This Week’s Link List (February 4, 2011)

Once again, here’s the highlights of what I read this week. As I call out in one point below, I’m sure I’m missing some good stuff…would be interested in what readers have come across this week they find worth sharing.

• Microsoft announces a plugin for Chrome?! Not surprising when you read about it, but not something I saw coming: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/interoperability/archive/2011/02/02/greater-interoperability-for-windows-customers-with-html5-video.aspx
• Some great stuff coming out of the PHPBenelux Conference 2011...
  • Slides from the presentation by Maarten Balliauw, Michelangelo van Dam, and Katrien De Graeve titled Windows Azure, Seeing PHP through a blue Azure sky: http://www.slideshare.net/maartenba/phpbenelux-2011-seeing-php-throug-a-blue-azure-sky
  • Looking the these slides, "27 Ways to Be a Better Developer", make me wish I'd seen the presentation by Lorna Jane and Ivo Jansch: http://www.lornajane.net/posts/2011/27-Ways-To-Be-A-Better-PHP-Developer

• Announcements for upcoming events/conferences...
  • Josh Holmes talks about an upcoming event, Evolution of ASP.NET and PHP on the Microsoft Web Platform: http://www.joshholmes.com/blog/2011/01/31/asp-netphp-on-the-microsoft-web-platform-event-in-ireland/
  • Registration for the PHP Community Conference in Nashville is open: http://phpcon.org/
  • The schedule for TEK '11 has been posted: http://tek11.phparch.com/schedule/

• Coding insights/tips/tricks...
  • How to take advantage of PHP namespaces with older code: http://www.rooftopsolutions.nl/blog/taking-advantage-of-php-namespaces-with-older-code
  • How to write browser-specific CSS with MooTools' Browser object: http://davidwalsh.name/mootools-css
  • Using custom assertions in PHP: http://css.dzone.com/books/practical-php-testing/practical-php-testing-patterns-28
  • Cal Evans posted a PHP wrapper for the Klout API: http://blog.calevans.com/2011/01/31/php-wrapper-for-klout-api/

• Framework news…only came across Zend-related posts this week…what did I miss?
  • Brandon Savage provides perspective on the Zend Framework one year after adoption. IMHO, many of his lessons are applicable to learning anything: http://www.brandonsavage.net/a-reflection-on-adopting-zend-framework-one-year-later/
  • Michelangelo van Dam on unit testing in Zend Framework 1.8 (podcast + slides): http://devzone.zend.com/article/12959-Episode-35-Unit-Testing-in-Zend-Framework-1.8
  • Rob Allen is starting work on a new book, Zend Framework in Action 2: http://akrabat.com/zfia/zend-framework-2-in-action/

• So that's how…
  • ... password hashing and salting works: http://www.adayinthelifeof.nl/2011/02/02/password-hashing-and-salting/
  • ...inheritance works in Javascript: http://laktek.com/2011/02/02/understanding-prototypical-inheritance-in-javascript/

• Tools…
  • Free software for managing PHP projects: http://www.phpkode.com/projects/category/php-project-management/
  • "All the cheat sheets a web developer needs": http://www.topdesignmag.com/all-the-cheat-sheets-that-a-web-developer-needs/

• Just for fun…
  • In my experience, this is often true about FB: http://www.thedoghousediaries.com/?p=2513
  • Are we entering another bubble? http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2011/01/lived-fast-died-young-left-a-tired-corpse.html
  • Jeff Atwood on the importance of communicating and writing: http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2011/02/how-to-write-without-writing.html

Have a nice weekend.

-Brian

Share this on Twitter