blog.jc21

Recently it was brought to my attention that I should use the Yahoo UI Library to solve a problem I’ve had. Having used these tools when they were first released I thought they were cool at the time. Now I still think they’re cool and well documented.

I am always cautious building sites relying on Javascript because of all the things that can go wrong from browser to browser. Lately I’m learning towards the ‘if you’re browser doesn’t support my site, it’s time to upgrade!’ line of thinking.

Information based sites don’t need to be Web 2.0 enhanced, but now we’re building Applications that do stuff! I want to drag ‘n’ drop things and watch cool animations when I delete something.

Where was I… Yahoo UI and the Yahoo Design Pattern Library are helping to make our lives easier. If you don’t have a degree in Interface Programming, at the very least take a look at the Design Patterns. You’ll soon discover what Usability is all about.

The concept of a dynamic website relies largely on a Webserver, a database and a scripting language. Because of those needs, it seems that the thought of transferring a dynamic script driven application to a CD that could run on a PC without an internet connection would stump most people.

The team over at Media Variations have made this thought into a reality. Using PHP, Apache and Mysql built-in, your scripts can have the same functionality as if it were running online. Sure you’re probably saying ‘I’ve seen other applications do this before,’ but not so easily!

The clean funky setup wizard makes it possible to transform your site to an executable to run from a CD or USB drive - you could even allow users to download your site from the web!

Some uses for this product are covered on their website. The cheap price tag for such a powerful easy to use tool makes this application real value for money. Take the 30day evaluation and prove me wrong!

Recently it was announced that Zend and Mirosoft are collaborating to ensure PHP will run on Windows IIS servers with equal (or close enough) performance of Linux/Apache servers.

While all reports claim that “it’s giving users another choice not to choose linux”, I find myself asking “Why would I want to use PHP on IIS?”

Once upon a time I used to run PHP as a CGI on IIS when I was starting out, something I don’t reccomend to anyone. It was slow, hard to setup and didn’t help me learn about the real world servers using Apaches’ modules.

The biggest feature of the LAMP combination is the cheap price tag. Hosting providers that use Windows Server and IIS charge more to the customer.

However, these changes may convert some ASP developers to use PHP alongside their applications, and slowly raise more demand for PHP programmers.

See the articles here:

• Zend Announcement
• Australian IT