Parsing Strange

I’m busy working on my tutorial for WordCamp Chicago that’s now tentatively titled “Parsing Strange” – as in “parsing strange on the way to HTML content”.

I’m basically picking apart the way WordPress takes a URL and turns it into an SQL query for the underlying MySQL database, getting into how and where taxonomies turn into INNER JOIN operations, how WordPress tries to avoid HTTP 404 errors and why certain choices of naming, archive and permalink conventions can lead to very slow response times. As I’ve been working on the tutorial, I’ve had to dig into the code in some new (and sometimes random) areas, which is always fun as well as educational. What I’ve learned is that if someone says “WordPress can’t do that,” generally there’s a way to prove them wrong.

Video, slides, and jokes will follow after the conference. Since I’m on in the hangover slot (Sunday morning June 6, 9:00 AM), I’m sure several attendees with find those equally useful.

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