Stop Coding

I had the pleasure of hearing Larry Garfield (@crell) give a keynote at Sunshine PHP 2014 (@SunshinePHP). He started out with a history of how difficult it had been to share code – no standards, no easy way (other than cutting and pasting), no easy way to maintain that shared code, etc., and we were fighting against years of “sharing” being “bad for business”.  Continue reading “Stop Coding”

Why Did We Ever Do It Like That?

Here is my latest editorial for the March 2014 issue of php[architect] magazine:

php[architect] - March 2014

Why Did We Ever Do It Like That?

Change is hard. I don’t get enough sleep as it is. I don’t have time to mess around learning new things. I need to get this job done because there is more piling up while I’m sitting here contemplating this.

I’m sure I’m not alone in having this run through my head periodically when faced with yet another new technology to “master”. And yet, we push through these moments. Time marches on. And suddenly, we look back at old code and think, “Why did I ever code that way? Continue reading “Why Did We Ever Do It Like That?”

Masters of Data

Here is my latest editorial for the February 2014 issue of php[architect] magazine:

php[architect] - February 2014

Masters of Data

Conquering data is a daunting task. Not only do you need to generate the data, but you need to store it efficiently. (And don’t forget to validate it when you receive it and clean it before you send it into storage!) Never fear, though, there are lots of tools to help you on your quest. Continue reading “Masters of Data”