In designing your website, there are hundreds of things to keep in mind, and the list changes with every new technology that comes out. However, principles rarely change (which is why they are principles). Here are seven principles of clean web design to keep in mind when designing your next website.
Copy
The copy you put on your site will vary depending upon the goals of your site. Do remember, however, that very few people read from a computer screen for fun or relaxation. Copy should help them achieve their purpose in coming to your website.
Most people are looking for specific information, so your copy needs to be “scannable”. For instance, try to keep your paragraphs to less than 4 sentences. Try to maximize the use of lists and bullet points, both of which lead to easy scanning. For key items, use bold to really make it stand out, but beware of bolding everything.
To increase comprehension, do not write like a writer; write like you would say it. This will make your writing sound less pretentious and much more understandable.
White space & text design
For over 500 years, we have been reading dark writing on a white page. Why? Because it works. There is something about the contrast between the two that makes reading easier, that makes the eyes more relaxed. Reversed print, or white on black, never tests well.
One change from print is that on the screen, many studies suggest a sans-serif font is easier to read instead of the recommended serif fonts for print media. Of course, make certain that whatever font you use is large enough to be read. Remember that the population segment over age 55 is growing everyday on the internet and they appreciate the larger fonts.
When surfing around the internet, you get the feeling that many designers are afraid of white space. It is as if they want to cram as much text as possible into the space. Just like the space between the notes is what makes music beautiful, it is the white space on the page that gives the text space to breathe, that makes the eye glide on the page and actually makes the text easy to read.
Pictures
While it is a cliche, sometimes a picture really can be worth a thousand words. If you are selling a product, pictures of it are almost mandatory, but even if your website is more information oriented, often a suitable picture can sum up the mood of the article succinctly, thus putting the reader in the right “frame of mind” to read it. Study after study shows that people looking at a web page will look at the pictures first.
Many people still have holdover fears from the early days of the internet and are reluctant to place pictures on their site over fear of slowing down the page. While of course you do not want to bloat the page with huge image files, if your pictures are properly formatted and are of a reasonable size, most modern browsers will have no problems. Proper coding ensures that the pictures are not loaded until after the text, anyway.
Graphics
Properly done, graphics can really add to a website, providing consistency and greatly improving your credibility. However, nothing gives the impression of an amateur website faster than having graphics scattered across it haphazardly. Additionally, animation can annoy and confuse people, and if the graphics do not match your products, you risk confusion on the part of your customer. As we all know, confused people do not buy anything!
Be easy to navigate
One large consideration in designing your site is the navigation: How are all these visitors going to get around on your site? Some key things to remember are:
* Try not to have more than 8 links in your main directory. Choice fatigue quickly sets in and people will leave rather than analyze all the choices.
* Keep your navigation in a hierarchy; strive for a few main categories with sub-categories under each one.
* Done properly (and tastefully) graphics can be a huge aid to navigation.
* Never underline text. On the web, readers have come to expect underlined text to be a hyper-link to another web page. If you need to emphasize text, consider using bold or italics.
Be credible
Ours is a skeptical age, and that is only going to get worse over time. These days, we almost expect to get ripped off. Your reader needs to be reassured constantly that you (and your website) are credible, safe and trustworthy.
Credibility comes in many shapes and forms, but here are a few simple things you can do to increase your credibility.
* While it may seem very “old school”, the fact is testimonials work! Especially if you are asking people to spend any money, you should consider ways to add testimonials into your website.
* Try a warranty or a guarantee. However, these are not as strong as they once were because today’s consumer has come to expect them.
* Look Professional. People are not eager to trust a website that looks as if it were designed by your 16 year old.
* Secure Credit Card Processing. This is a no-brainer. If nothing else, use PayPal or another merchant account provider.
* Your own domain name. Seriously; am I supposed to trust a company that can’t be bothered to spend $10 for a proper domain name?
* A Privacy Policy. We are all concerned about our privacy these days. It seems everyone knows someone who is the victim of identity theft. In this environment, a privacy policy is a must-have.
Never Be Finished
Understand on the front end that your website will never truly be finished. That is, it should constantly be tweaked and adjusted to make the user experience better, to respond to new input from the market, to relay new information.
But beyond that, there are legitimate reasons your site should never “want” to be finished. For one thing, sites which are updated often are better indexed by the search engines, leading to higher rankings in the search engines that less frequently updated sites. In addition, when you update your site constantly, it gives visitors to your site a reason to come back. For both of these reasons, you should consider having either a blog or breaking news page integrated into your website.
A website can be a powerful tool in your marketing arsenal if you are willing to put the time and effort into it to make it work. Realize, however, that it takes a commitment of both money and time to see the results you are looking for.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Content Management System
Why do we need Content Management System ?
If there is one thing that has changed web design forever, it is the advent of Content Management Systems. They have allowed us to separate the design of the website from the structure or the content. Not only have they dramatically simplified website maintenance, they have numerous other advantages over traditional static pages.
Time Savings
If you could only pick one reason to use a Content Management System, this would be it. Changes can be made to individual pages or to global elements of the site quickly and easily. Even something like changing the architecture of the site is usually done quickly and easily.
Security
While there probably is not a team of hackers sitting up late at night trying to hack into your site, security is always an issue. All of your better Content Management Systems have security teams constantly working to insure that they are one step ahead of the bad guys.
Some Open Source Content Management Systems have such large communities working on this that they release “patches” weekly. Rather than seeing this as a weakness, this is actually a strength. No one wants to trust their security to last year’s fix.
Search Engine Optimization
This is one area that varies widely from one Content Management System to another. Each one uses the key SEO factors, such as Meta tags, title tags and permalink structure differently. Everything else being equal, you need an SEO friendly CMS.
Customization
This will also vary from one Content Management System to another, but all of them have a wide variety of themes or templates available to change the look of your site. Some themes are free, while others are done for a price, but generally speaking, the more popular the CMS, the more theme options that are available for it. Just the official Wordpress Repository has over 1000 different themes, and that only scratches the surface.
Plugins
Most Content Management Systems have plugins available, which allow you to add more functionality to your site, such as forums, blogs or eCommerce options.
Reader interactivity
Many Content Management Systems have the ability to allow reader comments, thus increasing the interactivity of your website and also increasing your site’s sense of community. To do this with static pages would be almost impossible.
Reduced Tech Support
Because a Content Management System separates content from Design and Structure, your technicians are no longer using their valuable time to adjust content on individual pages. Almost all Content Management System were designed with the end user in mind, and a non-technical end user at that.
It makes them ideal for non-technical people who want a website, but have no ability to pay a technical team for constant updates. After the site is set up, the pages can be updated by anyone capable of using any standard word processor.
Content Scheduling
One other advantage to using a Content Management System to run your website is that most of them have the ability to future release content. In other words, you can write an article a week in advance and upload it, but it won’t “go live” until the time you set. This is a nice feature for news based sites as well as for webmasters who just want to take a day off every once in a while.
Database driven
Because the site is database driven, maintenance can be performed while using any common web browser. Additionally, the ability to be able to work on it from practically anywhere removes bottlenecks and should dramatically increase your team’s efficiency.
In short, there is every reason for having a Content Management System and very few for not. It is clearly a case where the advantages far outweigh any disadvantages. That being said, there are many CMSs on the market and picking the right one can be scary. Here is an overview on three popular options.
WordPress
While most people still think of Wordpress as a blog engine, it is already a quite functional Content Management System and moves closer that way with every release. With WordPress you have the ability to assign a static page as your homepage, to change the permalinks to make them more seo friendly and of course, its blogging capabilities are second to none. It is coded in PHP and runs on a My Sql database.
The largest advantage you get with WordPress, however, is the WordPress community. Thanks to them, there are thousands of themes and plugins that can dramatically increase your functionality. In addition, the large user base means that there is near instantaneous support via the user forums.
Joomla
Joomla is an open source, free Content Management System that is also written with PHP and uses MySQL databases. It is very powerful and very popular, with a huge user base and many fans that would use little else. With it, you have the ability to create forums, blogs, photo galleries, polls and much more. Joomla is designed to be very modular, and with the introduction of specific plugins, the introduction of additional functionality is quite simple. If your website needs are very complex, Joomla would be a better choice than Wordpress for your site.
Drupal
Another popular open source Content Management System is Drupal, which, like Joomla is modular in nature and like both Joomla and Wordpress, are written with PHP and runs on a MySql database. Much like Joomla, Drupal has an active user base and is very modular, but more so than Joomla. One gets the feeling with Drupal that the modularity was more planned that it does with Joomla, but that is likely a subjective feeling. One criticism voiced quite often by new Drupal users is that it is much more complicated than other comparable Content Management Systems, but that is often shot down by loyal users.
The decision to use a Content Management System almost makes itself. In fact, one is hard pressed to come up with a reason why you should not want to use a Content Management System. One thing is certain; whatever it is you are trying to do, there is sure to be a Content Management System out there to meet your needs.
If there is one thing that has changed web design forever, it is the advent of Content Management Systems. They have allowed us to separate the design of the website from the structure or the content. Not only have they dramatically simplified website maintenance, they have numerous other advantages over traditional static pages.
Time Savings
If you could only pick one reason to use a Content Management System, this would be it. Changes can be made to individual pages or to global elements of the site quickly and easily. Even something like changing the architecture of the site is usually done quickly and easily.
Security
While there probably is not a team of hackers sitting up late at night trying to hack into your site, security is always an issue. All of your better Content Management Systems have security teams constantly working to insure that they are one step ahead of the bad guys.
Some Open Source Content Management Systems have such large communities working on this that they release “patches” weekly. Rather than seeing this as a weakness, this is actually a strength. No one wants to trust their security to last year’s fix.
Search Engine Optimization
This is one area that varies widely from one Content Management System to another. Each one uses the key SEO factors, such as Meta tags, title tags and permalink structure differently. Everything else being equal, you need an SEO friendly CMS.
Customization
This will also vary from one Content Management System to another, but all of them have a wide variety of themes or templates available to change the look of your site. Some themes are free, while others are done for a price, but generally speaking, the more popular the CMS, the more theme options that are available for it. Just the official Wordpress Repository has over 1000 different themes, and that only scratches the surface.
Plugins
Most Content Management Systems have plugins available, which allow you to add more functionality to your site, such as forums, blogs or eCommerce options.
Reader interactivity
Many Content Management Systems have the ability to allow reader comments, thus increasing the interactivity of your website and also increasing your site’s sense of community. To do this with static pages would be almost impossible.
Reduced Tech Support
Because a Content Management System separates content from Design and Structure, your technicians are no longer using their valuable time to adjust content on individual pages. Almost all Content Management System were designed with the end user in mind, and a non-technical end user at that.
It makes them ideal for non-technical people who want a website, but have no ability to pay a technical team for constant updates. After the site is set up, the pages can be updated by anyone capable of using any standard word processor.
Content Scheduling
One other advantage to using a Content Management System to run your website is that most of them have the ability to future release content. In other words, you can write an article a week in advance and upload it, but it won’t “go live” until the time you set. This is a nice feature for news based sites as well as for webmasters who just want to take a day off every once in a while.
Database driven
Because the site is database driven, maintenance can be performed while using any common web browser. Additionally, the ability to be able to work on it from practically anywhere removes bottlenecks and should dramatically increase your team’s efficiency.
In short, there is every reason for having a Content Management System and very few for not. It is clearly a case where the advantages far outweigh any disadvantages. That being said, there are many CMSs on the market and picking the right one can be scary. Here is an overview on three popular options.
WordPress
While most people still think of Wordpress as a blog engine, it is already a quite functional Content Management System and moves closer that way with every release. With WordPress you have the ability to assign a static page as your homepage, to change the permalinks to make them more seo friendly and of course, its blogging capabilities are second to none. It is coded in PHP and runs on a My Sql database.
The largest advantage you get with WordPress, however, is the WordPress community. Thanks to them, there are thousands of themes and plugins that can dramatically increase your functionality. In addition, the large user base means that there is near instantaneous support via the user forums.
Joomla
Joomla is an open source, free Content Management System that is also written with PHP and uses MySQL databases. It is very powerful and very popular, with a huge user base and many fans that would use little else. With it, you have the ability to create forums, blogs, photo galleries, polls and much more. Joomla is designed to be very modular, and with the introduction of specific plugins, the introduction of additional functionality is quite simple. If your website needs are very complex, Joomla would be a better choice than Wordpress for your site.
Drupal
Another popular open source Content Management System is Drupal, which, like Joomla is modular in nature and like both Joomla and Wordpress, are written with PHP and runs on a MySql database. Much like Joomla, Drupal has an active user base and is very modular, but more so than Joomla. One gets the feeling with Drupal that the modularity was more planned that it does with Joomla, but that is likely a subjective feeling. One criticism voiced quite often by new Drupal users is that it is much more complicated than other comparable Content Management Systems, but that is often shot down by loyal users.
The decision to use a Content Management System almost makes itself. In fact, one is hard pressed to come up with a reason why you should not want to use a Content Management System. One thing is certain; whatever it is you are trying to do, there is sure to be a Content Management System out there to meet your needs.
PHP Vs ASP.net
Ever since Microsoft has come up with ASP.net, there has been a widespread debate among programmers as to whether it is any better than the existing open source programming language of PHP.
If you were to make a search on the Internet on how loyalists of both PHP and ASP.net are doing almost everything by biting each other's heads off, you will realize how hot this debate actually is. The major contention is that Microsoft products are generally considered to be superior to other products, but then there are programmers that have been using PHP since ages and never once has it let them down. While there is acclaim for ASP.net being more robust and speedier, PHP fans maintain that PHP has much better support and a very easy to understand language.
As the debate between PHP and ASP.net rages on, it is important to make a frank comparison between the two languages, so that other developers who are not so strong in their opinions are not caught in the argument between the two. Here are some of the important points that distinguish the two programming languages from each other:-
(For the uninitiated, PHP stands for Hypertext Preprocessor and ASP.net stand for Active Server Pages. It helps to put things into better perspective!)
» PHP is a relatively simpler language to use than ASP.net. Initially, PHP was written in the C programming language to replace a set of scripts in Perl. That is the reason why coding in PHP remains simple even today. Many developers find themselves to be more at ease with the user-friendly nature of PHP when it comes to coding. However, critics also count this advantage of PHP as a disadvantage. Some of them maintain that the language of PHP has not been updated much, and hence it is still quite archaic and even, somewhat cumbersome for coding. ASP.net, which is a relatively new development, has a lot of options when it comes to languages. Here, you can use languages such as C#, J#, C++ and VB.net. Hence, when it comes to sheer choice, ASP.net has better to offer. But PHP is no less, since it can do its task quite well, even with its minimum language tools.
» PHP is has much better support for the database management system, MySQL. In fact, the very popular blogging platform, WordPress uses the formidable combination of PHP coding on MySQL for its content management system, which includes about hundreds of thousands of blog posts every single day. Another very popular and frequently updated service that uses the combination of PHP and MySQL is Wikipedia. ASP.net can also support MySQL, but PHP is unanimously hailed, by the masses and classes alike, for its great support for this database management system.
» People who use both PHP and ASP.net also maintain their opinion that PHP is better for embedded support with another database management system, viz. SQLite. SQLite is described as a relational database management system and since it is contained in a C programming library, PHP can provide better support to it.
» PHP has also a very good support for object oriented programming, on which whole scripting languages are being built nowadays. ASP.net also provides very capable support to OOP.
» When it comes to support, PHP wins over ASP.net. The main reason for this is that PHP is open source. Hence, the support can come freely from all over the world. In most cases, PHP fixes are made instantly. Being open source also ensures that there are very few snags in PHP. While, ASP.net could take a while to make fixes. That is because it is owned by Microsoft, and it is the development team of Microsoft that will need to respond to the support query. That could take more time than the worldwide open source support that PHP is able to get. Most PHP supports can be instantly found online by doing a simple search on the Internet. Some of the providers of support for PHP are Zend, NuSphere and ThinkPHP.
» PHP can use the command line to perform many everyday activities. Some of the things that the PHP command line is useful for is for manipulating across many files and for putting files into multiple directories at once. These are just some of the important features that PHP's command line is used for.
» PHP is an open source programming language, which means it is free for anyone to use. Programmers can develop PHP applications virtually at no cost, because PHP is free to use. ASP.net is not free too, but its extensions are available for free on Windows platforms, upwards of 98. Hence, ASP.net is available to Windows users when they buy it. That puts a bit of restriction in its use.
» ASP.net is compiled into memory in binary code. So, when ASP.net is used for coding, it is evident that it takes much longer time to process since the codes need to be retrieved from memory. However, PHP is not compiled into memory like ASP.net is. It is interpreted at runtime. That is the reason why PHP coding leads to better speed and even efficiency. However, it must be said that both PHP and ASP.net can run at supreme speeds and efficiency when they are coded expertly.
» Talking about hosting charges, both PHP and ASP.net are quite cheap to host. If you do a good deal of shopping online, you will also be able to find hosting for as little as $4. While there are several pricier hosting services out there, their charges are higher for both PHP and ASP.net. Hence, it can be said that both PHP and ASP.net are at par with each other on the hosting charges.
» Since PHP is older, there are many people who claim that it is much more secure than ASP.net where coding is concerned. ASP.net is much new, and the security options may not be fully in place yet. However, many programmers will pooh-pooh at this point, because they maintain that security in coding does not depend on the language that is used, but in the way that the coding is done by the coder. Even so, there is a lot of talk on the Internet about PHP coded sites being more difficult to hack into than those done with ASP.net.
Hence, there is a lot to debate on about the worthiness of PHP over ASP.net or vice-versa. There is probably no end to it, and there never shall be. The problem mainly is that both of them are good in their own place, but people who have been staunchly using PHP for several years now – some of them for more than a decade – would certainly not like to go in for the new ASP.net. The price to be paid is quite high, i.e. learning a whole new syntax and getting used to it. That is more the reason why PHP is still so popular.
But, to ASP.net's credit it must be said that it is much more dynamic, even if the mere use of different languages are concerned. While PHP is still stuck to its scripting language days, ASP.net has broken new grounds by entering into new languages, and even developing some of its own. However, a new shadow is looming large on these language-programming tools – the coming of the WYSIWYG editors such as Dreamweaver, which are making coding a very simple task to do for even the lay computer user.
for more click here :
http://www.bizfive.com/articles/web-design/comparing-php-and-asp.net/
If you were to make a search on the Internet on how loyalists of both PHP and ASP.net are doing almost everything by biting each other's heads off, you will realize how hot this debate actually is. The major contention is that Microsoft products are generally considered to be superior to other products, but then there are programmers that have been using PHP since ages and never once has it let them down. While there is acclaim for ASP.net being more robust and speedier, PHP fans maintain that PHP has much better support and a very easy to understand language.
As the debate between PHP and ASP.net rages on, it is important to make a frank comparison between the two languages, so that other developers who are not so strong in their opinions are not caught in the argument between the two. Here are some of the important points that distinguish the two programming languages from each other:-
(For the uninitiated, PHP stands for Hypertext Preprocessor and ASP.net stand for Active Server Pages. It helps to put things into better perspective!)
» PHP is a relatively simpler language to use than ASP.net. Initially, PHP was written in the C programming language to replace a set of scripts in Perl. That is the reason why coding in PHP remains simple even today. Many developers find themselves to be more at ease with the user-friendly nature of PHP when it comes to coding. However, critics also count this advantage of PHP as a disadvantage. Some of them maintain that the language of PHP has not been updated much, and hence it is still quite archaic and even, somewhat cumbersome for coding. ASP.net, which is a relatively new development, has a lot of options when it comes to languages. Here, you can use languages such as C#, J#, C++ and VB.net. Hence, when it comes to sheer choice, ASP.net has better to offer. But PHP is no less, since it can do its task quite well, even with its minimum language tools.
» PHP is has much better support for the database management system, MySQL. In fact, the very popular blogging platform, WordPress uses the formidable combination of PHP coding on MySQL for its content management system, which includes about hundreds of thousands of blog posts every single day. Another very popular and frequently updated service that uses the combination of PHP and MySQL is Wikipedia. ASP.net can also support MySQL, but PHP is unanimously hailed, by the masses and classes alike, for its great support for this database management system.
» People who use both PHP and ASP.net also maintain their opinion that PHP is better for embedded support with another database management system, viz. SQLite. SQLite is described as a relational database management system and since it is contained in a C programming library, PHP can provide better support to it.
» PHP has also a very good support for object oriented programming, on which whole scripting languages are being built nowadays. ASP.net also provides very capable support to OOP.
» When it comes to support, PHP wins over ASP.net. The main reason for this is that PHP is open source. Hence, the support can come freely from all over the world. In most cases, PHP fixes are made instantly. Being open source also ensures that there are very few snags in PHP. While, ASP.net could take a while to make fixes. That is because it is owned by Microsoft, and it is the development team of Microsoft that will need to respond to the support query. That could take more time than the worldwide open source support that PHP is able to get. Most PHP supports can be instantly found online by doing a simple search on the Internet. Some of the providers of support for PHP are Zend, NuSphere and ThinkPHP.
» PHP can use the command line to perform many everyday activities. Some of the things that the PHP command line is useful for is for manipulating across many files and for putting files into multiple directories at once. These are just some of the important features that PHP's command line is used for.
» PHP is an open source programming language, which means it is free for anyone to use. Programmers can develop PHP applications virtually at no cost, because PHP is free to use. ASP.net is not free too, but its extensions are available for free on Windows platforms, upwards of 98. Hence, ASP.net is available to Windows users when they buy it. That puts a bit of restriction in its use.
» ASP.net is compiled into memory in binary code. So, when ASP.net is used for coding, it is evident that it takes much longer time to process since the codes need to be retrieved from memory. However, PHP is not compiled into memory like ASP.net is. It is interpreted at runtime. That is the reason why PHP coding leads to better speed and even efficiency. However, it must be said that both PHP and ASP.net can run at supreme speeds and efficiency when they are coded expertly.
» Talking about hosting charges, both PHP and ASP.net are quite cheap to host. If you do a good deal of shopping online, you will also be able to find hosting for as little as $4. While there are several pricier hosting services out there, their charges are higher for both PHP and ASP.net. Hence, it can be said that both PHP and ASP.net are at par with each other on the hosting charges.
» Since PHP is older, there are many people who claim that it is much more secure than ASP.net where coding is concerned. ASP.net is much new, and the security options may not be fully in place yet. However, many programmers will pooh-pooh at this point, because they maintain that security in coding does not depend on the language that is used, but in the way that the coding is done by the coder. Even so, there is a lot of talk on the Internet about PHP coded sites being more difficult to hack into than those done with ASP.net.
Hence, there is a lot to debate on about the worthiness of PHP over ASP.net or vice-versa. There is probably no end to it, and there never shall be. The problem mainly is that both of them are good in their own place, but people who have been staunchly using PHP for several years now – some of them for more than a decade – would certainly not like to go in for the new ASP.net. The price to be paid is quite high, i.e. learning a whole new syntax and getting used to it. That is more the reason why PHP is still so popular.
But, to ASP.net's credit it must be said that it is much more dynamic, even if the mere use of different languages are concerned. While PHP is still stuck to its scripting language days, ASP.net has broken new grounds by entering into new languages, and even developing some of its own. However, a new shadow is looming large on these language-programming tools – the coming of the WYSIWYG editors such as Dreamweaver, which are making coding a very simple task to do for even the lay computer user.
for more click here :
http://www.bizfive.com/articles/web-design/comparing-php-and-asp.net/
Apache+PHP vs Java Server
I recently managed to get my apache running smoothly for the most part. But i have a new conundrum. I am starting a side project which will be built on java using a java server such as tomcat or (i believe) resin. I have a friend who knows more about java as my knolege is rather limited who is suggesting this. The java server would be able to serve the php via an app called quercus found here: http://quercus.caucho.com
It claims to be able to server php faster than the basic apache/php combination as it compiles php code into compiled code making it run faster. It also says drupal runs great using the setup in their getting started documentation. So my question is: is it?
Will the java server with quercus run better than apache with mod_php? I still dont know enough about it yet so im trying to get all the info I can to figure out what and how it will effect my drupal sites. Also for the time being i dont have a large server as I dont have any live sites yet so a large one is not needed. I have 512 ram only. (hosted with slicehost using xen virtualization).
How do the two use resources compared to the other? if the Java server will actually run drupal better then i can get rid of apache and php on the server as quercus would take care of that. If i go with the java server how will it effect the ram? it claims to be able to run php 4x faster than apache can, but if it needs more ram to make it run faster then I definitely cant run both servers with only 512 ram.
We do expect the site built on java to have a large amount of traffic. The site will be based around a game so there will also be a large amount of interaction and dynamic content on the site. I do know eventually I will upgrade to a server with more ram but for now this is what i have. So im looking for any advice as to how the two compare to eachother. If i should just run the java server for drupal and our project or if i should try and run both or what. Also if possible some ways I can configure the javaserver/quercus to run well with drupal (im familiar with drupal but the friend is not, but they are familiar with java)
It claims to be able to server php faster than the basic apache/php combination as it compiles php code into compiled code making it run faster. It also says drupal runs great using the setup in their getting started documentation. So my question is: is it?
Will the java server with quercus run better than apache with mod_php? I still dont know enough about it yet so im trying to get all the info I can to figure out what and how it will effect my drupal sites. Also for the time being i dont have a large server as I dont have any live sites yet so a large one is not needed. I have 512 ram only. (hosted with slicehost using xen virtualization).
How do the two use resources compared to the other? if the Java server will actually run drupal better then i can get rid of apache and php on the server as quercus would take care of that. If i go with the java server how will it effect the ram? it claims to be able to run php 4x faster than apache can, but if it needs more ram to make it run faster then I definitely cant run both servers with only 512 ram.
We do expect the site built on java to have a large amount of traffic. The site will be based around a game so there will also be a large amount of interaction and dynamic content on the site. I do know eventually I will upgrade to a server with more ram but for now this is what i have. So im looking for any advice as to how the two compare to eachother. If i should just run the java server for drupal and our project or if i should try and run both or what. Also if possible some ways I can configure the javaserver/quercus to run well with drupal (im familiar with drupal but the friend is not, but they are familiar with java)
PHP vs Java vs Ruby
With Sun GPLv2'ing its Java software this week, a lot of focus is on the other open frameworks that have risen during the same era, and their comparative value in a post open source Java world. One such take is from well-known Sun insider, Tim Bray, who spoke at last week's International PHP Conference in Germany.
Bray, who is Director of Web Technologies at Sun Microsystems, co-creator of the XML 1.0 and XML Namespace standards, co-founder of Open-Text, and contributor to the Atom Publishing standard (whew!) spoke in a presentation entitled “How to combine PHP technology with Java based on Enterprise Systems” (download PDF).
In the slide below, Bray outlines the basic advantages of each of these three platforms (or rather the two languages and one framework if you are scoring at home). In perhaps in a nod to his new employer, Sun, Bray totally omits any mention of .NET or smaller products like Adobe's Flex/ColdFusion platform.
His idea, if you are able to take it on the surface only, is to rate your priorities of: 1) Scalability, 2) Dev Speed, 3) Dev Tools, and 4) Maintainability. In this highly generalized approach, you could theoretically pick your web application building language/framework based on only these priorities.
Tim weighs-in heavy on the maintainability side, and we'd tend to agree with him. To quote:
“Good apps, once built, tend to be in production for an astonishingly long time. Which means that they have to be maintained for an astonishingly long time. Which means that maintainability is important. There are a lot of things that go into maintainability, but I suggest that the biggies are object-orientation, MVC architecture, code readability, and code size.”
On the maintainability side Tim places Ruby on Rails out front. Quoting him again, Tim describes why RoR is in the lead here.
“Mostly because there's less code. The fact that Ruby forces MVC on you helps too, also the fact that the templating and [Object Relational Mapping (ORM)] and testing and application code are all so tightly integrated helps. Bear in mind that we still don't know how well Rails is going to work outside of the CRUD-centered greenfield app space where it shines.”
Tim's metrics don't really exist on a quantitative level nor are they based on any published statistics — just a very informed intellect and a privileged position. Obviously, additional parameters such as total cost of ownership and native security (PHP, we are looking at you) should also play a big role the decision making process.
As you can probably guess, in response to this presentation, the proponents of Java, PHP and Ruby are lighting the Internet aflame in defense of their platform of choice and at the same time nay-saying their fellow players. While very entertaining and sometimes educational to follow, not much is going to be gained from this bickering.
Bray concludes the presentation with the Rodney King-esque statement “One way or another we all have to integrate.”
The reality is that there are a great number of ways to hone-in on the language or framework choice for a web application. Many factors have to be considered and weighed against each other. The beauty of what we have today is that there ARE a great many choices out there, much more-so than even a few years ago.
The fact that open source options are being stacked up against the likes of Java and .NET, and have a similar levels of support is a blessing. Today, with the open-sourcing of Java, we have a new entry onto the field. Rather than exclude one or another, this arrival is going to make the open source web world, warmer, more sophisticated, and for better or worse, a little sunnier.
for more information click here
http://www.cmswire.com/cms/industry-news/php-vs-java-vs-ruby-000887.php
Bray, who is Director of Web Technologies at Sun Microsystems, co-creator of the XML 1.0 and XML Namespace standards, co-founder of Open-Text, and contributor to the Atom Publishing standard (whew!) spoke in a presentation entitled “How to combine PHP technology with Java based on Enterprise Systems” (download PDF).
In the slide below, Bray outlines the basic advantages of each of these three platforms (or rather the two languages and one framework if you are scoring at home). In perhaps in a nod to his new employer, Sun, Bray totally omits any mention of .NET or smaller products like Adobe's Flex/ColdFusion platform.
His idea, if you are able to take it on the surface only, is to rate your priorities of: 1) Scalability, 2) Dev Speed, 3) Dev Tools, and 4) Maintainability. In this highly generalized approach, you could theoretically pick your web application building language/framework based on only these priorities.
Tim weighs-in heavy on the maintainability side, and we'd tend to agree with him. To quote:
“Good apps, once built, tend to be in production for an astonishingly long time. Which means that they have to be maintained for an astonishingly long time. Which means that maintainability is important. There are a lot of things that go into maintainability, but I suggest that the biggies are object-orientation, MVC architecture, code readability, and code size.”
On the maintainability side Tim places Ruby on Rails out front. Quoting him again, Tim describes why RoR is in the lead here.
“Mostly because there's less code. The fact that Ruby forces MVC on you helps too, also the fact that the templating and [Object Relational Mapping (ORM)] and testing and application code are all so tightly integrated helps. Bear in mind that we still don't know how well Rails is going to work outside of the CRUD-centered greenfield app space where it shines.”
Tim's metrics don't really exist on a quantitative level nor are they based on any published statistics — just a very informed intellect and a privileged position. Obviously, additional parameters such as total cost of ownership and native security (PHP, we are looking at you) should also play a big role the decision making process.
As you can probably guess, in response to this presentation, the proponents of Java, PHP and Ruby are lighting the Internet aflame in defense of their platform of choice and at the same time nay-saying their fellow players. While very entertaining and sometimes educational to follow, not much is going to be gained from this bickering.
Bray concludes the presentation with the Rodney King-esque statement “One way or another we all have to integrate.”
The reality is that there are a great number of ways to hone-in on the language or framework choice for a web application. Many factors have to be considered and weighed against each other. The beauty of what we have today is that there ARE a great many choices out there, much more-so than even a few years ago.
The fact that open source options are being stacked up against the likes of Java and .NET, and have a similar levels of support is a blessing. Today, with the open-sourcing of Java, we have a new entry onto the field. Rather than exclude one or another, this arrival is going to make the open source web world, warmer, more sophisticated, and for better or worse, a little sunnier.
for more information click here
http://www.cmswire.com/cms/industry-news/php-vs-java-vs-ruby-000887.php
PHP VS JAVA
PHP vs. Java - which is better? I have a former client that has a customer. This customer asked them - "so when are you migrating from Java to PHP?" So evidently this person has the impression that the next wave of web applications will be written in PHP. My former client has asked me to provide an answer for their customer. If I translate it, I think they mean to ask "what is different between Java and PHP and why should we use Java over PHP." Here are my opinions - please add yours as you see fit. I must admit I don't know a whole lot about PHP, except that it's widely popular among the Linux/Apache/MySQL crowd and that it's similar to ASP in it's lack of a MVC architecture (yes, I know about the PHP MVC project).
I think Java is more of an industry standard, whereas PHP seems to be popular among hackers and hobbyists.
Java provides better separation of layers - key for testability. PHP has all the code embedded in the page, so you have to run it through a browser to test if database connections work (for instance).
Java is more scalable.
More folks know Java and it's easier to qualify someone's Java skills. How do you test someone knows PHP? Is there a certification?
More for-profit organizations use it.
If you're a Java or a PHP-lover, I'd love to hear your opionions (facts are always better).keep it clean.
for More Click on the below link :
http://raibledesigns.com/rd/entry/php_vs_java_which_is
I think Java is more of an industry standard, whereas PHP seems to be popular among hackers and hobbyists.
Java provides better separation of layers - key for testability. PHP has all the code embedded in the page, so you have to run it through a browser to test if database connections work (for instance).
Java is more scalable.
More folks know Java and it's easier to qualify someone's Java skills. How do you test someone knows PHP? Is there a certification?
More for-profit organizations use it.
If you're a Java or a PHP-lover, I'd love to hear your opionions (facts are always better).keep it clean.
for More Click on the below link :
http://raibledesigns.com/rd/entry/php_vs_java_which_is
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Natural Disasters that have afflicted the World during one year
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Workers load the carcasses of horses into a truck at an equestrian club in Mexico City on August 26. Heavy rain caused floods, drowning at least 50 trapped horses and killing a night watchman |
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A huge tornado funnel cloud touches down in Orchard, Iowa, on June 10, at 9:04pm |
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The broken spillway of a vanadium mine is seen in Shanyang county, Shaanxi province, China, on July 22 |
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This September 10 image, taken by the crew of the International Space Station flying 220 statute miles above Earth, shows Hurricane Ike |
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In this September 12 photo, a home burns on the beach on Galveston Island, Texas, as Hurricane Ike approaches |
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People seek refuge from flood waters in east |
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In this October 13 photo, traffic snakes up a road as residents flee their hillside homes |
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The Chaiten volcano in Chile erupts during storms in the middle of the night on May 3 |
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A soldier on the banks of the Rio Blanco looks at a cloud of ash from the Chaiten Volcano in southern Chile on June 25 |
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An aerial photograph captures the plume of ashes spewed by the Chaiten volcano in Chile, on May 31 |
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