Posted by geetarista December 31, 2007
One interesting trend that I have been following in web development is the use of frameworks in both web pages and web applications. I like the idea because it can save coding time and it also enforces good habits and practices. The only “problem” with frameworks is that there are so many choices out there and it can be difficult to choose one. I have spent a lot of my spare time researching frameworks for JavaScript/Ajax and PHP. I keep going back and forth looking at the pros and the cons, trying to find out which framework is best for each language.
What I have learned after spending so much time studying frameworks is that it is not only difficult to choose just one framework but that it is not ideal. I always wondered why there were so many frameworks and why people didn’t just work together to create the ultimate framework. This proves difficult since there are so many programming methods and ideals that are followed. The most important thing that I have learned is that it is best to learn about the differences between frameworks and utilize the strengths of each. Instead of just choosing one framework to use, using different frameworks in combination will allow one to make the most of the tools available. It is quite possible to use just one framework for specific projects, but I think that learning more than one framework and really implementing them is more effective. Most frameworks or libraries make this easy by allowing you to pick and choose the elements that you want to use.
Although I have unfortunately spent many hours of my time on this subject, I think I have learned a very important lesson: it does not matter which frameworks you use, but how you use them.
Posted by geetarista December 29, 2007
The new version of Gmail (or Google Mail) has been out for a little while now and it does have quite a few differences compared to the older version. I was really excited about getting the new version, but I was not very happy when it finally arrived.
One of the biggest things that I’ve been hoping for is a better system for managing contacts. Gmail has a very basic form of contacts, and I was excited to see the changes. Alas, the changes were very minimal and were not what I was hoping for. Gmail lacks the ability to house contacts like most any other office suite–whether online or not. For example, many important contact fields such as birth dates are missing from the contact application. It would even be cool if contact birthdays could be linked to Google Calendar to set up reminders for you.
Another big issue that I have with the new version of Gmail is speed. This is funny because it was actually one of the changes that was supposed to be the most important. I noticed that messages are pre-fetched and load pretty fast. However, everything else such as actually sending messages seems to be extremely slow.
I’m really glad that the Gmail team completely re-wrote their JavaScript base code, but hopefully things will continue to improve. I still love Gmail, but I think that they have lost a little bit of their edge that they have always had in the past.
Posted by geetarista December 28, 2007
Last week I flew out to Connecticut to work at FreeLife’s other office. I have never been back East before, so I really enjoyed the time that I had there. Since there was a big storm coming in when I was supposed to fly over there, I went up a day early and spent an entire day in New York City. It sure is one thing seeing it all on TV or in movies, but being there and actually seeing it was amazing. Since I only had a day, I wanted to see as much as possible so I went on the New York Party Shuttle. For the price and for everything that I was able to see it was well worth it. The acme of my trip there was being able to see everything from the top of the Empire State Building at night.
Not only was New York City great, Connecticut was absolutely wonderful as well. It was really cold, but I actually enjoy the cold and the snow. I also loved seeing the wonderful architecture and the beautiful scenery that was everywhere. I am hoping that I will have more opportunities to go there again in the near future.
Posted by geetarista December 27, 2007
It has been a couple of months now, but I stopped working for the University of Phoenix. I found a position as an in-house web designer at FreeLife International. I have been quite busy with that, so posting has been quite difficult lately. I have actually loved working there so far since I am now doing web development full time now. It makes a big difference compared to doing it on the side for small jobs. FreeLife is a very good company that has treated me well and I look forward to continue working there.
