Using the CodeBump GeoPlaces Web Service I constructed a function which takes three parameters (zip, city, state) and does a case-insensitive comparison to make sure that the given zip code matches the city and state. Upon verification the function will return true. Otherwise, it returns false.

The simple code is about 35 lines long and grabs and parses out the information with a combination of an fopen and converting the results into an XML element.

You may notice that the IDE does not load options specified in the php.ini and this makes customizing extensions impossible. I run into this problem today and looked over the source code of PHP plugin for it.

The solution he found was in an update he found to one of the Java files, pointing it to the correct location. Changing this changes the default setting for the editor.

What I actually want to start a discussion about, is how one should go about organizing his custom JS code, especially when working with CakePHP. In my early JS days I used to have one or more JS files with a plain list of functions. Most of the time I ended up with ugly spagetti code, so I decided to change my approach.

Right now I use the JS version of a globally available Singleton that always has a sub-object called Behaviors that contains a variable amount of functions to be executed when the DOM is ready. The main advantage of this approach is that you can organize your applications functionality in hierarchies, while not having to worry about scoping issues.

He also talks about one of his current favorite Javascript libraries - JQuery - and demonstrates a way he uses to integrate it in with his application (in a Singleton style).

His is just one way to do it, though, and he's asking for suggestions of other ways to do it. Have one? post it now!

Now, on to what we need from you - we'd prefer the information to be as concise as possible. Cut and paste of a full listing isn't the way to go here. We'd prefer the summary of the position with a link to more details.

Here's the key info we'd like:

• Company Name
• Position title
• Position location
• Summary description of the position
• A link to more information on it (on Monster, Hotjobs, your site, etc.)

To submit your job information, send it along to jobs@phpdeveloper.org and we'll get it posted and include the phrase "JOB POSTING" somewhere in the subject line. Since this will start off as a weekly thing, you'll need to wait until Friday to see the information show up.

When I develop in PHP and code functions, I always either place them in a file or place them at the top of the script. Well, this is more about C++ and how I totally freaked out my teacher, by breaking his paradigm of thought. You see, you can have a definition of a function at the top of the page and then code the body of the function later.

He soon discovered his problem in debugging the script - he was too used to having the global functions at the top (as in C++) and not mixed in with the code - or at the bottom of the script.

If there is something at least somewhat common about popular scripts that people use and extend, is that the functions are placed in organized manner. Reforming otherwise is a bitch and I remember rewriting the entire script anyway. You can't reform when you can't reuse anything.

We got geocoding out of the way in the first part, so now it's time to talk distances. To figure out how far apart two places are, we could use the traditional method of calculating distances between two points, but that damn Columbus didn't fall off into the Twighlight Zone when he passed the horizon. Turns out the Earth isn't flat, go figure. Oh, and since it isn't flat, assuming that it is will cause your numbers to be off when calculating distances using normal geometry-sometimes by miles.

He links to a formula for finding the difference when the distances are short as well as a PHP implementation of the Haversine formula when the distances get long.

He combines this new knowledge with the information already obtained by the geocoding in the first part and a SQL database to help narrow down the items in the list. Then, for each of those, he compares the latitude and longitudes to get the difference between them (in miles).