My PHP application and all the files are owned by www-data however I am currently logged in to the server using my username ruser. I’m developing on the same machine so everytime I want to test changes to my php code I have to go back and forth between file owners.
Is this the best practice or is there a different way I can set this up to make my development smoother?
Make your user part of the www-data group, or make the www-data user part of your group. Then give group access to your files:
In terms of best practice, you should be developing on a different machine anyway. Then deploy your code and use scripts to set up whatever secure configuration is right for your project.