Ducks in a Row

Here is my latest editorial for the August 2013 issue of php[architect] magazine:

 

php[architect] - August 2013

Ducks in a Row

“Don’t reinvent the wheel.” “Don’t waste time; use existing libraries.” I can’t even count how many times I have heard this advice in various forms, but reusing code means relying on external resources, and external resources add their own brand of complexity. Continue reading “Ducks in a Row”

A Group Effort

Here is my latest editorial for the June 2013 issue of php[architect] magazine:

php[architect] - June 2013

A Group Effort

In a typical day, pretty much everyone on the internet encounters PHP (I’m sure there are a few exceptions), and whether we love them or hate them, some of the biggest websites and software packages are built on PHP. One of the reasons that PHP has had such a success is that it has had a good focused purpose, and it certainly doesn’t hurt that PHP is free and works well with many other common, useful tools. Continue reading “A Group Effort”

Who Needs Frameworks?

Here is my latest editorial for the May 2013 issue of php|architect magazine:

php|architect - May 2013

Who Needs Frameworks?

Beth Tucker Long

The title alone may get me some hate mail, but anyone who has discussed frameworks with me knows that I’m not shy about saying that I really don’t have a use for them. That’s not to say that I don’t think there’s a time and a place for them, just that for the majority of the projects that I do, a full-fledged framework is way over the top. There is something to be said for having more features than you know what to do with, but there’s also something to be said for not having to slog through 30 files to find what you need – or having to autoload 12 files to do one thing. Continue reading “Who Needs Frameworks?”