In response to a question about how to become a better programmer, Paul Penrod gave the following tips on a mailing list to which I subscribe. Many of these could apply to any profession.
I’m going to make few suggestions that might help you.
You don’t really need to apprentice under anyone, unless it’s your aim [...]
Today the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the largest newspaper in Las Vegas, published a column on Provo Labs and how Carolynn Duncan landed a job with them through blogging. The column also alludes to the startup- and technology-friendly environment that Utah is becoming: “[Geek dinner] is a monthly gathering of the high-tech community in Provo….”
If [...]
Facebook launched an API just 72 hours ago and there are already 944 registered developers, 117 discussion threads, hundreds of blog posts, and at least a couple of mashups: Facebook+Google Maps and Facebook+Bill Splitting.
I’m constantly amazed at how opening an APi to your web app drives traffic, buzz, and innovation.
UPDATE: See #5 on Guy Kawasaki’s [...]
I enjoy developing in PHP 5, for its improved object oriented design and XML support. PHP 6 is slated to have additional useful improvements like built-in Unicode, built-in caching, and increased security out of the box (no register_globals, magic_quotes, or safe_mode).
Here are other improvements I’d like to see in a future version of PHP:
while-else [...]
Last month at the UPHPU meeting, Wade Shearer presented on CSS best practices. He’s one of the few programmers in the group that’s a designer first, and a programmer second, so he has unique insight into web design. Here are my notes:
Keep HTML free of presentational attributes
Write clean, semantic HTML
Use HTML tables semantically–for [...]