All the web development frameworks I have worked with have a full fledged layout system out of the box except CodeIgniter. A good number of CI tutorials encourage including common header and footer files to build the final page but I don't like this approach for the following reasons: It's more difficult to swap layouts compared to using a single complete layout file. You need to have a knowledge (admittedly small) of the server-side language. A single complete layout file can be viewed in a WYSIWYG editor. The layout system in the other frameworks I have worked with all use the two step view pattern and I have adapted CI to work the same way. What is a two step view? The idea behind ...

In response to Wil's comment regarding the PHP framework performance comparisons I made in my previous post, I have decided to post the results I got. My decision not post them initially was due to the benchmarks not being done in complete isolation (a seperate client and server machine) but the scores relative to each should still be accurate and that's what I am testing for. Furthermore, while I only used requests/sec as a performance yardstick, I do realize that other factors do affect a web application's response in the real world. The Tools The tests were run on a 1.8Ghz AMD sempron computer with 512Mb RAM running Ubuntu Gutsy (7.10) Desktop. I used httperf to run the ...

We are about to start a project from scratch at my new job and have been evaluating PHP frameworks. We've shortlisted CakePHP, CodeIgniter, Symfony and Zend. I have put them through their paces by building the same application with all four of them (a simple wiki application) and hopefully, we'll settle on one soon enough. Full Disclosure: I have tried to be as unbiased as I possibly can but I'm already a CodeIgniter fan. That said, the company I work for is a Zend Partner (we already use the Zend Platform and Zend Studio) and I can't help factoring that in. Although the initial plan was to review four PHP frameworks, this post has become a direct CodeIgniter to Zend Framework comparison. I ...

I use Windows XP as my development platform and this is more of a note from me to me so I don't have to Google for it next time.

I also use WampServer for Apache, MySQL and PHP and while I've only tested on that stack, I believe it to be generic enough.

Open the Apache httpd.conf file and uncomment the line 'LoadModule rewrite_module modules/mod_rewrite.so' (remove the pound ‘#’ sign from in front of the line). If the lines 'ClearModuleList' and 'AddModule mod_rewrite.c' are in your httpd.conf file, make sure they are not commented out. Find the section with Document Root: DocumentRoot “C:/path/to/my/root” Modify the ...

While trying to streamline my growing book collection, I thought to do a post on the books that have been most useful. So here goes: The Rails Way by Obie Fernandez Useful both as a reference book and a source of advice from the trenches. Covers Rails 2. Smashing. The ZEN of CSS Design by Dave Shea, Molly E. Holzschlag The definitive CSS showcase. Prototype and Scriptaculous in Action by Dave Crane, Bear Bibeault, Tom ...

I've got a confession to make - I don't do Photoshop very well. In spite of my best intentions, I can't seem to wrap my head around all the stuff expert designers take for granted. I guess I've got the mind of a coder. The fact that I can take a finished graphic and convert it into lovely XHTML and CSS code but would rather be coding PHP, Perl, Ruby, (insert new flavour of the month here) seems to attest to this. Fireworks is another story. This absolutely simple-to-use application is where I spend most of my time when I need to work with graphics. The learning curve is a lot easier and for the 10% ...

The 2008 Formula 1 season has started and the first race was absolutely smashing. For real. Brit Lewis Hamilton qualified at pole position and went ahead to win the race but that's not the best part of this year's first race. In my view, the highlight is the introduction of rules designed to make the races less dependent on electronics aids. The consensus then is "out with technology". Traction control is gone (a system which helps limit rear wheel spin or loss of traction when excessive throttle or steering is applied by the driver). Engine assisted braking is also out (in the simplest terms, a form of anti-lock braking - but not quite). Goodbye Launch Control (a system that allows the driver at the start ...

The Rails vs PHP debate has been on for ages with the standard answer being "You can't compare Rails to PHP - Rails is a framework and PHP is a language. Compare it to CakePHP... or CodeIgniter... or Prado... or Symphony... or...". There are now so many PHP frameworks available it's becoming increasingly difficult choosing one and sticking to it. Rails has been the preferred Ruby framework for a while now and just until recently the other available frameworks were not mainstream. Moving from another language to Ruby invariably meant moving to Rails. Apparently, all that is changing. Doing a search for Ruby frameworks brings up the following: Rails - The grand-daddy Merb Camping Sinatra Ramaze Nitro Vintage Wuby Obviously Ruby's fast catching up ...