better choice.
- Javascript24 Apr 2023
var vs let vs const in JavaScript: Every Difference That Matters
A complete comparison of var, let and const — scope, hoisting, the temporal dead zone, redeclaration, the global object, and why const does not mean immutable.
- WordPress5 Dec 2018
Modify the WooCommerce Product Query and Set Visibility on Import
Filter WooCommerce shop archives with pre_get_posts using the right conditional tags, and set product visibility the modern way — the product_visibility taxonomy replaced _visibility postmeta in WooCommerce 3.0.
- HTML29 Nov 2018
Custom Checkbox and Radio Styling in Pure CSS (No Library Needed)
Style checkboxes and radio buttons with modern CSS — accent-color for one-line theming, full custom control with appearance:none, indeterminate and focus states, and the accessibility mistakes that break keyboard users.
- Javascript17 Nov 2018
How to Check Which Checkboxes and Radio Buttons Are Selected in JavaScript
Read the state of checkbox and radio groups without jQuery — counting selections, getting all values, select-all with indeterminate, mutually exclusive groups, and safely storing JSON in data attributes.
- WordPress14 Nov 2018
WooCommerce Product View Counter: A Version That Actually Scales
Track and display product view counts in WooCommerce using hooks — with a counter that does not grow an unbounded string in postmeta, survives page caching, avoids storing IP addresses, and uses current WooCommerce APIs.
- MySql5 Nov 2018
MySQL JOINs Explained: INNER, LEFT, RIGHT, CROSS and the Missing FULL OUTER
Every MySQL join type with worked examples — plus how to emulate FULL OUTER JOIN, which MySQL does not support, the WHERE clause that silently turns a LEFT JOIN into an INNER JOIN, and anti-joins for finding unmatched rows.
- Apache25 Sept 2018
Install an SSL/TLS Certificate on Apache: Let's Encrypt and Manual .crt Files
A practical guide to HTTPS on Apache in 2026 — free automated certificates with Let's Encrypt, installing a purchased .crt with its intermediate chain, the certificate order that causes most errors, and a self-signed cert for local development.
- HTML22 Sept 2018
Facebook Social Plugins in 2026: What Still Works and What Needs an App
Add Facebook Share, Page and Comments plugins to a website today — which ones no longer need the SDK, why the Like button was retired, the App ID and domain setup that is now mandatory, and the privacy cost of embedding Facebook.
- PHP16 Sept 2018
Submitting a Form to PHP with JavaScript (AngularJS Is End-of-Life)
AngularJS reached end of life in December 2021 and no longer receives security patches. Here is the same comments-form pattern built with fetch and a JSON PHP API — plus what to do if you are maintaining an existing AngularJS app.
- WordPress8 Sept 2018
How to Create a Custom WordPress Widget (Classic and Block Editor)
Build a custom WordPress widget by extending WP_Widget — registering sidebars, escaping form fields correctly, caching output, and dealing with the block-based widget editor introduced in WordPress 5.8.
- PHP5 Sept 2018
Google reCAPTCHA with PHP: v2, v3 and the Verification Step Everyone Skips
Implement reCAPTCHA properly in PHP — server-side token verification, handling v3 scores, why the checkbox alone protects nothing, plus privacy-friendly alternatives like Cloudflare Turnstile and hCaptcha.
- Javascript2 Sept 2018
Auto-Refresh a Div Every 10 Seconds in JavaScript (Without setInterval)
Poll a server and update part of a page using fetch and recursive setTimeout — avoiding the overlapping requests setInterval causes, pausing on hidden tabs, backing off on errors, and knowing when to use SSE instead.
- WordPress28 Aug 2018
Add a Live WooCommerce Cart Icon to Your Header (No Plugin)
Put a cart icon with item count and total in your WordPress header using current WooCommerce APIs — including the AJAX fragment refresh that makes the count update without a page reload, and why the old global $woocommerce code is broken.
- Apache3 Aug 2018
Install WAMP Server on Windows: Setup, Common Errors and Alternatives
A complete WAMP installation guide for Windows — the Visual C++ redistributables almost everyone misses, fixing the orange icon and port 80 conflicts, creating your first project and database, plus when XAMPP, Laragon or WSL2 is the better choice.
- PHP1 Aug 2018
Facebook Login with PHP and MySQL: A Secure 2026 Implementation
Implement Login with Facebook the current way — the Authorization Code flow with a state parameter, server-side token exchange, storing users safely, and the account-linking rule that stops Facebook login becoming account takeover.
- PHP16 July 2018
PHP Cookies: setcookie(), SameSite, and What Changed in 2026
Set, read, update and delete cookies in PHP using the modern array syntax — with SameSite, Secure and HttpOnly explained, the __Host- prefix, signing values against tampering, and where third-party cookie deprecation leaves you.
- Javascript15 July 2018
Geolocation and Google Maps Directions: A Working 2026 Guide
Get a user's location and draw a route with the Google Maps JavaScript API — using the modern importLibrary loader, the API key and billing Google now requires, HTTPS-only geolocation, and honest handling of permission denial.
- CodeIgniter13 July 2018
CodeIgniter 4 Tutorial for Beginners (and Why CodeIgniter 3 Is Done)
Get started with CodeIgniter 4 — Composer install, the public/ webroot that fixed CI3's biggest security weakness, controllers, routes, models and views, plus a migration table for anyone still on CodeIgniter 3.
- HTML11 July 2018
Build a Custom Website Responsiveness Checker Tool (2026 Guide)
How to build your own responsive design testing tool with iframes and device presets — including the X-Frame-Options limitation nobody warns you about, and when browser DevTools is the better answer.
- PHP30 June 2018
PHP Sessions Done Properly: Security, Locking and Correct Logout
How PHP sessions really work — preventing session fixation and hijacking, the cookie settings that matter, why session_write_close() fixes slow concurrent requests, and the three-step logout most tutorials get wrong.
- PHP27 June 2018
OAuth Social Login with Google, Facebook and X: A Secure Implementation Guide
Implement social login correctly using the Authorization Code flow with PKCE — the state parameter that prevents CSRF, why the implicit flow is deprecated, popup vs redirect handling, and the account-linking mistake that lets attackers take over accounts.
- Apache2 June 2018
.htaccess Rewrite and Redirect Rules: A Practical Reference
The .htaccess rules you actually need — clean URLs, 301 redirects, HTTPS and www canonicalisation, custom error pages, caching and security headers — with the flag meanings and ordering gotchas that make rewrites work.
- CodeIgniter2 June 2018
Multi-Language Sites in CodeIgniter 4: URL Locales, Not Session Switching
Build a multilingual CodeIgniter 4 site the way search engines can index — locale in the URL rather than the session, safe language switching without open redirects, hreflang tags, and translation files with placeholders and plurals.
- HTML30 May 2018
Custom Social Share Buttons Without Third-Party Scripts (2026)
Build fast, private social sharing buttons using plain links and the Web Share API — no Facebook SDK, no tracking, no jQuery. Includes current share URLs for every major platform and the Open Graph tags that control the preview.
- PHP19 May 2018
Stripe Payment Integration in PHP: Payment Intents, SCA and Webhooks
Integrate Stripe with PHP the way it works today — Checkout Sessions and Payment Intents, why raw card fields put you in PCI SAQ D scope, handling Strong Customer Authentication, and confirming payments with webhooks rather than the redirect.
- MySql12 May 2018
Export MySQL Data to CSV or Excel in PHP (The Correct Way)
Stream MySQL query results to CSV or a real Excel file in PHP using fputcsv — with the UTF-8 BOM Excel needs, protection against CSV formula injection, and memory-safe exports for large tables.
- MySql11 May 2018
Load More / Infinite Scroll with PHP and MySQL: Why OFFSET Is the Wrong Tool
Build a Load More button with the Fetch API and PHP — plus keyset pagination, which stays fast at page 5,000 where LIMIT/OFFSET collapses, and the duplicate-row bug OFFSET causes on live data.
- PHP4 May 2018
How to Increase the Maximum File Upload Size in PHP (and Why Your Change Isn't Working)
Raise PHP's upload limit properly — which method works for mod_php, PHP-FPM and CGI, the five directives that all have to agree, the nginx setting nobody mentions, and why ini_set() can never change upload_max_filesize.
- WordPress3 May 2018
WooCommerce Shortcodes: Complete Reference (and What Blocks Replaced)
Every WooCommerce shortcode that still works, the ones that were removed, and how the block-based Cart and Checkout changed things — with the full attribute list for the [products] shortcode.
- PHP1 May 2018
PayPal Webhooks in PHP: The Modern Replacement for IPN
IPN is deprecated. Here is how to receive and verify PayPal payment notifications with Webhooks in PHP — signature verification, idempotency, sandbox testing, and why you must never trust the browser redirect to confirm a payment.
- Javascript25 Apr 2018
How to Select and Preview an Image in JavaScript (FileReader vs Object URLs)
Preview images before upload using FileReader or the faster URL.createObjectURL — with multi-file previews, drag and drop, client-side resizing, and the memory leak most tutorials leave in.
- MySql15 Apr 2018
Import Excel or CSV Data into MySQL with PHP (Safely, at Scale)
A production-ready CSV and XLSX import for PHP — prepared statements, batched inserts, streaming for large files, upload handling that is not a security hole, and per-row error reporting instead of silent failures.
- MySql14 Mar 2018
Build a Like / Dislike Voting System with PHP and MySQL
A YouTube-style rating system done properly — one atomic upsert instead of six queries, a unique constraint that makes double-voting impossible, optimistic UI with fetch, and why identifying voters by IP address does not work.
- PHP26 Feb 2018
Generate a Valid RSS Feed with PHP (Escaping, GUIDs and Caching)
Build an RSS 2.0 feed in PHP that actually validates — correct XML escaping so one ampersand cannot break the whole document, stable GUIDs, the self-referencing Atom link validators require, and conditional GET support.
- Javascript23 Feb 2018
Browser Notifications in JavaScript: The Complete Guide (2026)
How to send browser notifications from a web application using the Notification API and Push API — permission handling that does not get you blocked, service worker notifications, and the iOS caveat most guides miss.
- MySql11 Feb 2018
Dependent Country / State / City Dropdowns with PHP and Fetch
Build cascading select menus backed by MySQL — returning JSON instead of HTML, cancelling stale requests so slow responses cannot overwrite fresh ones, and a schema that will not break at 127 countries.
- PHP23 Jan 2018
Find a Visitor's Location from Their IP Address in PHP (Safely)
IP geolocation in PHP done properly — why unserialize() on a remote response is a remote code execution risk, how to get the real client IP behind a proxy or CDN, plus caching, accuracy limits and GDPR.
- MySql16 Jan 2018
Alphabetical A–Z Listings from MySQL in PHP (Without 27 Queries)
Build an A–Z index page from MySQL with a single query instead of one per letter — plus collation choices that decide how accents and case sort, natural ordering for names with numbers, and the index that keeps it fast.
- PHP3 Jan 2018
A Secure Registration and Login Form with PHP (No jQuery)
Build a registration and login form using native HTML validation and the Constraint Validation API, with a PHP backend that hashes passwords correctly, prevents user enumeration, and defends against CSRF and session fixation.
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