Some Ways Are Better Than Others

Perl::Critic will let you analyze your Perl code for best practices.

Perl::Critic

YAPC is "Yet Another Perl Conference", with apologies to The Perl Conference. YAPC is a high-quality inexpensive conference with its roots in the Perl Mongers Perl user groups. The conference is meant to be accessible to anyone, yet valuable to even the most experienced of programmers. Each year the conference attracts hundreds of programmers from around the world including luminaries such as Larry Wall, Randal Schwartz, and Damian Conway.

A new city is selected to host the conference each year. After being selected to host YAPC::NA in 2006, Chicago was once again selected as the host city this year. YAPC::NA 2008 will be held June 16th-18th on the campus of the Illinois Institute of Technology in Herman Hall, conveniently located at 33rd Street, between State Street and Interstate 90/94 (the Dan Ryan Expressway). This location is accessible to by both the Green and Red 'L' lines, as well as stops on several CTA bus routes.

In keeping with the theme of a conference for everyone, full YAPC registration costs only $100. This rate is meant to be affordable by students and programmers without corporate backing, who struggle with the thousands of dollars that typical conferences cost. However, the technical content that you will find at YAPC rivals that available at even the most expensive conference on the market. Be sure to purchase your ticket today.

In addition to the standard conference content, YAPC::NA also offers "Master Classes" after the conference. These 2-day classes, conducted by leading players in the industry, are provided at deeply discounted rates. The classes offer many programmers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to receive top-notch training from some of the most recognizable names in the Perl community.

What is YAPC?

Moose is an extension of the Perl 5 object system.
Another object system!?!?

Yes, I know there has been an explosion recently of new ways to build object's in Perl 5, most of them based on inside-out objects and other such things. Moose is different because it is not a new object system for Perl 5, but instead an extension of the existing object system.

Moose is built on top of Class::MOP, which is a metaclass system for Perl 5. This means that Moose not only makes building normal Perl 5 objects better, but it also provides the power of metaclass programming.

Perl 6ish objects in Perl 5.

Moose - A postmodern object system for Perl 5 - search.cpan.org

Perl::Critic is an extensible framework for creating and applying coding standards to Perl source code. Essentially, it is a static source code analysis engine. Perl::Critic is distributed with a number of Perl::Critic::Policy modules that attempt to enforce various coding guidelines. Most Policy modules are based on Damian Conway's book Perl Best Practices. However, Perl::Critic is not limited to PBP and will even support Policies that contradict Conway. You can enable, disable, and customize those Polices through the Perl::Critic interface. You can also create new Policy modules that suit your own tastes.

Perl::Critic - Critique Perl source code for best-practices. - search.cpan.org

A useful but often overrated JavaScript function is the browser detect. Sometimes you want to give specific instructions or load a new page in case the viewer uses, for instance, Safari.

JavaScript - Browser detect

Browser detect
show page contents
TopExampleThe scriptBrowser detectionPropertiesExample: SafariExample: OperauserAgent and vendorDetection orderVersion numberversionSearchuserAgent and appVersionOperating systemnavigator
show site navigation

Loading site navigation; please wait...

See section 3D of the book.

The version detect doesn't work in Safari and OmniWeb because these browsers don't include comprehensible version information in their identity string.

This page has been translated into Turkish.

A useful but often overrated JavaScript function is the browser detect. Sometimes you want to give specific instructions or load a new page in case the viewer uses, for instance, Safari.

JavaScript - Browser detect

<?php
/*
Plugin Name: Trac Ticket Number/Link Conversion
Description: Replaces #123 with a link to the ticket on Trac, and wiki:MyPage with a link to Trac's wiki page MyPage
Author: Russell Jurney
*/

function convert_ticket($text) {
$link = preg_replace('/[^&]#([0-9]+)/m', " <a href='/trac/myproject/ticket/$1'>#$1", $text);
return $link;
}

function convert_wiki($text) {
$link = preg_replace('/wiki:(\w+)/m', "$1", $text);
return $link;
}

add_filter('the_content', 'convert_ticket');
add_filter('the_content', 'convert_wiki');
?>

WordPress/Trac Integration Plugin

When you go too far up, abstraction-wise, you run out of oxygen. Sometimes smart thinkers just don't know when to stop, and they create these absurd, all-encompassing, high-level pictures of the universe that are all good and fine, but don't actually mean anything at all.

These are the people I call Architecture Astronauts. It's very hard to get them to write code or design programs, because they won't stop thinking about Architecture. They're astronauts because they are above the oxygen level, I don't know how they're breathing. They tend to work for really big companies that can afford to have lots of unproductive people with really advanced degrees that don't contribute to the bottom line.

Don't Let Architecture Astronauts Scare You - Joel on Software

I have “software architect” on my resume, and it pains me. Wikipedia has a great article on what a software architect may or may not be. But, in my world, a software architect has the knowledge, insight and responsibility to make educated decisions about the scope and direction of a team-developed software project.

That was a mouthful.

Software architects pick frameworks. They find previously existing packages for functionality just before the rest of the team realizes they need it. And, they plan and communicate how all the moving parts will come together. They’re really-really smart.

Everyone wants to be a software architect. At Seattle’s Startup Weekend, no less than a third of the developers signed up as architects. And why not?! The act of creation - from art to programming - is egotistical. If you’ve ever referred to yourself as a “software engineer” with a straight face, then you’re advertising the capability to plan non-trivial projects.

You’re a liar.

I will never be a software architect

The first, led by Rodney Croft, of the Brain Science Institute, Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia, tested whether cell phone transmissions could alter a person's brainwaves. The researchers monitored the brainwaves of 120 healthy men and women while a Nokia 6110 cell phone—one of the most popular cell phones in the world—was strapped to their head. A computer controlled the phone's transmissions in a double-blind experimental design, which meant that neither the test subject nor researchers knew whether the cell phone was transmitting or idle while EEG data were collected. The data showed that when the cell phone was transmitting, the power of a characteristic brain-wave pattern called alpha waves in the person's brain was boosted significantly. The increased alpha wave activity was greatest in brain tissue directly beneath to the cell phone, strengthening the case that the phone was responsible for the observed effect.

Mind Control by Cell Phone: Scientific American