Objects and Pixels

Archive filtered by "development"

Hello World! - PHP

October 18, 2005 6:22 PM | posted to development | permalink | comments (2)

Techie post...

Hello World! (just a geeky way to say I'm learning PHP...)

I am starting to take my first steps to learn PHP. I guess I need to read around php.net... Do you guys recomend any other good sites for a PHP newbie?

Kinda like iPAP

August 12, 2005 2:00 AM | posted to development | permalink | comments (2)

For the past three nights, I've been working on updating the image viewer for this site. Inspired by Rebel Pixel's iPAP , I'm trying to implement a Java-based one.

So far what I currently have is a hack (just make it to work regardless how ugly the code).

Some technical notes. As mentioned, it is a Java-based implementation where the goal is to make an easy way to set up a gallery site - image files are uploaded to a specific directory and the tool is suppose to work. I used the code for the image viewer that I have and made it more flexible and fail-safe (should work even without captions and index files): i.e. Spring 2005(old) and Spring 2005(new). The image captions are stored in an xml file, loaded into http session using JDOM.

For page layout, I used tables... :-). Just kidding.

More work. I'm also thinking of the possibility of creating a custom tag (you can create your own tags in jsp) for this image viewer so it would be easy for other Java developers to use. I'm just starting to get back into coding, building pieces to finally update this site both on server and client side.

Enterprise Software Complexity

May 23, 2005 12:00 PM | posted to development | permalink | comments (0)

'Enterprise Software' is a polite way of saying shitty legacy systems and overly complex requirements. The resulting systems are horrible to use cost too much to maintain. - Why "Enterprise" Development is Hard

Excellent post I read today about software development. "Tadalist" was mentioned as an example of simple software that works created by 37Signals. I've always been a big fan of 37Signals after reading their manifesto.

Requirements more often than not get out of hand. Outside consultants won't always complain because, are you kidding, those are big bucks to them and you have money to spend, of course, they always have the expertise to complete what you want. Simple, cheap, and elegant is not the first option.

Software is already inherently complex. Add clients that do not have a clue of what they need. Add the pressure for developers to keep up with the latest technology, and being able to use and put that in their resume. Add the business of consulting where money is the first motivation. Result? Multi-million dollar software project created by cream of the crop developers with experience in all of the enterprise technology out there.

And what does it mean for the casual users... hmmmm. Ummmm... well they have to use the software because... dammit, it is a multi million dollar software!

I already posted this quote and I'm going to post it again:

Listen to what everyone has to say, then trust your passion. But our best advice? Care. Genuinely caring about improving the life of your users can't be faked, and that's an area where the "little guy" can usually beat the pants off even the largest competitors. - Kathy Sierra

sidenote: creative bug is winding down... that's why the software development rant :-)

Developer Wearing a Tie

March 29, 2005 10:23 PM | posted to development | permalink | comments (2)

I was just doodling and trying to come up with something then I remember reading this:

If you're a nerd, you can understand how important clothes are by asking yourself how you'd feel about a company that made you wear a suit and tie to work. The idea sounds horrible, doesn't it? In fact, horrible far out of proportion to the mere discomfort of wearing such clothes. A company that made programmers wear suits would have something deeply wrong with it. - What the Bubble Got Right an essay by Paul Graham.

:-)

Mario Parial Site Reloaded

February 2, 2005 1:30 AM | posted to development | permalink | comments (0)

I finished moving Mario Parial's site to my new server. Finally, all of its pages should validate xhtml strict, though the semantic markup still needs more improvement. There are also accessibility issues that need to be addressed since the gallery viewer relies heavily on Javascript (won't work without it).

On the server side, it is probably "overkill" but the site uses some kind of jsp templating; pages' common elements i.e. headers and footers comes from the same files. Static html files are always the most efficient but tedious to maintain.

Outdated Article

February 1, 2005 12:30 PM | posted to development | permalink | comments (1)

This link is so stupid it deserves a blog entry for me. I cannot believe what I was reading, I thought it was written in 1982.

He even created an "excellent website"(that's what he calls it). A couple of quotes from the article:

A frequent argument for OOP is it helps with code reusability, but one can reuse code without OOP, often by simply copying and pasting. - Richard Mansfield

At this point, it's difficult to predict whether OOP will fade rapidly like some intellectual fads ... - Richard Mansfield

WTF, Reusability...copying and pasting...? Object-oriented programming will fade rapidly? There was already OOP even in the early 1960's! In the blogging world this guy would be considered a troll, but the funny thing is, he is serious and his work was even published by a respectable developers' site.

Somehow the article is like what Molly wrote here in terms of web design, but this is much worse.

This is my Lego!

December 29, 2004 9:26 AM | posted to development | permalink | comments (0)

A good read from Molly discussing current issues being faced by people who work with web stuff. One particular part that interest me the most was her points about CMS.

The hottest topic these days is about content management and choosing a CMS. What astonished me (but probably shouldn't have) was how many people think they need a CMS when what they really need is better information architecture, improved editorial workflow, and savvy document management.- Molly

I am really comtemplating in using pre-made or more stable CMS rather than use my own. In requirements analysis, there is an adage of "do not reinvent the wheel" or always use/purchase available technology out there to satisfy your needs rather than creating it yourself. The difficulty of finding time to implement functionality adds more desire to make it easy for myself to make the swtich.

However, for some reason, the idea of Lego came to my mind. Maybe this whole web site thing is my Lego. A box of Lego does not come with already built dinosaur, car, insect or spaceship; it has all the pieces you need and you build it yourself. The fun of it is in the creation process.

I guess the article just made me realize I really should consider the goals and objectives of why I build a website in the first place.

On the same paragraph from the quote above:

Or, you make life easier and less expensive by selecting a CMS that truly meets your strategic requirements. The message here? Don't believe the hype! Examine your situation because it's unique, and make decisions carefully before thinking that a CMS will magically solve your problems. Chances are it will quite un-magically add more problems to the mix.- Molly

The word for 2005...Agile!

December 23, 2004 9:52 AM | posted to development | permalink | comments (0)

At least for me for this coming year. I know it is not a new word in software development, but it is for me :-). That's what I get for not reading enough.

Well at least to my credit, I'm kinda aware now of process and methology rather than just merely programming.

As I posted in my other blog, I was burned out coding lately but I think that has passed out now. I will try to balance out ideas for my sites this coming year which means post more software stuff. Be patient, be patient, be patient. Strive for quality post in a site like this is more important where I other people can benefit.

Yet another update?

October 28, 2004 10:46 PM | posted to development | permalink | comments (0)

While developing an image gallery for my site that would enable me to post images easily, it opened up doors into XML related technologies such as JDOM, SAX and DOM API's

Basically I already implemented the image traversal part, i.e. by just specifying the url folder, the web app would create the page that traverses through all the jpg's image in that folder.

The only issue I am trying to implement is the captions for each picture. I want it as easy as possible without storing the caption to the database and I could easily specify it as I view the pictures while I am traversing thru the pages. Then this idea lead me to thinking maybe I could use xml to store all the captions then when the page is requested read of that page...

Well... it is a big duh! I have all the API's and resources in my figertips to make this as easy as possible. Right now I am trying to figure out design issues particularly whether to implement static or dynamic (maybe both?) page generation. Currently, this site employs dynamic where entries are all stored in the database.