Pointman’s Page

Yesterday was PHP’s 10th year anniversary. As someone who started with PHP/FI “back in the day” it is difficult to believe that many years have gone by. It is a good time to take a few moments and remember.
And don’t miss John’s reflections on where he’s gone with PHP. […]

Brian Bailey has posted a thoughtful entry on why they are switching from .Net to PHP from a business viewpoint. It’s an interesting and logical read fit to print and had your CIO.
One thing I will point out is this:
“It’s all a matter of trust. If you don’t trust your developer to choose the […]

Someone worth $42Billion can’t tell you your language is being discontinued whether you like it or not. How can Microsoft expect to get Partners on the .Net bandwagon while trying to pull the rug out from under those same Partners who have legacy VB6 (or older) applications they must still maintain?

Javascript implementations have really evolved over the last several years as Microsoft and Mozilla work to actually bring their browsers up the the specification. But although I’m using javascript in my work more than ever I still have a habit of considering it the red headed step child in my projects. My view is less […]

I often get subtle hints from my boss that he would be happier were we developing much of our software in something much more sexy than PHP. It depends on which CEO’s and CIO’’s he’s been talking to whether he leans more towards Java or MS’s .Net in a particular week. The boss will […]

Jeff Moore has some interesting thoughts on GOTO in PHP. I’ve not seen or used a GOTO since sometime in 1987 when I concluded courses in FORTRAN and Assembler. With exceptions, try/catch and while/break/continue I have a hard time seeing the value of GOTO other than to reintroduce bad habits into new […]

Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits
drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add ‘within the
limits of the law’, because law is often but the tyrant’s will, and always so
when it violates the rights of the individual.
–Thomas Jefferson

The Hardened PHP Project looks quite interesting and makes a lot of sense. With the Linux kernel there are modules to protect against the most common loadable kernel module vulnerabilities so why not for PHP? The most common PHP coding problems are known to developers but still can slip through for various reasons.
Some nay-sayers […]

I don’t consider myself a “programmer” for several reasons. One of the main reasons is that I have penchant for flying by the seat of my pants. The outcome is in my head, the means at hand and I create the road as I go. (another is that other than a little […]