I'm an experienced web developer, software engineer, and leader. Welcome to my blog. If you need to reach out you can continue the conversation with a tweet to @geedew. I hope you find what you are looking for here. You can also find me on Github and StackOverflow.

Developing a Robust Build Process Using Phing

What is Phing?

Phing is a PHP build process that uses XML , ANT style syntax.

At some point in development, the choice is made to begin professional work. If more than 1 developer contributes to the effort, then an the easy mode of keeping in sync with that person and, in the future, others that may join the effort is required. Because not all developers are alike, and not all hosting providers are alike, you must have a solid build process of your code. The build process automates the routines that every developer must do, either daily, hourly, or with every code change as well as when code is pushed into client facing distributions. Phing is an XML to PHP build process that imitates the ANT build process that many development shops are used to. As a PHP developer, Phing is much easier for me to work with and get things done, as well as keeps things simple when needing to update the build process.

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An SEO friendly way to remove index.php : Codeigniter 2

Something that has been around as long as Codeigniter, is the ability to modify its URLs and what they show up as in the ‘address bar’. However, sometimes, ‘pretty-urls’ are not the highest thing on your list, or you weren’t aware of them when you first started your website. If you follow the way codeigniter recommends you change and remove your index.php, you may actually cause more harm to your site than you realize. Code after the break.

Update - 4/6/2011

Another nice approach is found in the comments, take a look!

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Box-Shadow will crash us all

In CSS3, some of the newest features can bite you. Recently, I discovered a serious issue with box-shadow and rendering. Box-shadow is a new feature that creates a shadow effect either outset (around a box) or inset (inside a box, like a glow). What I wanted to do, was create a soft glow on the inside of a website, using <body>, so that the entire site had an easy fade. The code that I used was currently use is:

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body {
-moz-box-shadow: inset 0 0 8px rgba(0,0,0, 0.25);
-webkit-box-shadow: inset 0 0 8px rgba(0,0,0, 0.25);
}

This code actually worked works, and I didn’t notice any issues. However, the 8px fade was too abrupt; I kicked it up ‘just a tad’ to 200px (I have large ‘tads’). Big mistake as all ‘advanced’ browsers were crumbling in my wake. If they support box-shadow, they failed. The page loaded, but scrolling was a complete and utter failure.

For now, I will have to avoid doing this, especially to the large <body> tag. I will chime back in on the topic once I get some solid evidence and facts about it.