September 01, 2012
PHP has a great magic method called __autoload(). Now, before you say that anything magic is dangerous and should be steered clear of, hear me out.
April 12, 2012
I recently had the pleasure of going through someone else’s code in order to make changes requested by the client. I was surprised to see so much “proper” code set up in there and realized how lucky I am to be using a more "practical" approach with magic methods.
January 27, 2012
Web applications can be complicated, so can the databases that drive them. Do they have to be? No, not if you incorporate simplicity into your design.
December 29, 2011
The singleton design pattern is one of the easiest patterns that someone can use. Basically, it lets you create one single object (a singleton) that is used during the execution of your code. This means that no matter how many times you try to create a new one, you’ll just get the first one you originally created.
November 21, 2011
To most people forms are a barrier which stand in the way of an end goal (to be a member of a web site, to purchase an item, to gain entry into a system). For this reason, developers should ensure that a form is kept simple and only asks what is needed to help someone achieve that end goal.
November 18, 2011
People have different views on how to start going about coding for a project. Some jump in right away, while others want to plan everything out first. For the most part, I’m in the latter camp, and below is what I typically do.
November 17, 2011
One of the biggest mistakes a web developer can make is to not back up production files before making changes to them. For those that don’t use any version control tools; or, in those instances where you aren’t the only one with access to the files on the server, not backing up before you deploy is like playing Russian Roulette.
November 13, 2011
Implementing a configuration file in your application will save you time and headaches – now and in the long run.
October 16, 2011
So you’re going to build a web site and someone is going to pay you for your work. Awesome, but where do you start?
October 16, 2011
So we’ve all been there. You build a web app and send it for quality assurance (QA) testing and it comes back with a load of bugs.
October 15, 2011
There are many factors that make a great web site. Some of the more important ones are described below: