beTech :: Evolve Already

I’d like to ask for input on an idea I’ve had for some time now. Would there be significant interest in a new community that included both ITC’s Local Support Partner (LSP) program, as well as the input and expertise from the beTech community? The community could be called the “LSP Developer Community.” It could perhaps piggyback on the existing infrastructure already in place with the current LSP program, but expand on it, with the help of beTech.

In other words, this would not take the place of beTech. BeTech could live on as-is. Instead, could the LSP program be expanded upon to include content that sort of sits in between beTech and the LSP developer content?

Read the rest of this entry »

TechCrunch reports on a precautionary tale of what happens when vital files and databases aren’t backed up. The popular web service CouchSurfing lost all its database files last week due to a “perfect storm” of errors and essentially put itself out of business.

Following the report, there was renewed activity on the CouchSurfing site and it appears that there may yet be a happy ending for their 90,000+ users. CouchSurfing announced that it’s reviving its attempts to save the databases and start a version 2 of their web service. Still, they’ve probably lost a big chunk of change in the process, not to mention customer confidence. The moral of the story: backup (and verify), or else.

The previously reported Java DB and Apache Derby database management systems aren’t the only client-side data storage tools in town. Brad Neuberg put together an Ajax tool last October to save persistent data in a hidden Flash applet. His tool, AJAX MAssive Storage System (AMASS), worked even if the user left the web site or closed the browser. Information was later recalled on demand by the web application that saved it. It was pretty cool in its own right. But Brad had to take it a step further.

The lastest from Brad is dojo.storage which allows more storage options and the convenience of the Dojo library. Why would you want such a thing? Let’s hear it from Brad:

What could you build if you had these tools? How about a truly collaborative, web-based word processor with client-side storage for your private documents, as well as offline access? Maybe an Ajax RSS aggregator with client-side caching of the feeds you read and offline access? An offline, web-based book reader using data from the Internet Archive’s Open Library would be cool.

Earlier this month, the O’Reilly Radar ran a nine-part series called Database War Stories that’s worth a look. Tim O’reilly inteviewed several of the biggest names in Web 2.0 to find out what kind of database issues came up along the way to, well, bigness. Second Life, Craigslist, and Google were among the many companies canvassed. As one might expect, no real trade secrets were revealed and the database sizes and traffic volumes are mere fantasy to most of us, but there are some nuggets of insight that may be useful for your next project.

Jumping back into the real world… If you develop web database-based applications, Steve Friedl has posted a great paper on SQL injection. SQL Injection Attacks by Example demostrates how SQL code can be manipulated to steal or destroy information and then how to mitigate such attacks. It’s a very thorough, well-done look into an all too easy (and common) exploit.

Java junkies that felt excluded from the Web 2.0 house party can lace up their shoes—it’s time to dance. Recent developments are opening up new possibilities for Java developers in the realm of Web 2.0.

Sun’s Java DB is an all Java relational database management system based on Apache Derby. All that’s required to run this little 2MB gem is Java Virtual Machine, which means it can reside in the client’s browser. Even when offline! Java DB is starting to develop a following as developers realize it can maintain Ajax’s database dependent functionality even when the connection to the server is lost (see JavaDB: An idea whose time has finally come?). It may even give new life to the applet.

Speaking of Ajax, Google just announced the Google Web Toolkit (GWT)—a Java development framework for developing Ajax applications. GWT allows Java programmers to do their thing and let the GWT compiler create browser-compliant HTML and JavaScript. It offers all the cool stuff including reusable UI components, real debugging, and automatic browser compatibility. Hmmm, wonder how this compares to Sun’s JavaServer Faces Technology.

And the last little nugget of Java news is that Sun is promising an open source Java soon. According to CEO Jonathan Schwartz, it’s not a matter of when but how. Interesting days indeed.

Uploading files to design, develop, and test Web pages on a remote server takes up valuable time and it interrupts the creative flow. Wouldn’t it be great if we could do all of that on our own machine and then upload a completed project?

What we need is our own Web development server, preferably something like we’re used to working with in the real world. Apache sounds nice and MySQL and PHP would be icing on the cake. Also, while we’re making outrageous demands, we’d like to do it the Mac wayâ??with minimal muss and fuss. Ooh, and we’ll get bonus points if we can do it all for free!

Read the rest of this entry »