Web Development Services

Zen and the Art of Yard Maintenance

My 1.5 acre property in Chester County has taught me alot about time management. I like to spend my off hours doing landscaping and perennial gardening, and since I can't afford to hire a work crew, there's a great need to make systems that are sustainable. The more I can engineer my yard tasks, giving them maximum time between occurances, the more work I can get done. There's only one of me, and many jobs to do. Take the simple task of weed management, for instance. If I clear out the weeds in a garden, spending maybe two hours at the task, I don't want to have to come back and do it again for a long time. The longer the time between tasks, the more work gets done, and, as a bonus, the work takes less time. This means I have to think about the short term and long term aspects of a job.

I've tried to apply these lessons to web development and system support, too. Its often through mundane practices, such as neatness and organization, that these goals can be realized. For instance, have you ever had to waste time looking for a logon ID, a password, a serial number, or a piece of code? How about a key client's email address? These are all things that will sap your time, and keep you working past 5 o'clock.

Javascript and CSS

Recently I've been making web forms that have alot of <input type="button"> tags on them, which I've been styling with CSS and changing with Javascript. I know, this is nothing new, but its a technique I've not used before. It really cleans up the look of a form, especially if you've gone to the trouble to make the form look nice, only to have these big ugly buttons all over the place. Good stuff.

So, are you learning AJAX?

I thought I had moved on from Javascript. It was 4 or 5 years ago when I started using PHP, and gradually did less and less with Javascript. Form validation, web applications, everything moved to the server side. Then CSS comes along, and you aren't even doing mouseover image replacement with Javascript anymore. It was outa here. I was a php guy, and had little need for client side scripting.

Or, so I thought. [Enters Ajax] Now, it seems like you can't get a gig anymore without having some good Ajax experience on your resume. And what's Ajax require? Client-side scripting, which to me means Javascript. So, I've broken out the old Javascripts books, started going to the Javascript websites again, and have embarked on a mission to LEARN AJAX !. Since I needed a project around which to do my testing, I decided to convert the Client List section of this site to Ajax.

I'll let you know how it works out.

Why Develop on a Mac?

I've been using Macintosh computers as my main computer for business and pleasure since the days of Duran Duran and Huey Lewis and the News. Recently I've been doing an on-site consulting job, writing PHP code, where I've been required to use a Windows box running XP Professional. My initial response? In addition to the fact that the experience has totally messed up my brain with the use of the Control key instead of the Command key, using Windows for development, or for any other purpose, is just not nearly as efficient as using a Mac. Try using Jedit for a day or two and your appreciation for BBEdit will soar. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and my appreciation for the Mac-based development environment that I have in my home office has never been higher. If you're a developer, and you're not using a Mac, give it a shot. If you are using a Mac for your web development work, stay the course, don't be tempted to switch, and count yourself among the smart and lucky ones.