2 Jul 2020
jquery, php, programming
jQuery formBuilder is a lovely stylish formbuilding tool, with all the front-end features a developer could desire. But the documentation is a little short of examples for integration with a backend system + database, and the gitter chat is completely full of people struggling with the basics.
I’m writing down some integration notes to keep it clear for myself in my head.
I’ve tried to keep this code as simple and as framework agnostic as I can.
Example code = dirty code. Do not use in real-life.
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4 Jun 2020
fsm, php, programming
What is a finite state machine?
A finite-state machine (FSM) is a mathematical model of computation. It can change from one state to another in response to some inputs; the change from one state to another is called a transition. An FSM is defined by a list of its states, its initial state, and the inputs that trigger each transition.
Thank-you Wikipedia. That’s helpful.
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16 May 2020
laravel, php, programming
Over the years, I’ve built a whole library of helper functions for working with dates in php, but I think they’re all a thing of the past now. Because I’ve been playing with Carbon Date library by Brian Nesbitt. It’s best described as Php’s DateTime for humans.
Here follows a quick summary, but I’m just looking at the very tip of the iceberg. Lots more!
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9 May 2020
laravel, php, programming
I use modal popups all over the place in my web applications. The most frequent use is to make the user confirm deletion, either by typing DELETE into a form or by giving a reason for deleting the item in question. And I want to make this work in Laravel.
Note: this is klunky. I’ve been playing with Laravel for a few weeks and if I end up using it as an ongoing development platform, then yes, things will be rewritten.
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12 Jun 2016
php
I think it was Rasmus Lerdorf who once quipped PHP is like English. I can’t find the exact quotation, but it went something like “Yeah, PHP has quirks and isn’t the most elegant, but it’s simple overall and easy to get started. Look at English. Full of exceptions! But having a lot of exceptions and grammatical inconsistencies didn’t prevent English from becoming the dominant natural language.”
The analogy stuck with me. Like PHP, English is a relentlessly pragmatic language that’s relatively simple with a ton of gotchas.
From What do non-native English speakers think of the English language?
11 Jun 2014
php
Type-juggling can go so wrong. Try this:
echo in_array(0, array('foobar')) ? 'true' : 'false' ;
It will output true, which seems so very very wrong. PHP indeed tries to convert ‘foobar’ to a number, and because that is not really possible, it becomes 0. So in_array returns true.
$array = array('1','2');
echo in_array( 0, $array ) ? 'true ' : 'false ' ; // false
echo in_array( '0', $array ) ? 'true ' : 'false ' ; // false
$array = array('this is a string);
echo in_array( 0, $array ) ? 'true ' : 'false ' ; // true
echo in_array( '0', $array ) ? 'true ' : 'false ' ; // false
$array = array(1,2,'string');
echo in_array( 0, $array ) ? 'true ' : 'false ' ; // true
echo in_array( '0', $array ) ? 'true ' : 'false ' ; // false
See https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=14343
30 Apr 2013
php, security
I run phpMyAdmin for a number of websites and (thanks StackOverflow), this is my check list for phpMyAdmin Security.
What gets done depends a lot on the client’s webhost and how much control I have, but this is a short list of things which can be done.
- Change the folder location
I’ve changed the application folder the obvious ones such as phpMyAdmin or pma to something a little less predictable; databaseliveshere or folder name of your choice.
- Passwords
This is rather duh, but no harm in stating the obvious. Secure passwords which are proof against a brute-force attack
- Limit Access by IP Address
This depends on how many people are accessing phpMyAdmin, and whether everyone has a static IP address, but I like to setup .htaccess so it restricts access to a subset of IP addresses.
<limit GET>
order deny,allow
deny from all
allow from 81.95.39.134
</limit>
- Root shouldn’t have access to phpMyAdmin
I edit the config file for phpMyAdmin and set AllowRoot to false
- HTTPS
I set up a self-signed security certificate so I can access phpMyAdmin via https. This way the login and password can’t be leaked to an attacker.
10 Oct 2011
event, php
I’ve just spent a weekend at the PHP North West 2011 Conference. I went to the London PHP day in February and a couple of people in the bar were enthusing about the North West event, so I decided to give it a go.
Why did I go to the conference?
I usually work from home, and I work on my own and this (while still being wonderful and completely amazing and best way to work ever) does mean that I miss out on the company of other developers. Working with, and talking to, other people is a great way to learn; people tell you about things, you try new things, you get enthused and excited and you remember why you love your work. Weblogs and mailing lists and twitter and IRC, although good things in and of themselves, are not quite the same as people. So I try and fill a hole with local events and the occasional conference. Sometimes it’s hard work; like a lot of people in this field I’m not the most sociable and gregarious person.
What did I like?
There was a great selection of talks, and making a choice was often difficult. Choice isn’t always good – I sometimes end up feeling that the talk on the other side of the fence was greener and wondering what I’m missing. But I saw some wonderful presentations, and all the presentations in the main tracks were videoed so I can check out the talks I missed when the videos go online (in about a month).
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22 Jul 2011
mysql, php
For all web applications, I have to make sure I’m using UTF8. It’s not just for customers who want the occasional page in Japanese or Korean; it’s for perfectly standard English pages which use text such as Ætna or the non-Ascii pound sign £
Now, to get this right, I have to make sure the database is setup to handle UTF8 AND the web server is setup to handle UTF8 AND the browser is setup to handle UTF8…
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11 Jan 2011
event, php
I’m about to head off to the PHP West Midlands get-together for January.
The group meets the second Tuesday of every month, and it alternates between social and technical meets. This month – “What’s new in Zend Framework 2.0” by Rob Allen
Dave has arranged for a new venue and we’re now meeting in the Birmingham Science Park. I’m not exactly a regular, but will be going more frequently this year – my Tuesdays are a little more open for socialising and php-ing. Most of the group activity is on the mailing list and that’s always useful source of advice / suggestions.
And at the end of next month, we have the PHPUK11 – a one day event arranged by the London PHP group. The talks are good, but as always it’s the chat over coffee with other developers which really makes it worthwhile. I usually work as a solo developer, so bumping heads with other people in the same field matters. Too much possibility of stagnating otherwise.