When creating web applications it is easy to get distracted with concerns about hardware and load when all you want is to write your code. Google’s App Engine creates an easy way to get started with your web applications on the same systems that host Google applications. Using the App Engine is easy but it can seem daunting at first. I have written this step-by-step guide to help you get started. Google App Engine is Google’s platform for developing and running web applications on their infrastructure. There are a lot of benefits to running your applications in… View full post »
Generating Better Random Numbers With PHP
March 23rd, 2012 Leave a commentFor most developers, when we talk about “random” numbers we are talking about two ideas: Predictability and Bias. Both are closely related but have some fundamental differences. In this article I will discuss these two ideas as well as evaluate how random numbers are achieved using PHP so you can have a better understanding of them the next time you need random numbers in your program. To begin to understand how to generate better random numbers, you must first understand how random numbers work. As stated before, random numbers must have two characteristics: predictability and bias. Predictability… View full post »
Choose Best Programming Language for Your Project
March 22nd, 2012 Leave a comment 3 commentsWhen beginning a new project it is sometimes difficult to decide which programming language would be best for your job. While each programming language has its strengths and weaknesses there are often reasons why one language is better over others. In this article I will discuss the prevalence of different programming languages to hopefully help you decide which to use for your next development project. Just as a builder will tell you that it is much better to use a hammer to drive a nail than a screwdriver, an experienced programmer will tell you that certain languages are better than… View full post »
Java 8: New Features
March 21st, 2012 Leave a comment 2 commentsWe have waited in anxious anticipation for the new features that will be available in Java 8, most of which were previously intended for Java 7 but had to be postponed. Now, Oracle promises us a “Revolution, not Evolution” with the new version. What does the future of the Java language hold? At the 2011 JavaOne conference, Mark Reinhold, the chief architect for Java at Oracle, gave the audience a peek at what to expect in Java 8 and spoke a little about upcoming plans for Java 9. It was unfortunate that of the five key improvements that… View full post »
Protecting Your Site – Web Application Security
March 21st, 2012 Leave a comment 1 commentSince more and more applications are moving to the Web application platform, they are becoming the target of mischief and illegal attacks. You need to be able to defend and protect your application by arming yourself with the knowledge of how these attacks can occur as well as learn how to fix these problems when one is found. A secure Web application has three characteristics: accessibility, confidentiality, and integrity. It is ultimately the responsibility of the designer and programmer to think about security when designing their systems since we cannot rely on security analysis of the platform… View full post »
jQuery Data Method – How To
March 19th, 2012 Leave a commentWhen using jQuery we often find ourselves storing data inside the DOM and misrepresenting the alt or rel attributes to achieve our own ends. However, there is a better way of achieving this. We can store data with meaningful names with any element on the page. Hopefully after reading this article on how to use jQuery’s Data method you will no longer feel compelled to break the rules of the DOM and you will know how to store your critical pieces of data in a better way. Here is an example of some of the strange things we… View full post »
Tomcat vs. Apache: Why One Over the Other?
March 17th, 2012 Leave a comment 1 commentThe question has often been asked by those looking to run a web server on their production machines: Do they go with Apache Web Server (also known as “Apache httpd”) or Apache Tomcat? Both are production level servers that seem to offer great capabilities, and it can be difficult to choose between the two if you’re not familiar with their capabilities. The real secret here, however, is that the question is a bit of a misleading one: there isn’t a “versus” here per-se: the two servers, while both offering similar features, can ultimately be used side-by-side to complement each other… View full post »
Virtualization Technologies Compared
March 15th, 2012 Leave a commentI doesn’t matter if you are new to VPS hosting, virtualization technology or if you have been working with these technologies for awhile, choosing the best virtualization solution for your hosted environment can be tricky. In this article we will discuss two of the most prevalent technologies available for VPS hosting: Xen and OpenVZ. While both of these are open-source server virtualization packages, often found in VPS hosting and enterprise-level environments, there are some big differences between the two. The purpose here will be to help you find the best fit for your hosting environment and the… View full post »
Data Movements: In Page Insights with Google Analytics
March 14th, 2012 Leave a commentUnderstanding navigation paths and in-page behavior is an important part of the overall analytics equation. With the release of In-Page Analytics, analysts can now understand navigation patterns in more detail. Now with on page analytics you can visualize how users are interacting with the design elements on your site: From the example above you can determine which visual elements are more appealing to consumers, updating your design to make it more user-friendly. When laying out navigation and subsequent site updates you can go beyond usability testing in order to improve the performance of a given site. Evaluating the relative success… View full post »
9 Ways to Speed Up Your Web Pages with HTML5
March 13th, 2012 Leave a commentWeb developers are always looking for new ways to improve the speed and performance of the pages. With some of the new features available in HTML5, there are several ways that you can improve your web applications to give your user a better experience. We’ve compiled 9 easy-to-implement HTML5 tips and tricks here that would help you streamline your website without investing in additional infrastructure. 1. Use HTML5 Forms and Inputs HTML5 has introduced a whole new set of form attributes and input types to upgrade your existing HTML forms. Not all browsers are supporting these yet, but for the… View full post »
Getting Started With Python
March 12th, 2012 Leave a commentPython is a high-level programming language that is highly readable and allows the programmer to use English-like words to write their programs. This interpreted language is powerful but easy to learn and can be used to write a multitude of different programs from simple text programs to games. If you are new to programming, Python is a great language for beginners and this tutorial will help you get started writing Python programs. For those of you just getting started with Python, you will need to set up your environment. Python is an open-source language available under the GUN… View full post »
On-Page Optimization: Get the Most Out of Your SEO
March 9th, 2012 Leave a commentEvery site owner has studied and tried the tips of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) masters to try to improve their page ranking in search engines. Many of these tips and techniques work, but what do you do when you are applying all of those things and you are still on page 4? This article goes into a little more depth than just the standard “put your keywords here” kind of tips. I will discuss six ways to get the most out of your on-page content and give you some ideas on how to get beyond the basics of standard… View full post »
jQuery HTML5 Drag-and-Drop File Upload
March 8th, 2012 Leave a comment 3 commentsOften we have a situation on our site where we want users to be able to upload a file. Whether this is for a profile, pictures of any item or other scenario, creating a file upload doesn’t have to be tricky. With some of the nice tricks in HTML5 and jQuery we can even add the nice touch of being able to drag and drop files directly into the uploader, making your site feel extra-special. In this tutorial we will discuss the techniques of both of these techniques that make this trick possible as well as create… View full post »
PHP: Insert Text Into File at Position
March 7th, 2012 Leave a commentThis is a small PHP tip I used to insert arbitrary text into a file at a specific position. There are times when you need to insert (or rather, append at a given position) an arbitrary text into a file from within your PHP application. It only takes a few lines of code, but I didn’t find an exact solution to this on Google, so I decided to share my own solution with you. The link below is as close as I got to what I needed: http://www.neoseeker.com/forums/45/t1544597-php-append-text-to-file-at-specific-position/, but the code from there was overwriting the contents of the file… View full post »
VPS Hosting for Developers – How to Choose?
March 6th, 2012 Leave a commentFor many developers, choosing the right host is crucial. You often have different requirements and greater demands than regular members of the public and you need to be sure that your VPS host will be OK with your traffic and data movements. Not everyone can afford dedicated hosting, so often the next best thing is a Virtual Private Server. In this article, I will discuss some ways to look at your VPS host and decide which one is right for you. First: What is a VPS? A VPS, or Virtual Private Server is a virtual machine that resides… View full post »




