Rachel Roumeliotis

Rachel is an Editor at O'Reilly Media, Inc. focusing on mobile and Microsoft technologies as well as Python, Perl, and PHP. She has been working in technical publishing for over seven years acquiring books in UX, computer security, and electrical engineering as well as several other computer topics.

How you can stop trashing PHP code

Design patterns for PHP

William Sanders (@williebegoode) is a Professor of Interactive Information Technology at the University of Hartford and author of over 40 technical books! His latest book with us is Learning PHP Design Patterns. We recently sat down to talk about design patterns and how they can help create reusable code and save you valuable time. You can also check out more from Bill at his website.

  • Why use design patterns for PHP? [Discussed at the 0:28 mark.]
  • Big programs and lots of code can become unwieldy [Discussed at the 2:06 mark.]
  • Mobile devices and PHP design patterns [Discussed at the 5:30 mark.]
  • Bill talks common design patterns and how they help [Discussed at the 7:25 mark.]
  • How to start using design patterns with PHP [Discussed at the 10:15 mark.]

You can view the entire interview in the following video:

Related:

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Emerging languages spotlight: Elm

Evan Czaplicki on breaking the HTML-CSS-JavaScript blockade with functional reactive programming.

Over the next few months I’ll be taking a look at new and emerging programming languages. The following piece is the first in this series.


The Elm Programming Language, created by Evan Czaplicki, tackles web interaction and takes on the big three — HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Czaplicki to talk about why he decided to take on this daunting project and how Elm could revolutionize web programming.

Czaplicki was working on a front-end web project and he was thinking about how is it that web development can be “so frustrating in a way it didn’t have to be.” That was the day Elm was born (he talks about that moment in this segment of our video interview).

Today’s websites bear virtually no resemblance to those from 10 years ago, so why are we using the same tools? Cyclical upgrades to HTML, CSS and JavaScript have certainly enhanced and improved upon older versions. HTML5 has taken some great leaps forward. But we’re still using the core.

Coming from a functional programming background led Czaplicki to think about web programming from the perspective of functional reactive programming. What is functional reactive programming? It takes away the idea that interaction between a website and user is static — updating only at certain moments or clicks — and inserts the capability to update as events happen, like mouse movements. Czaplicki gives more detailed insight here. Read more…

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Checking in on Python

Guido Van Rossum on the state of Python and the two services that are helping to push it forward.

Guido van Rossum is the creator of Python. I recently had the opportunity to talk with him about the state of the language.

You probably don’t realize it, but Python’s capabilities are pushed every time you use YouTube and Dropbox. During our interview, Van Rossum said both of these services are at the forefront of Python’s development.

“Whenever someone clicks on a [YouTube] video, they will see HTML that was generated from Python,” he said. “That’s definitely pushing the limits.” [Discussed 27 seconds in — you can see the scalability presentation that Van Rossum mentions during this segment here.]

On the Dropbox side, Van Rossum said the service’s clients for Linux, Windows and Mac are all implemented in Python. You’re also downloading a miniature version of the Python runtime when you’re using Dropbox. [Noted at 1:20.]

Van Rossum also spoke about the lengthy transition Python has undergone from Python 2 to Python 3. “If you want improvements to your Python … now is the time to start trying out Python 3.” Why? While the changes to the language are actually quite small, with the exception of unicode handling being completely overhauled, Python 3 is a better, faster version of Python. In addition, many third parties like Django are coming on line with libraries and frameworks for Python 3. [Discussed at the 7:01 mark.]

Read more…

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Why we need Go

Rob Pike on how Go fits into today's computing environment

Go programming languageThe Go programming language was created by Rob Pike, Ken Thompson, and Robert Griesemer. Pike (@rob_pike) recently told me that Go was born while they were waiting a long while for some code to compile — too long.

C++ and Java have long been the go-to languages for big server or system programs, but they were created almost 30 and 20 years ago, respectively. They don’t address very well the issues programmers see today like use of concurrency and incorporating big data and they’re not optimal for the current programming environment.

One main reason that Go will succeed is how it deals with concurrency. It outpaces Java and C++ as well as Python, Ruby, and all the other scripting languages. It simply provides a better model, with Java a close second, that is able to work within the computing environment into which it was born.

During a recent interview, Pike elaborated on the need for Go and where it fits in today’s programming landscape. Highlights from our discussion include: Read more…

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PowerShell for developers

Doug Finke on why PowerShell isn't just for administrators.

Doug Finke (@dfinke) is an O’Reilly author and software developer. He moderates a PowerShell for Developers forum at powershell.org.

We sat down recently to talk about the PowerShell, which has a new version launching with Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012, and how it has grown with this latest release.

Key points from the full video interview include:

  • New to PowerShell v3: Workflows and many, many more cmdlets [Discussed at the 0:39 mark]
  • Streamline larger programs by incorporating PowerShell [Discussed at the 2:15 mark]
  • Automation equals repeatability [Discussed at the 3:40 mark]
  • PowerShell has a passionate community [Discussed at the 5:41 mark]
  • What does the future hold for PowerShell? [Discussed at the 7:16 mark]

You can view the entire interview in the following video.

Read more…

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ASP.NET web API rocks

Why the ASP.NET Web API Framework is an essential tool for RESTful applications.

Glenn Block (@gblock) is an O’Reilly author and senior program manager on the Windows Azure Team at Microsoft.

We sat down recently to talk about the newly released ASP.NET Web API Framework, which he helped develop, and why it will become essential to building RESTful applications.

Key points from the full video (below) interview include:

  • ASP.NET Web API enables a rich set of clients to consume info [Discussed at the 1:47 mark]
  • Find out if one comes out on top – MVC vs. Web API [Discussed at the 2:41 mark]
  • Different clients negotiate content differently – Web API handles this with ease [Discussed at the 5:50 mark]
  • Self hosting is a big deal but beyond that Web API introduces flexibility – you no longer need to use IIS [Discussed at the 9:04 mark]
  • An HTTP Programming Model for Microsoft [Discussed at the 11:04 mark]
  • The newest of the new – Hypermedia, OData, and Web API Contrib [Discussed at the 18:08 mark]

You can view the entire interview in the following video.

Read more…

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Mastering iOS development

Matt Neuburg has suffered through the difficult bits of iOS development so you don't have to.

Matt Neuburg is an O’Reilly author and long-time writer for tidBITS.

We sat down recently to talk about iOS development and how best to build solid apps … the secret is take the time to learn the basics.

Key points from the full video (below) interview include:

  • All of the real power in iOS development is in C. [Discussed at the 1:26 mark]
  • Don’t use the Cocoa Framework, let it use you. [Discussed at the 2:56 mark]
  • Even though you don’t have time, understanding the underlying foundation of the OS makes you better a developer. [Discussed at the 8:07 mark]
  • Take a deep breath … Apple is actually working on improving the dev experience. [Discussed at the 10:54 mark]

You can view the entire interview in the following video.

Read more…

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Android evolves and so must you

Christopher Neugebauer on Android interfaces, Jellybean, and future updates.

Christopher Neugebauer (@chrisjrn) is an Android and Python developer at Secret Lab and conference coordinator of PyCon Australia.

Chris recently wrapped up his work on Meebo for iPhone, Android and BlackBerry which was recently acquired by Google. I got a chance to talk to him at OSCON this summer about Android development.

Key points from our full discussion include:

  • Great features from Jellybean are available for older OSes. [Discussed at the 2:32 mark]
  • Android devices vary greatly in size and shape – design with this in mind [Discussed at the 4:35 mark]
  • Developers need earlier access to new versions of the OS [Discussed at the 5:32 mark]

You can view the entire interview in the following video.

Read more…

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Damian Conway weighs in on new features, best practices and Perl’s future

Moose, Regular Expressions and how Perl 6 is influencing Perl 5

Damian Conway is a prominent member of the Perl community, author and presenter.

Key points from the full video of our recent interview include:

  • Perl 6 might not be here yet but it is seeping into Perl 5. [Discussed at the 1:09 mark]
  • You really should use a more current version of Perl — one reason — Regular Expressions. [Discussed at the 1:48 mark]
  • Moose — making object orientation easier. [Discussed at the 2:38 mark]
  • Best Practice — Test! Test! Test! [Discussed at the 6:08 mark]
  • The Perl Community — 25 years old and still optimizing the fastest dynamic language out there. [Discussed at the 9:42 mark]

You can view the entire interview in the following video.

Read more…

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Objective-C and Cocoa: The core of solid iOS apps

Jon Manning and Paris Buttfield-Addison share their insight on what's new with Objective-C and Cocoa

Jon Manning (@desplesda) and Paris Buttfield-Addison (@parisba) are co-founders of Secret Lab and authors of the forthcoming Learning Cocoa with Objective-C, 3rd Edition

Key points from the full video (below) interview include:

  • Embrace Objective-C’s verbosity [Discussed at the 0:30 mark]
  • Just getting started with Objective-C? Check out the WWDC videos and… [Discussed at the 1:45 mark]
  • Long awaited updates to Objective-C make a big impact [Discussed at the 2:27 mark]
  • When it comes time to submit your app to the App Store, think about it as Apple would [Discussed at the 3:47 mark]

You can view the entire interview in the following video.

Read more…

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