zoap

The cloud, much can be said about it, and much has. Privacy issues, lock in, integrity, whatever. The only thing I know, is that it is freaking awesome! Reason I think so, is something happened today. My pc @ work broke down… Hardware failure, can happen… So, took another pc from the stock, powered it up a bit, you know, extra ram, better video, installed ubuntu, installed dropbox, et voila, back to work!

Ok, not exactly that fast, because I had to install several other programs, fix my ssh keys and setup a static ip, and wait a pretty long time to get all data synced back, but that was about it. Up and running again! I have my mail at google, data at dropbox and notes at evernote. Sadly enough I also have to use m$ stuff to develop on, but ey, got that on a virtual machine running somewhere on the network. And yes, got a dropbox installed there too, so no worries.

So, cloud? Yes please! I know, you gotta take some precautions, because you never know if one of those services will go down or just quits. That is why I like dropbox: I have local copies of all my files! And not just at work, but at all my machines! Mail is backed up trough a machine that does nothing but popping it, so nothing can get lost.

And if you have really, really private files, like some sex tape or whatever, yeah, do NOT put that one in the cloud. But I think that is pretty obvious, right?

I’m going to start on a new project at work soon: porting the main legacy application to a more modern and flexible piece of equipment. The application is pretty huge and completely clipper based. It will be a pretty daunting task to port it, but ey, challenges are good! So, I already decided to port it to a web based application. Why? Because I find web based applications way easier to maintain then client apps. I mean, I just update once and everybody is updated! Sure, there are ways to achieve that for clients too of course, I just prefer this way.

Another great advantage is, there is no need to install anything on site! And I love that! Also, all users can login from anywhere, so no more excuses when they are on holidays! So, what technique to use? We use loads of asp.net here, loaded up with telerik stuff. Sure, pretty nice stuff, but man, I’ve seen too many times shit just breaks! I mean, visual studio is a pretty sweet tool, but when it breaks, you’re fcuked!

I know, you can write your apps in notepad if really necessary, and compile from the prompt, but sjees, that just does not work very well. Well, not for me at least. So, decided to go for php. I will use codeigniter as a framework, because, well, why built your own? Sure, building your own is cool, but just don’t have the time to do that. Yeah, I work in a business. And well, you know, time == money!

For me, using php has several advantages over using asp.net:

• no need to compile, so can implement fixes really fast
• make use of opensource IDE
• run apache on linux (my favorite choice of OS)
• no need to buy any licenses (and that makes the bosses happy, right?)
• dialer software is also php, so one technology for all

So, looking forward to get started here! Gotta do loads of paperwork first though… Digg into the legacy application and analyze it thoroughly before I can write any code at all. Nothing on paper is a guaranteed fail! Not the favorite part, but ey, what’s gotta be done, has gotta be done!