February 17, 2010 in Learn
5 Good Reasons Why Designers Should Code
Earlier today Elliot Jay Stocks commented on Twitter I’m shocked that in 2010 I’m still coming across ‘web designers’ who can’t code their own designs. His comment created a great little debate on Twitter. Personally, I agree with Elliot. I…
September 15, 2009 in Learn
How to Debug in PHP
Nobody enjoys the process of debugging their code. If you want to build killer web apps though, it’s vital that you understand the process thoroughly. This article breaks down the fundamentals of debugging in PHP, helps you understand PHP’s error…
September 14, 2009 in Learn
Why You Should Switch from Subversion to Git
You may have heard some hubbub over distributed version control systems recently. You may dismiss it as the next hot thing, the newest flavor of kool-aid currently quenching the collective thirst of the bandwagon jumpers. You, however, have been using…
September 4, 2009 in Learn
How to Create a Valid Non-Javascript Lightbox
I recently came across a solution on CSSPlay for a JavaScript free lightbox that uses invalid markup. So, being a sucker for a challenge, I set myself the task of creating one with valid markup and I eventually succeeded. Here’s…
September 1, 2009 in Learn
How to Create Bulletproof Sessions
In the first part of this series we went over how a cookie works and what can be done to secure them. In this section we’re going to go over ways to add additional security to the session beyond the…
August 14, 2009 in Learn
The Definitive Guide to GET vs POST
Unfortunately there is a lot misuse of GET over POST and vice versa. Both HTTP methods can achieve the same goals, but an incorrect choice between them can lead to unexpected and potentially harmful outcomes. So, to make sure we…
June 24, 2009 in Learn
Should you go Beyond Relational Databases?
Relational databases, such as MySQL, PostgreSQL and various commercial products, have served us well for many years. Lately, however, there has been a lot of discussion on whether the relational model is reaching the end of its life-span, and what…
March 2, 2009 in Learn
40 Web Developers to Follow on Twitter
Update: You can now follow this list with just one click. Head over to the @carsonified/top-web-devs list. I’ve been on Twitter since 2006 (@ryancarson) and it’s where I get all my news these days. It’s important to know who to…
January 20, 2009 in Learn
How to Create an RSS-Enabled, Micro-Blog with Twitter
Have you ever wanted to create a simple multi-person blog, but didn’t want to bother setting up an entire WordPress installation? If so then we’ve got just the answer. By combining Twitter Search, Atom feeds, hash-tags and PHP, you can…
August 7, 2008 in Learn
How to Debug in PHP
Nobody enjoys the process of debugging their code. If you want to build killer web apps though, it’s vital that you understand the process thoroughly. This article breaks down the fundamentals of debugging in PHP, helps you understand PHP’s error…
July 2, 2007 in Learn
5 Ways to Optimize AJAX in Ruby on Rails
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.– Arthur C. Clarke When Google first unveiled GMail, then GMaps, a firestorm of interest and activity was generated — not just in those Google applications, but the technologies that powered them. These…
March 22, 2007 in Learn
Setting & Retrieving Accesskeys with JavaScript and DOM
There are some things in the world of accessibility that appear, on the face of it, to be really wonderful ideas… until you scratch slightly below the service. What may seem feasible when putting together some guidelines on accessibility might…