In less than a week, we'll be in 2012. I know it's a cliché, but where has the year gone? Naturally, we're now at the time of year when folks set goals for the new year. While you might have some goals for your "real" life, how about a few resolutions for your developer life?

Suggestions include:

• Get Better At What You Know
• Engage the Community
• Take Better Care Of Yourself
• Use Better Programming Practices
• Take a Break

Most of the applications I work on have very straight-forward components and not a lot of complex functions/methods. I would only be testing whether or not they worked at all, rather than if they worked in a wide-array of situations. [...] For example, unit-testing a simple news list and detail page is probably overkill. Sure, you can test your classes by simple instantiating them but that only goes so far. My new method involves using SimpleTest's Scriptable Browser to actually crawl webpages and ensure that the proper data is being displayed.

He includes a few snippets of code to show how to implement SimpleTest's web test functionality - one that just checks a HTTP response values, another that checks for text on the page, one testing for a login on an admin page and a test for add/edit pages to ensure valid loading based on URLs/links.

August is one of the months that I devote to job trends. Last week I focused on the Python, PHP, JavaScript, Flex and Groovy.

According to the results on Indeed Javascript is in huge demand right now, completely overshadowing the others on the list. PHP came in second here. The results from SimplyHired show a similar story, but the gap between Javascript and second place - Flex - is a bit smaller. PHP came in third here.

Some time ago (actually when I was making this blog) I posted on stackoveflow.com a question on how to configure Symfony to run on shared webservers where you can't change your website's document root. I solved it but forgot that I was asking and left it without any answer.

The main problem is that the DOCUMENT_ROOT for the hosting service can't be changed by the users of the shared host. To solve this he modified his routing rules (sfPatternRouting class) and changed his .htaccess file to rewrite things over from just "/page" to "/web/page" instead. A simple solution, but it might be evasive if you've never configured it before.

The list includes some of the basics like:

• Avoiding $_REQUEST when possible because of the ambiguity of where the information could come from
• Keep register_globals off (thankfully a default!)
• Checking values for specific data types before using them
• Filtering user input
• Disabling the error output (turning down the reporting levels) on a production environment

For some more good recommendations on good security practices in PHP applications, check out this list or some of the recommendations from the PHP manual itself.

It took me a while to grab myself a copy of Matthew Turland's "Guide to Web Scraping with PHP", but a few weeks ago a copy finally arrived and I had the pleasure of reading it. [...] My overall impression of the book is that it was worth the time and I'm really glad that I bought it. Matthew did a great job explaining all the tools we have at our disposal for writing web scrapers and how to use them.

He talks about the content of a few specific chapters (the HTTP protocol, client libraries you can use and how to prepare documents for parsing) and notes that there's not much bad he can think of about the book:

It is a guide, clear and straight-to-the-point, explaining what tools are there, which one to use and how for writing scrapers and that's exactly what I wanted to know.

Web development can often be an utterly perplexing affair. Today, aimed at beginners, I'd like to introduce you to twenty six concepts or technologies, each mapping to a letter of the alphabet. Sounds wonky? It probably is!

Technologies in their list include:

• Ajax
• Firebug
• Keyword Optimization
• Node.js
• Source Control
• WordPress

For each letter they've also included a few links to some related reading on the subject.

Job Description

• Develop and maintain web applications according to project specifications and professional best practices.
• Submit accurate daily time reports on business activities.
• Help direct junior team members while accepting direction from senior team members; participate in code reviews and other professional improvement practices.
• This is a telecommute position. The candidate will work from home or other remote space. Frequent phone calls are to be expected, so the remote space should be quiet and free of distractions during such calls. Occasional travel to meet with clients or other team members in person may be requested.

Experience Requirements

• At least 3-5 years recent continuous experience in professional (paid) application development with PHP 5, preferably in team environments.
• At least 1-2 years of experience with a mature MVC framework (such as CakePHP, CodeIgniter, Symfony, Zend, or Solar).
• At least 3 years of experience working with MySQL databases. Preference will be given to those who have additional experience outside of MySQL.
• At least 2 years experience working with Javascript libraries (jQuery preferred) and AJAX applications is preferred but not required.
• Experience with Subversion or another version control system
• In addition to the above areas of experience, experience in any of the following are preferred:
  • Enterprise-level applications
  • Scaling large web applications
  • Social media applications
  • Mobile applications
  • Affiliate, internet marketing, or network marketing applications
  • Customizing Wordpress, ExpressionEngine or Drupal applications
  • Customizing Magento or other e-commerce applications
  • Interfacing with PayPal, Twitter, or Facebook APIs
  • Oracle, SQLite, PostreSQL, Memcached, or "no-SQL" databases
  • Languages other than PHP, such as Ruby, Python, Perl, Erlang, or C
  • Formal software development methodologies
  • Adobe Flash, Flex and/or AIR application development
  • Able to produce semantic, lightweight, accessible, and maintainable web pages from Adobe Photoshop designs
  • Cross-browser compatibility issues

Education and Certifications

• A Bachelor's Degree in a technical field such as Computer Science or Information Systems is preferred but not required.
• Zend Certified Engineers are given preference.

Technical Requirements (i.e., demonstrated proficiency with ... )

• Object-oriented PHP 5, advanced SQL (esp. MySQL), and Javascript
• Database schema design and normalization
• Software development best practices (including PEAR coding standards, code hygiene, design patterns, and unit/integration testing)
• HTML/XHTML/HTML 5, CSS 2/3, web standards, and accessibility
• XML, AJAX, REST, and other API-related technologies
• Web application security threats and secure software development practices
• Familiarity with Apache server operation and configuration
• Familiarity with Unix-like operating systems (Linux, BSD, Mac OS X) at the command line, including SSH, text editors, and other tools

Personal Requirements

• Because this is a telecommute position, a very high level of responsibility and trustworthiness is required, demonstrated by continuous communication with team members on the current state of assigned work. This requires both the ability to operate independently *and* the ability to work with others as a team.
• Regardless of technical ability, personality must fit the company culture; in particular, we prefer "humble but direct." Honesty, integrity, and trustworthiness are paramount.
• Commitment to delivering a high-quality work product within the necessary constraints of time and other resources.
• Able to think critically and take action based on business needs; analyze data, interpret results, and recommend alternatives.
• Motivated to accept stated and explicit client problems as their own, and to uncover unstated or implicit problems that require solutions.
• Strong work ethic, on-time performance, and high attention to detail.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills (both with clients and team members).
• Proven ability to self-manage and prioritize among multiple projects when given proper context and direction.
• Strong problem-solving skills; able to find creative solutions to unfamiliar or difficult problems.
• Take initiative for professional development, eagerness to learn.

For more information or to submit your resume, contact Matt Blackwell at matt@company52.com

Using the contents of [last year's] list along with some other sources, we've compiled a list of web design and development-related conferences and events that will be taking place in the next six to eight months. As always, there is no way for us to be able to include every possible event here, but we'll be glad to update the list if you provide a comment to an upcoming event that you feel would be of interest to graphic designers or web developers.

The list is huge but they have it broken up into monthly chunks to make it a bit easier to digest with events like:

• An Event Apart D.C.
• Web Directions USA
• Blackberry Developer Conference
• Future of Web Apps
• International PHP Conference
• Front-Trends Conference
• Brooklyn Beta

n this episode, Chris Shiflett joins hosts Paul Reinhimer and Sean Coates to talk about user accounts, sessions and best practices for modern web applications. Sean also had the opportunity to speak with Lee Fernandes, the creator of the PHP Anthem, and we attached the conversation (and the song) to the end of this episode.

Things mentioned in this episode include BrooklynBeta, 1Password, Weak Web of Trust and the lyrics to the PHP Anthem. You can either directly download this latest mp3 or subscribe to their feed for this and other episodes.