Valitron is a simple, minimal and elegant stand-alone PHP validation library with NO dependencies. Valitron uses simple, straightforward validation methods with a focus on readable and concise syntax. Why Another Validation Library? Valitron was created out of frustration with other validation libraries that have dependencies on large components from other frameworks unrelated to validation like [...]
Introducing Bullet: The Functional PHP Micro-Framework
Bullet is a new PHP micro-framework with a unique functional approach to URL routing that allows for more flexibility and requires less verbosity than the more typical full route+callback approach found in other micro-frameworks. The Problem with Independent Scope The main problem with most micro-frameworks and even full-stack MVC frameworks that leads to code duplication is [...]
Handling Exceptions in Gearman Tasks (Even Background Ones)
I recently had some issues with Gearman tasks throwing exceptions and killing the whole Gearman daemon. This made it nearly impossible to trace errors back to their origin, because the logged exception stack trace didn’t provide much useful information, because it just logged where it failed in Gearman – not the actual file and line [...]
Count the Number of Object keys/properties in Node.js
When using the excellent formidable library to handle file uploads, I needed to get a count of the number of files unloaded in a multi-part form. Javascript arrays have a .length property that you can use, but objects do not. I instinctively typed: 1 files.length Which returned undefined. So if there is no length property present, an [...]
Protected vs Private Scope: Arrogance, Fear, and Handcuffs
The age old private vs protected debate has been re-ignited in the PHP community recently following the decision of Doctrine2 and Symfony2 to make all class methods private until there is a very clear and proven reason to change them to protected or public. The intention is a good one – to ensure they are [...]
Zero to App in Two Weeks with Titanium
Like any web developer who has been sitting on the sidelines watching this mobile explosion happen in front of my eyes, I was eager to find a way to jump in. Up until about a month ago, I was still evaluating various different mobile development platforms – Titanium, PhoneGap, and Rhomobile, trying to decide which one [...]
Practical Uses for PHP 5.3 Closures
Closures are a new language-level feature that has been added to php 5.3, along with namespaces, late static binding, and a slew of other new features, patches, and updates. If you’re like me, you might be wondering what the practical uses for these new features are before you can rightly justify diving in and using them [...]
MongoDB Gotchas
Most developers are coming from a background with relational database-specific experience, and then trying out some new NoSQL databases like MongoDB. Here are some “gotchas” I ran into while using MongoDB with my MySQL hat still on.
NoSQL First Impressions: Object Databases Missed the Boat
I’ve spent the past few weeks here at work researching and playing with NoSQL databases (and especially MongoDB) for a new feature we’re developing that doesn’t easily fit into a relational model. And so far, I really like what I see. The profoundness of the shift away from the relational model and the implications that [...]
Get Only Public Class Properties for the Current Class in PHP
PHP provides two built-in functions to retrieve properties of a given class – get_object_vars and get_class_vars. Both these functions behave the same exact way, one taking an object as a variable and the other taking a string class name. The tricky thing about the two functions is that they behave differently depending on the call [...]
