Web Forefront

What programming language / platform should you choose for your next project ?

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:13:33 -0800

Since I try to post on as many programming languages / platforms as possible on this blog, not to mention some of my clients have also asked me, 'What programming language / platform should I use on 'X' project ?' Here are my opinions on the subject, its a long answer, since its got as much to do with the target business, the people you can bring into a team and the abstraction provided by a programming language / platform.

Scaling in the 'cloud', a few case scenarios : Memcached & EC2

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 13:05:43 -0800

I've seen a few stories in recent months all having to do with scaling, there's of course the Google I/O conference that covered what can be considered 'proprietary'-'non-available' technology, the Twitter scaling nightmare -- which is backed by Ruby/Rails BTW -- and yet another on how Facebook is buying thousands of servers to support its traffic -- which is backed by PHP of all things -- its no doubt an interesting topic, but what are the real technical options out-there for scaling ? This entry will cover a few case scenarios I've worked on related to scaling, elaborating on the software that makes it all happen.

Browser makers listen up, we want the following... Signed - OpenAjax alliance

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 12:33:11 -0800

Reaching a consensus is a difficult task in any endeavor, just look at technology standards were numerous parties are pulling in different directions in order to get better leverage for their 'standard' based products. One such process going on right now is the one being held by the OpenAjax alliance, which will hopefully have a say on future browser standards, but what is probably more important about this process is its openness, which sheds a real light on what the software community has to say about the techniques browsers should be supporting.

Data Center technology inside Google : Wow

Sat, 31 May 2008 16:51:44 -0800

With more and more software deployed as services over the web, the infrastructure used to support it is becoming increasingly important, as a consequence data center technology is also gaining its fair share of attention. Google recently held an event showcasing some of the technology it uses in its data centers, from custom made circuit boards, custom made server racks to its own custom file system, its an impressive look at the backbone of what is probably the most scalable 'web application' on the Net.

Advertising, content networks, domains, registrars, and a few other dirty little secrets on the web

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 11:40:48 -0800

Advertising is now part of the web's DNA, the scientific and collaborative origins of the web might still be there, but lets face it, once business sense got involved it was only a matter of time for advertising to come to the forefront. This entry will cover a few practices I've seen that revolve around the money-pit that is advertising, content, domains and registrars, seen from someone who both buys advertising on the web and tries to make revenue from advertising, if you do any of these things on the web, read on for some dirty little secrets that are not so obvious and are poised to break anyone legitimately involved in this same loop.

OSGi and server side Java : Implications and how does it actually work

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 12:29:42 -0800

OSGi is slowly but surely moving into Java server-side territory and a few other SOA product lines in the industry. Among the most noted, you will find a few of the earliest Java Application Servers now being tagged 'OSGi compliant' or 'OSGi based', in addition, popular Java frameworks like Spring have also blossomed OSGi integration sub-projects. But what are the actual implications behind OSGi ? And more importantly how can you work with it ? This entry covers an article I recently wrote on the subject which includes a hands-on OSGi example, as well as the potential implications OSGi will have on the overall Java and SOA ecosystem.

Python Turbo Gears and Jython interop

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 20:03:27 -0800

In exploring Python as yet another alternative to software development, here are two links to articles I recently wrote on the subject, one is related to a Python web framework named Turbo Gears using Oracle as the backing database and the other to an interoperability mini-article exploring Python calls inside Java programs using Jython.

Getting through to Hotmail, MSN, Live users : The Draconian -- and useless -- processes

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 09:31:07 -0800

The Web mail market is pretty much like any other market -- two or three very well known and dominant players, with smaller one's poaching from the big one's -- the big one's in this case being Microsoft's Hotmail/MSN/Live service, Yahoo's mail service and Google's Gmail service. Well, there is something seriously wrong when you can't get through to users on one of these mail services -- email being the collaborative and communication medium it is -- so if you in some way operate your own domain and need to send legitimate email to Hotmail/MSN/Live users, read on, as it will bring to your attention what may be happening to your messages and probably save you a few hours or days of frustration.

Specialists and generalists : Happiness and grumpiness

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 17:18:26 -0800

Throughout my career I have seen two lines of thought for evaluating IT professionals, there is the 'look for talent' mantra which I would classify as the generalist search, and there is the 'sink or swim' attitude which I would classify as looking for the specialist. I've been on both sides of the stick, so it came to my surprise that there is in fact empirical research outside of computer science that establishes a link between happiness/grumpiness and generalists/specialists.

SOA and Microsoft Oslo

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 14:13:22 -0800

Just when you thought new acronyms were a thing of the past in the SOA world, Microsoft just unveiled its latest undertaking code-named 'Oslo'. Its not a product by itself, but rather a holistic approach to all the numerous parts that will eventually compose the Service Orientated Architecture vision from a Microsoft stand-point.

Apple says : Hello Python and Ruby, and almost farewell Java

Tue, 30 Oct 2007 11:05:27 -0800

The stir came with the latest release of Apple's flagship operating system: Leopard Mac OS X. The backslash from Java developers using Mac's is well underway, no Java 6 and a busted version of Java 5. But guess what's being embraced alongside the Mac's preferred Objective-C language for creating applications on Mac's ? Python and Ruby.

AJAX and W3C progress

Sat, 27 Oct 2007 00:10:32 -0800

For all the popularity behind AJAX, much of its functionality is fragmented across browsers mainly on account of its organically grown root's inside Microsoft, with other browser makers rushing to support it in whatever form possible. However, the main body behind web standards -- the W3C -- has also gotten itself involved in setting the direction behind one of AJAX's core pieces, having recently published a working draft on XmlHttpRequest .

Turing Machine's get simpler

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 08:51:44 -0800

Turing machine's are generally confined to Computer Science 101, so needless to say they are not a constantly changing subject like a software platform or framework, nevertheless they provide a very important foundation for computers in general. So when a concept as fundamental as a Turing machine sees a breakthrough, its only a matter of time before some of these changes bubble-up into the software ecosystem and make their presence felt.

Voice over IP gets a Peer to Peer (P2P) twist

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 16:21:52 -0800

The early adoption phase in Voice over IP has long passed, unlimited voice calls between PC's and monthly subscriptions to land-lines at very competitive prices are all but common now a days, but there was one final 'hump' that remained to be covered in this area: bypassing the toll charged for linking a Voice over IP(Internet) call to a land line, something which now looks very much in reach, and since its software which makes this possible, I thought I would make an entry on the technicalities behind this feat.

Content is the peasant, if you only live in the Internet kingdom

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 01:00:50 -0800

Ever since I read the phrase 'content is king' in a book published by Philip Greenspun -- who is an old timer in web technology for those who never heard the name -- it has always resonated with me, but I recently started to question this little fact. All this Web 2.0 hoopla, that has web services as the underpinnings and which Venture Capitalists often call 'content syndication' has all the makings to radically change this little knowledge nugget. With analogies drawn from TV syndication -- which IS a proven business model -- and the easiness with which content can be monetized now a days on the Net, this entry addresses what I believe will be an inevitable situation in the future: content is the peasant, if you only live in the Internet kingdom.