Easy to use Javascript Image Cropper UI with Prototype.js

I just found this great javascript library that is an user interface for cropping images. It depends on both prototype.js and scriptaculous, which I like since I'm using them on all my projects.
The code is easy to use, and I integrated it into my Zend Framework with a couple of hours work (most of the work was actually not related to the cropping ui, but with the actual file handling and image cropping).

Anyway, it's great, big thanks to David Spurr! Use it, love it, tip it!

Readwriteweb - Tips for startups on Software Engineering

ReadWriteWeb has a pretty nice story on 36 tips for web startups, from Software Engineering to PR and more :)

I agree on what they say completely on the software engineering team. In short their tips are:
1) You must have code
2) You must have a technical co-founder
3) Hire A+ engineers who love coding
4) Keep the engineering team small and do not outsource
5) Ask tough questions during the interview
6) Avoid hiring non-technical managers
7) Cultivate an agile culture
8) Do not re-invent the wheel

I think that the second point is the most important point, you need to have industry knowledge in your founding team (just as you should have people in your team that know the target audience)

Read the full post

Web2.0 Startup - What should you use?

This is a short post on what libraries, languages and such that you should use for your web2.0 startup.

1) PHP
PHP is the most used scripting language used by millions of sites. It's proven scalable, easy to learn and every programmer knows. There are also loads of free and ready to use libraries for PHP.
2) MySQL
MySQL is free, it's fast and used by companies as Google and Facebook. Let's face it, if it's good enough for Facebook, it's probably good enough for you.
3) Apache
Apache is the worlds most used server and you find loads of information about it all over the web. Again, it's proven scalable, stable, and most of all, it's FREE!
4) Zend Framework
Zend Framework is a platform for creating MVC (Model/View/Controller) code, mainly developed by a huge user community, IBM and Zend. Using this you get a framework for PHP for free, making it easier to debug and maintain. It also contains many great built in features for many tasks, making PHP a great alternative to platforms as .Net.
5) Use Prototype.js
All sites contain lots of javascript nowadays. Javascript is a pretty nasty language, with different API's for different browsers (read Firefox and Internet Explorer). It also lacks some functionality for many modern websites such as Ajax. Prototype.js enhances javascript making it platform independent and easier to use. There is no need to reinvent the wheel, use this library that has proven a great solution for many sites, it is also pretty well documentet and has a large user community supporting it.
6) Use Scriptaculous
For your modern, Web2.0 website you need animations and transitions. Use Scriptaculous since it meets many of your website's interface needs.

That's it. Use this and you will have easily maintained, scalable code ready for your rapid development!

Apache
PHP
MySQL
Zend Framework
Prototype.js
Scriptaculous

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So you want to be a web2.0 programmer

Ok, there's a little buzz around web2.0 now ;-) And you want to become a part of the new wave of transforming not only the Internet but also the way business is done.

You've got an idea, you know how to program, but are new to web2.0. I'll give you a crashcourse on what you need to learn and what tools to download to be a part of the new revolution.


What you should learn (or know):

• DHTML / XML


• Javascript


• PHP


• MySQL


• Flash / Actionscript


• C++

What you should use:

• Apache


• PHP / Zend Framework


• MySQL


• Prototype


• Scriptaculous


• Flash


• OpenBSD


• C++

So why did I choose that?

Well, first of all, you obviously need a web server. I choose Apache since it stable, has been around forever, and it's fast.

You should do most of the stuff in a scripting language because things on the web are changing at high speed, and you want to be flexible in that way. PHP is a really easy and fast scripting language, and there are plenty of good PHP-programmers out there. When your company expand, you don't want to be slowed down because all C# and Java programmers are hired by multinational companys and demand high salaries.

Since you want to be flexible, you build your code modular. Since you want to have code that are easy to maintain, you need to have a good structure from the start. By using Zend Framework you will get all that. But don't cheat!

All websites are dynamic nowadays, so you need a database. Use MySQL. It's free, is fast and it's stable.

Since you want fun things to happen on your site, with lots of web2.0 features like Ajax and animations and you do most of that in javascript. What you don't want is to do all the work from scratch. Prototype and Scriptaculous is the answer. With Prototype, you enhance javascript and makes programming easy, and it also have great Ajax features. With Scriptaculous, you'll get loads of animation and drag-and-drop-functionality added to your javascript. Prototype and Scriptaculous is the way to go.

But no web2.0 site with any big plans can live without Flash. It's with flash you embed video, so you need to learn that too. Flash is also great for making small games and nice animations, but it's the video part that is the essential reason for learning it.

OpenBSD. As long as your site have less than a million visitors a month, a simple standard Linux-PC is ok (Windows is never ok except when you use IIS, and even then I'm not sure. Mac is just weird). But when you get Slashdotted and Techcrunched, or your facebook widget is used by hundred of thousands of simultanious users, you will need to cluster, and for clustering, OpenBSD is the best choice.


You have to use C++ for the core of your project. PHP is nice and fast, but not fast enough for processing the input of all your visitors that wants the right content presented to them instantly. C++ modules for PHP is the answer and it's easy to use in clustered environments. (You need compiled programs when you need really good benchmarks).

Well that's that. Now you have everything you need for creating 2008's version of Facebook and Digg.


About this: Mattias Johansson have programmed since 1985, for the Internet since 1994 and holds a MSc in Engineering Physics. While programming he has tested loads of different programming environments.

The combination above might not be optimal in all cases, as in the case of you being an angry Java developer, but if you go that way you will have the Gods of Programming on your side.

Zend Framework 1.0 - Now there is no other way

I was thrilled and happy when I first found Zend Framework, and now I am thrilled that it has been released in version 1.0 RC2.

I've been developing for the greater part of my life and tested a great variety of programming languages and platforms. For some reason I got hooked on PHP a couple of years ago, and I guess it was because of the ease and development speed that I really couldn't let PHP go.

After being involved in a project that grew much bigger than anyone initially anticipated, I realized that the language itself doesn't provide much help or ease in creating well structured work. At the same time I've read over and over about the great benchmarks of the PHP/Mysql/BSD combination compared to the Microsoft .Net alternative. Lot's of sites out there are using PHP/MySQL as their development platform serving millions of visitors, and PHP gave me a greater degree of freedom compared to the .Net alternative.

Recently it was time for me to start another project, but this time I realized that I had to put a greater effort in creating a much better structure from the start. I went through lots and lots of big OS PHP-projects to find the holy grale of wellstructured code, and suddenly I found the Zend Framework!


Zend Framework is a framework for creating php-projects rapidly and in a nicely, robust, modular structured way. The main contributors to the projects is Zend (obviously) and IBM, so the stability of the framework compared to alternatives are great.
It's built for using the MVC pattern architecture (Model/View/Controller) and has a wide range of modules ready to be used.

Now that Zend Framework v1.0 RC2 is released I'm happy to say that after some development I'm glad to say that I'm almost overexited about the results! Great web applications are built very fast, without giving up the flexibility of PHP or a well structured code.

If you're a php developer and haven't checked it out yet, I strongly encourage you to do so; it will make your life easier.

About ViralLinks, ViralIcons and Viral[Generic]

I've been blogging around a bit and wanted to get some tips on getting more visitors, better google rank etc, and I found lots of tips about ViralLinks, ViralIcons and other Viral things. It resembles the banner exchange programs that was popular back in the 90's and I don't remember them being that successfull. They worked a bit like a pyramid game, the earlier you joined, the better outcome you got.

I might be the same thing here with Viral[Whatever], for the early top ten it probably works fine, but as the list grows I'd guess that the google search engine will decrease the rating of the links: link-pages aren't that high ranked in google.

My experience is that it is almost always better to create an article about something, post it in some link-sites that are about specialized in that subject, and wait. Specialised link sites hold content that are relevant to the visitor and hence it gets a higher score than simple viral link lists. Moreover, specialized link sites are copied over and over by people starting new link sites, so you don't even have to work to get more links over time.

One page I posted three years ago on one site now have 10000 links to it on google, and I didn't do anything else than the initial post.

Do you agree or disagree with me?

By the way, look at a really interesting blog 49things to do - Microsoft Surface and Apple IPhone Parody for some laughs (you might allready have seen them though, but my other blog is pretty fun).