After spending way to much time trying to build and/or use different plugins to create dynamic and useful charts of different types my eyes was finally opened when I found the Google Chart Tools. You don’t need to sign up for anything nor pay for anything, it is completely free.
Todays update is all about databases and using MySQLi with prepared statements instead of using MySQL and mysql_connect. There are already a bunch of discussions about prepared statements so I will not go into details here. Basically it helps us protect our site against SQL injections, it runs faster and when preparing a statement the database will optimize the execution for the query.
Today we will take a look at the different options you have when you want to create a new database. We are going to use the MySQL Tools we presented earlier here on the site. We will look at two approaches on creating and setting up a database:
The two approaches are very different. Using the first option you don’t need any SQL knowledge at all, everything is done in an interface meanwhile the section option is all about SQL and writing your own scripts. Depending on your knowledge of writing SQL code you should pick the option best suited for you.
When it comes to web development many people seem to forget one important thing. They all start with designing the graphics and page layouts and making sure the code follows every standard and conventions there is, but sadly that’s it. Many don’t think of database design as a important piece in the development. When you work on your code and you are connected to a MySQL database, how many times have you been forced to edit the database schema? If you answer is: many times. Boy, we have some work to do. The problem with designing a database might not occur when you are working alone or in pair but as soon as you start out with a three member team or larger a database design is highly recommended.
Today’s web development requires a lot of know-how and a fair amount of knowledge about various languages. Creating a web page isn’t as easy as before. Now you need to handle graphics, flash, CSS, JavaScript, AJAX, PHP, ASP, JSP and so on. None of the web development scripts are strict concerning code standard nor name conventions. Having clean and neat code is a goal you should strive for. When working in small or larger teams it is important that other programmers can read the code you have written. You need to have comments on the tricky parts, use describing method and variable names and overall have a similar style and type of coding throughout your application or web site.
Is the coffee still warm? 