david rasch -- technology. business. life. » Development http://www.davidrasch.com Fri, 21 May 2010 02:58:14 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 ditched the Zend Framework http://www.davidrasch.com/2007/03/19/ditched-the-zend-framework/ http://www.davidrasch.com/2007/03/19/ditched-the-zend-framework/#comments Tue, 20 Mar 2007 01:41:00 +0000 drasch http://www.davidrasch.com/2007/03/19/ditched-the-zend-framework/ I’ve ditched the Zend Framework on a project. In it’s place, Symfony has allowed me to recreate all the work with the Zend Framework over several months in a matter of 4 hours.

The Zend Framework proved to be:

too piecemeal incomplete – arguably this is represented by the version number; but this applied to both . . . → Read More: ditched the Zend Framework]]> I’ve ditched the Zend Framework on a project. In it’s place, Symfony has allowed me to recreate all the work with the Zend Framework over several months in a matter of 4 hours.

The Zend Framework proved to be:

  • too piecemeal
  • incomplete – arguably this is represented by the version number; but this applied to both individual components being incomplete and the lack of a complete offering for a whole application
  • in flux – changing each time we updated such that it was difficult to get the newer components without breaking lots of our code
  • too rigid – we found it far too rigid and requiring much code diving, without much direction, to redirect some of the logic especially in the Controller framework

All in all, Symfony has proved very easy to use, and has many facets and components I haven’t yet even been able to take advantage of.

]]> http://www.davidrasch.com/2007/03/19/ditched-the-zend-framework/feed/ 3 2006 IntelliContact Accomplishments http://www.davidrasch.com/2006/12/17/2006-intellicontact-accomplishments/ http://www.davidrasch.com/2006/12/17/2006-intellicontact-accomplishments/#comments Mon, 18 Dec 2006 03:40:15 +0000 drasch http://www.davidrasch.com/2006/12/17/2006-intellicontact-accomplishments/ I decided to make list of things of which I’ve been a part of accomplishing over the last twelve months at IntelliContact not any without assistance, and some for which I’m only happy to have had a role.

From 3500-7200+ customers From one database cluster to four From eight mail servers to 12 Creating and maturing the development processing inspired . . . → Read More: 2006 IntelliContact Accomplishments]]> I decided to make list of things of which I’ve been a part of accomplishing over the last twelve months at IntelliContact not any without assistance, and some for which I’m only happy to have had a role.

  • From 3500-7200+ customers
  • From one database cluster to four
  • From eight mail servers to 12
  • Creating and maturing the development processing inspired by good things from Scrum, Extreme Programming, and Flickr (credit to Geoff and Alan)
  • One-click deployment tool
  • Bug triage – bugs find their way to solution instead of hanging in purgatory forever
  • Grown from 20 to 50 servers
  • Two four-person development teams
  • From 1.5 to 2.5 Systems people
  • Event-based Billing system (almost all credit here goes to Michael Best)
  • Got rid of Albatross upgrade code
  • Two mailhandlers in two locations
  • Agnification (web servers can serve up from any DB cluster)
  • Message desmurfing interface (credit to Vaughn)
  • RSS feeds
  • Public Newsletter Archive
  • Role-based servers (credit to Jay)
]]> http://www.davidrasch.com/2006/12/17/2006-intellicontact-accomplishments/feed/ 2 the Spike http://www.davidrasch.com/2006/10/29/the-spike/ http://www.davidrasch.com/2006/10/29/the-spike/#comments Sun, 29 Oct 2006 14:25:38 +0000 drasch http://www.davidrasch.com/2006/10/29/the-spike/ We’re engaging in a spike at IntelliContact this week. Some of the projects people are investigating (none of which are sure to be finished by the end of this week):

Mac/Yahoo Desktop Widget Cleanup of old files in codebase Consistent mail sending for messages other than broadcasts Firefox/Thunderbird Extension for showing message stats Refactoring message sending to show customers progress . . . → Read More: the Spike]]> We’re engaging in a spike at IntelliContact this week. Some of the projects people are investigating (none of which are sure to be finished by the end of this week):

  • Mac/Yahoo Desktop Widget
  • Cleanup of old files in codebase
  • Consistent mail sending for messages other than broadcasts
  • Firefox/Thunderbird Extension for showing message stats
  • Refactoring message sending to show customers progress in sending and allow support team to ‘finish’ messages that get stuck
]]> http://www.davidrasch.com/2006/10/29/the-spike/feed/ 0 Learning PHP sans bad habits http://www.davidrasch.com/2006/10/12/learning-sheltered-php-sans-bad-habits/ http://www.davidrasch.com/2006/10/12/learning-sheltered-php-sans-bad-habits/#comments Fri, 13 Oct 2006 02:53:15 +0000 drasch http://www.davidrasch.com/2006/10/12/learning-sheltered-php-sans-bad-habits/ I’ve received some fatalistic responses to my last installment related to what I see as problems with PHP teachings. In particular, I fear we teach people to write applications in ways that are reckless to the fact that these individuals likely read no more than 1-2 PHP books and move on to start writing their . . . → Read More: Learning PHP sans bad habits]]> I’ve received some fatalistic responses to my last installment related to what I see as problems with PHP teachings. In particular, I fear we teach people to write applications in ways that are reckless to the fact that these individuals likely read no more than 1-2 PHP books and move on to start writing their application.

Now I’ll present some solutions I propose to the challenges of teaching PHP without encouraging bad habits from the beginning.

Chapter 1: Intro to PHP syntax using the commnd-line
Chapter 2: Make your first dynamic web page using our small framework (hello world)
The framework handles: data escaping input and output, proper sql injection protection, and data/presentation separation. The student needn’t understand all of this yet, but will be explained.
Chapter 3: Variables & Arrays
Chapter 4: Conditionals, Loops & Functions
Chapter 5: Classes
Chapter 6: Sending/Receiving data on the web.
Chapter 7: How to create additional pages in the framework
Chapter 8: Creating forms
Chapter 9: Dissect the framework input/output, presentation and database aspects
Chapter 10: Show how failing to do these things is insecure
Chapter 11: Create additional views/flow using OO framework
Chapter 12: Create a simple application with 3-4 views

This describes the mostly the PHP aspects of a book. This book could easily use SQLite and save the MySQL for another book where it can be properly introduced. It could also include some MySQL education to increase its marketability. The framework itself sounds like a big undertaking, but in fact it can be kept extremely simple as governed by the examples put forth herein. In addition, the frameworks simplicity will allow it to be dissected later in the book for the education of the reader. Finally, when someone finishes the book (or the worst risk with current books if they don’t finish it, they’ll still have the right ideas and not go willy-nilly writing an application using $_GET and $_POST without thinking twice.

[tags]teaching, learning, php[/tags]

]]> http://www.davidrasch.com/2006/10/12/learning-sheltered-php-sans-bad-habits/feed/ 4 API Access to Users’ Data http://www.davidrasch.com/2006/10/01/api-access-to-users-data/ http://www.davidrasch.com/2006/10/01/api-access-to-users-data/#comments Mon, 02 Oct 2006 03:06:18 +0000 drasch http://www.davidrasch.com/2006/10/01/api-access-to-users-data/ Apparently our API discussion at PHP Appalachia struck quite a chord with Michael.

As we’re in the process of building up the IntelliContact API, we’ve run into this same problem. We’ve taken a bit of a simple solution. We allow a given user to associate an API key with their account and specify . . . → Read More: API Access to Users’ Data]]> Apparently our API discussion at PHP Appalachia struck quite a chord with Michael.

As we’re in the process of building up the IntelliContact API, we’ve run into this same problem. We’ve taken a bit of a simple solution. We allow a given user to associate an API key with their account and specify a separate password. This allows the application using the API to access only users accounts to which they’ve been granted, and leaves the power with the user to revoke the access at will by changing the password or disabling the API key access entirely. This seems to be a simple-end solution to what Michael proposes which allows for a more general ACL.

[tags]API, REST, authentication[/tags]

]]> http://www.davidrasch.com/2006/10/01/api-access-to-users-data/feed/ 1 RSS feeds meet IntelliContact http://www.davidrasch.com/2006/08/26/rss-feeds-meet-intellicontact/ http://www.davidrasch.com/2006/08/26/rss-feeds-meet-intellicontact/#comments Sun, 27 Aug 2006 03:45:23 +0000 drasch http://www.davidrasch.com/2006/08/26/rss-feeds-meet-intellicontact/ As we get neck-deep integrating RSS feeds into IntelliContact, we encounter an interesting challenge. In the past, our interface was a mere repository for features, integrated through loose glue usually in the form of tabs. Each feature received its own tab–surveys, autoresponders, adding contacts, maniuplating contacts, and tracking analytics. In our wholely redesigned . . . → Read More: RSS feeds meet IntelliContact]]> As we get neck-deep integrating RSS feeds into IntelliContact, we encounter an interesting challenge. In the past, our interface was a mere repository for features, integrated through loose glue usually in the form of tabs. Each feature received its own tab–surveys, autoresponders, adding contacts, maniuplating contacts, and tracking analytics. In our wholely redesigned interface we have only four tabs. My Contacts, Create, Send, and Track allow our user to setup their lists and contacts then create, send, and track their email newsletter, survey, or autoresponder.

Where do RSS feeds go? They are a publication method, so maybe they belong under Send. But, they are targets when broadcasting a message (like lists) so maybe they belong under My Contacts. Maybe they are something else that you Create, Send, and Track therefore they go on the Create tab with hints about their status on the Send and Track tabs.

The answer may seem obvious to you, but it’s likely a different answer from that of your friends.

Most importantly, I welcome such a discussion and challenge. A victory is ours when our interface brings the simplification to a necessity rather than a desire as we improve IntelliContact.

[tags]intellicontact, ui, design, human factors[/tags]

]]> http://www.davidrasch.com/2006/08/26/rss-feeds-meet-intellicontact/feed/ 0 bugs bite http://www.davidrasch.com/2006/08/19/bugs-bite/ http://www.davidrasch.com/2006/08/19/bugs-bite/#comments Sun, 20 Aug 2006 02:40:09 +0000 drasch http://www.davidrasch.com/2006/08/19/bugs-bite/ This week the development team responded en masse to a few bugs that made it into the production world. The triage process takes these bugs as we receive them directly from customers or from our support-team on the front lines and gets them right into the hands of the developers. The developers step up, . . . → Read More: bugs bite]]> This week the development team responded en masse to a few bugs that made it into the production world. The triage process takes these bugs as we receive them directly from customers or from our support-team on the front lines and gets them right into the hands of the developers. The developers step up, dropping their current sprint priorities temporarily, to respond to these critical issues. This feedback loop encourages them to value unit, functional, smoke, and regression testing because they see the result of bugs making it into the wild.

Two of the issues that bit us this past week would have been caught within 5 minutes by tests we placed near the top of our priority list at the beginning of this sprint (8/7) and are still scheduled to be completed by the close of the sprint.

On the up side, we’ve had only a handful of minor issues related to our 4.0 release. The worst problems have been a few features we didn’t bring over from the 3.0 interface such as paying for additional sends above and beyond those included with your account.

[tags]triage, qa, intellicontact[/tags]

]]> http://www.davidrasch.com/2006/08/19/bugs-bite/feed/ 0 Scrum II http://www.davidrasch.com/2006/08/04/scrum-ii/ http://www.davidrasch.com/2006/08/04/scrum-ii/#comments Sat, 05 Aug 2006 03:51:00 +0000 david http://www.davidrasch.com/2006/08/04/scrum-ii/ Scrum as much indicates the participation of the development team(s) as it does the involvement and commitment of the ‘everyone else’. Everyone must submit innovative controversial ideas, give honest feedback, and be willing to accept success.

Last weekend the company had a second Broadwick Day and discussed all sorts of desires for employee communication and . . . → Read More: Scrum II]]> Scrum as much indicates the participation of the development team(s) as it does the involvement and commitment of the ‘everyone else’. Everyone must submit innovative controversial ideas, give honest feedback, and be willing to accept success.

Last weekend the company had a second Broadwick Day and discussed all sorts of desires for employee communication and involvement in the product. The opportunity is here, and in the past week we’ve bridge the gap with some education to let everyone know about their role in Scrum.

In addition, we’ve added the role of a Story Advocate who represents a given feature during development. This provides the developers a go-to person so they don’t feel lost in the sea of people who might care about a given story. In addition, we’ve created a few mailing lists for trading ideas related to user-stories. If today’s Sprint Review is any indication, I’m looking forward to far greater involvement in the development process by any and all in the company.

The development teams also met today to re-commit to reliability as the chief deliverable. A distant second is the features which are no good, and don’t Simply Email Marketing unless they work well, all the time.
[tags]scrum, agile development, broadwick[/tags]

]]> http://www.davidrasch.com/2006/08/04/scrum-ii/feed/ 0 Ambient Orb http://www.davidrasch.com/2006/07/26/ambient-orb/ http://www.davidrasch.com/2006/07/26/ambient-orb/#comments Thu, 27 Jul 2006 03:55:48 +0000 david http://www.davidrasch.com/2006/07/26/ambient-orb/ A long-time friend of mine started playing with his Ambient Orb a year or so ago. At the time, he explained all sorts of details of how he’d setup a Windows service and .NET providers. I remember thinking, “wow, their API must be pretty complex”.

While in Salt Lake City on vacation, I picked up . . . → Read More: Ambient Orb]]> A long-time friend of mine started playing with his Ambient Orb a year or so ago. At the time, he explained all sorts of details of how he’d setup a Windows service and .NET providers. I remember thinking, “wow, their API must be pretty complex”.

While in Salt Lake City on vacation, I picked up an orb on sale for $50 and decided to investigate this on my own. Today, I finally got around to looking into the API, and implementing a client. After looking at the ‘API’ I decided on BASH to implement my client.

Spoiler: It’s 2 lines of bash to retrieve our current daily customer count and post it to the ambient orb API. And, before you waste your time both my Orb ID and the database password have been changed.

After combining my ‘service’ with the ever powerful CRON, my Orb now updates every 15 minutes.
[tags]ambient orb, bash, intellicontact[/tags]

]]> http://www.davidrasch.com/2006/07/26/ambient-orb/feed/ 2 launching a beta http://www.davidrasch.com/2006/06/26/launching-a-beta/ http://www.davidrasch.com/2006/06/26/launching-a-beta/#comments Tue, 27 Jun 2006 03:10:43 +0000 david http://www.davidrasch.com/2006/06/26/launching-a-beta/ A beta usually sounds like a great idea, but with the difficulties of software development–hitting deadlines, feature drift, and push to release biding time can be challenging. Both agile development and patience paid off in this case. In the preparations for our 4.0 beta, we spent an entire sprint (28 days) dealing with our . . . → Read More: launching a beta]]> A beta usually sounds like a great idea, but with the difficulties of software development–hitting deadlines, feature drift, and push to release biding time can be challenging. Both agile development and patience paid off in this case. In the preparations for our 4.0 beta, we spent an entire sprint (28 days) dealing with our internal feedback of things that were ‘non-optional’ to fix before our ultimate release. Now, we’re “waiting” a sprint for feedback to roll in.

The challenge comes in distilling the feedback and determining the value of what has been said and suggested, and what hasn’t been said. For example, if everyone talks about the size of the new icons (which are intentionally quite large) does it mean that they thought most everything else was great? Or does it mean they stopped looking after they were scared away by the large icons?

The triage process as will begin next week where we decide what of the feedback gets rolled into the software now, what goes into the product backlog for later, and what gets ‘held’ for further input, suggestion, or interest.

Meanwhile, the development teams have been hard at work playing with buzzwords like RSS and REST.

[tags]intellicontact, beta, rss, rest, scrum[/tags]

]]> http://www.davidrasch.com/2006/06/26/launching-a-beta/feed/ 0