PHP Objects, Patterns, and Practice (Second Edition), by Matt Zandstra

January 16, 2010 · Filed Under PHP · Comment 

Matt Zandstra is a Web programmer, works for Yahoo! in London, and has also been a writer for a decade. He knows his subject well and he is a good teacher and writer. Object oriented programming is one of his big interests.

PHP Objects, Patterns, and Practice, Second Edition is for PHP Objects, Patters, and Practice, by Matt Zandstra the intermediate to advanced web developer/programmer interested in learning more about object oriented programming. It is designed to show you how to meld the power of PHP with the sound enterprise development techniques embraced by professional programmers. And while the book spends a little bit of time on the basics of object oriented programming, it quickly moves well beyond that and into advanced topics.

This book deals with issues like working with static methods and properties, abstract classes, interfaces, design patterns, exception handling, and more. You’ll also be exposed to key tools such as PEAR, CVS, Phing, and phpDocumentor and more. The emphasis is on:

  • Writing solid, maintainable code by embracing object–oriented techniques and design patterns.
  • Creating detailed, versatile documentation using the powerful phpDocumentor automated documentation system.
  • Gaining new flexibility during the development process by managing your code within a CVS repository and using the Phing build system.
  • Capitalizing upon the quality code of others by using the PEAR package management solution.

I like PHP Objects, Patterns, and Practice a lot. It is a great reference on techniques and showed a lot of correct and efficient ways of doing some things I needed to get done. And I would think most PHP programmers and developers that want to embrace sound, scalable development techniques such as object–orientation, design patterns, testing, and documentation will find this book interesting and benefit from it.

Links to PHP Objects, Patterns, and Practice at Amazon US, amazon UK, and amazon CAN.

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Bulletproof Web Design: Improving flexibility and protecting against worst-case scenarios with XHTML and CSS (2nd Edition), by Dan Cederholm

January 9, 2010 · Filed Under CSS, Landing page design, Web design · Comment 

Dan Cederholm is one of the smartest minds in CSS and HTML. He is internationally known as a deep and innovative coder. He has been working on real-world sites for no-nonsense businesses like Google, ESPN, and Fast Company, Inc. He embraces flexible, adaptable design using Bulletproof Web Design, by Dan Cederholm Web standards through his design work, writing, and speaking. Dan is the author of two best-selling books: Bulletproof Web Design and Web Standards Solutions. Dan also runs the popular weblog SimpleBits, where he writes articles and commentary on the Web, technology, and life. He also plays a mean ukulele and occasionally wears a baseball cap.

In this book Cederholm examines a number of the real world challenges that Web designs are exposed to, and seeks to show how designs can be coded using CSS so that they become “bulletproof”.

And Bulletproof Web Design does an incredible job of teaching that – step-by-step, by showing you how to make your website `Bulletproof.’ Cederholm introduces the book by defining what it means to have a bulletproof website. He uses the example of a police officer wearing a bulletproof vest. No, it is not 100% protection against a bullet – but it decreases the chances and gives extra protection. When applied to a website, this means that your website can handle the `bullets’ being thrown at it. These are things like text resizing, use of assistive devices, no CSS, no images, and a few other examples.

This is a wonderful book, where Cederholm deals with coding and design problems all the way from multi-column layouts that stay crispy in milk, to maintaining fine control of web fonts and sizes without alienating users. I have just finished reading it, and I liked it a lot. It is very useful and practically oriented. Just about every problem a modern web designer faces is examined, with solutions ranging from good to better to best.

Cederholm’s point is that no matter how visually appealing or content-packed a Web site may be; if it’s not adaptable to a variety of situations and reaching the widest possible audience, it isn’t really succeeding. So he outlines standards-based strategies for building designs that provide flexibility, readability, and user control – key components of every successful site. Each chapter starts out with an example of a good looking, great site – that employs a traditional HTML-based approach and is not bulletproof. Then Dan then deconstructs it, pointing out its limitations. He then gives the site a make-over using XHTML and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), so you can see how to replace bloated code with lean markup and CSS for fast-loading sites that are accessible to all users.

Finally, in the last part of the book, he covers several popular fluid and elastic-width layout techniques and pieces together all of the page components discussed in prior chapters into a single-page template.

Bulletproof Web Design is a nice, useful reference as well as a great source for inspiration.

Links to books by Dan Cederholm at Amazon US, Amazon UK, and Amazon CAN.

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