Moving to a new host
So I got myself a cheap hosting account (Rs. 350 for a year) and it seems pretty good. Hopefully it will be activated today, and this blog will move there. Weird thing is, the reason I wanted to move was because my current host was acting up, and was getting unusable due to very slow MySql server. But now, things are looking good, and is actually pretty fast too! Anyway, let see how the move goes.
Developing a new jQuery Grid plugin
After weeks of searching for the perfect grid based data editor for my project, I've aspired to build one myself. Sure there are hundreds of existing plugins and more which are well established, and developed by well knowledgeable folks, I find a few shortcomings. Drawing inspiration from the existing plugins, here are my goals:
Goals:
- Uses jQuery library
- Small and light. Size should be less than 30 KB for minified version
- Dynamic data source for easy table population (JSON or plain HTML)
- Create, Read, Update and Delete (CRUD) operation
- Sorting based on columns (using tablesorter plugin)
- Searching based on filters for multiple columns
- Follows KISS Principal - Keep it simple stupid. No unnecessary insertion of DOM elements
- Insertion of checkbox for each row and defining custom button to perform an action
What seems like a huge list of features add to my very basic problem : I'm still a noob at jQuery and javascript. So, as a personal goal this project is a way for me to learn jQuery right from scratch, and to put it to good use.
Methodology:
- Study the existing plugins to understand how they work
- Use code snippets that are already available. Reduces work, and will be much better than reinventing the wheel the wrong way
- Less attention to appearance (CSS) till the code really works, partly because I'm still learning CSS, and would be tough to combine both jQuery and css code when I'm new to both.
As you'd have guessed, its an ambitious project for someone who is new to javascript/jQuery. Nevertheless, I hope I can pull it off with guidance from knowledgeable people who know their jQuery. I plan to host it on either github or google code and put up a dedicated page on this blog to keep track of the development. As the first step, I'll start with defining the various functions that are required, thus creating a skeleton jQuery plugin, which simply displays a one line output when called in order (yea, I'm pathetic).
So anyone who reads this, please leave your thoughts, advice, comments here. Thank You.
Small and light PHP frameworks
Frameworks offer quick and dirty ways to get your code done. Though hardcore programmers still shun them, they are God sent for lazy/beginner programmers who need to get lot of work done quickly. Having looked at all the major heavyweights(literally) of PHP frameworks, I wanted to look for alternatives.
My requirements:
- Small footprint
- Simple
- Easy to use (For a beginner like me)
So here are the nominees:
1. ELF-PHP (Extra Light PHP Framework)
This framework is built on the MVC architecture for software engineering buffs, has good documentation, and will get you started in a jiffy. It probably has the most features compared to the others in this list, and the developer plans to add some more in the future release.
P.S: Grab the latest code from the repository.
It simple, its PHP and its a framework. Has comprehensive logging features, offers various modes for the server (local, production, staging, shell) and is actually being run in 40 different sites by the developer. Should be dependable. Needs documentation on various features though.
Other than having a unusual name, its a micro php framework for separating application logic from presentation. Development has been stopped by the developer, so don't expect support or documentation. For a more recent version micro paging framework, check out Sticks by the same developer.
4. Write your own micro framework!
This excellent post by Anant Garg gets you started on MVC framework basics, and tells you how you can design your own mini framework, and then implement your application using it!
Expect a more comprehensive review of each framework in the furure.