The true nature of things

I have never really used a ready made framework before, have been on my way for a long time. After looking around quite a bit and playing around with the MVC examples from PHP 5 Objects, Patterns, and Practice By Matt Zandstra, I finally decided to go with the Zend Framework.

I’ve never been a big fan of frameworks, at the same time I’ve always been a big fan of structure, re-usability and separation. So, I kept my action in the back-end department, focusing on libs, web-services, automated processes and other things which doesn’t have a face. Things without faces aren’t cute, thus nobody ever cuddles with them; nobody loves them. Except for me. [More text here]

That was not relevant at all. Zend Framework; don’t love it yet, haven’t seen enough. I’m really sure I will, even just pre-ordered the first book on ZF: “Zend Framework in Action” though MEAP. I have a good feeling about the “in Action” series, bought AJAX in Action a while ago sadly I’ve not got the time to read it yet (that was a complete lie).

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Now, writing this I think I realize that I write for sanity, or at least to feel a little bit better about myself. I don’t know why that is exactly, but I think it’s the case.

Feels like maybe I believe that one could be best at everything, or at least that there is a best approach to everything, and I like to do things the “right way”. Maybe this is similar to the good old days when I believed there was something to the idea of right and wrong / good and evil. This might be the same sort of rather far fetched construct which have been brought on to us by nature, reasons of convenience or what ever you prefer.
This could also be of a much more personal basis. Lets say I’m a single child with ever so loving and supportive parents –I was never challenged, I was always the best.

I believe someone with my knowledge in coding and a different wiring (in the head-part) could be a really great developer. I hope that someone will be me. One day.

Parents need to teach their children right from wrong. This is important since right and wrong is nothing but imaginary constructs, thus so fragile. Yet so crucial.

I’m still on sick leave. Since I still am and have been alone mostly, I’ve had a lot of time to think, relax and code. I think I really learned a lot; much of which about Zend Studio Neon [insert link]. Finally we’re getting there we’re about to get a really good IDE from PHP.

I have been following the progress of Eclipse based PHP IDEs the last year or so. However I’ve missed a lot of features both in PHP Eclipse and PDT. Since I’ve been working with Java I know how good things can get and which features you don’t want to live without. Zend Neon is bringing a lot of those features into the PHP world. Here follows a few of the ones which I’ve already grown found of:

• Integrated Unit Testing (using PHPUnit).
• Integrated PHPDoc functionality.
• Code Coverage; the ability to see which parts of your code that actually gets executed.
• Understanding of include/require statements; gives you auto-complete and warns if the target doesn’t exist. And let’s not forget “Organize Includes”.
• Really good understanding of the code, taking (major) PHP version into consideration and warns you when you use deprecated functions, or just code sloppy (use a variable before initiation for instance).

The list could go on for a long time, and then I’ve of course not included features deriving from PDT (Neon extends PDT), Eclipse or external Plugins. Those may include auto-complete in PHPDoc comments, type hinting using the same comments, seamless CVS/SVN integration, remote editing and debugging capabilities, BIRT Integration (never used thou), wonderful WSDL editor and a hundred more…

And if you’re not satisfied with something you can always write your own plugin.

So, I decided to join this internet-community thingie. I feel obligated to. Still, I do not believe I have anything to say, nor the the ability to express this absence of information in words.

At least I didn’t do it all by myself this time, from scratch. As you can see I use the popular wordpress thing. Wordpress forces me to focus on content rather than constructs for managing just that; content. I think maybe it was the last time I was sick for a couple of days straight, I spent one of them building my very own blog. I was satisfied. I didn’t have any content but that wasn’t the point, the point was that I don’t know what the point was. And maybe that’s why I’m back here, at it again.

Anyways to make at least a little bit of sense before it is too late. I would like to learn the arts of coding and I don’t know how to go about. I mean after all it is my job and have been for quite some time. Besides it is my hobby and the kind of thing I think about, having sex (http://www.lavasoft.com/company/blog/?p=275). But no matter what, I do not know how to think or how to approach programming in general. I think I might be in the need of help; a guru willing to take me under h[ie]s wings? Or a long vacation.

This post will most probably only be interesting read sometime in the future. You might look back in my blog history, thinking: “Ooo, so this was how it all started…”.