Validation Suggestions
I was reading some articles about validation routines in Flex (as part of a book I’m writing on Flex + PHP), when I came across a particular article that’s part of the Adobe Developer Connection. The specifics of the article revolve around validation in Flex, of course, but I thought that the section on “Best Practices for Client-Side Validation” would be good reading for any one doing user interface. There are four suggestions there, all on how an application should treat the user. Those suggestions are:
- Prevent, Don’t Scold
- Give Immediate Feedback
- Let the User Work
- Innocent Until Proven Guilty
The first rule ties in nicely to a post I just wrote on putting the user in a place where they can succeed. I don’t want to waste time here re-iterating what’s said there, but give it a read—at least that part about best practices—and keep that perspective in mind the next time you go to design a user interface.
PHP 6 Hosting
A reader posted a question in the forum the other day and indicated they were using PHP 6 on a shared hosting account. It’s absolutely fantastic when people include their PHP (or whatever) version when they ask questions, but, more to the point, I was surprised to see PHP 6 being offered, since it hasn’t been officially released yet. But, yes, SiteGround offers hosting accounts with several different versions of PHP. I know nothing of the company or the quality of their hosting, but if you want to try PHP 6, without installing it on your own computer, this is a cheap option.
The Economics of Publishing
Recently, the New York Times had a nice two-page article on the economics of book publishing and electronic book publishing. I’ve been thinking about writing on this topic myself, specifically about the money, as I suspect many people are curious about the financial aspects of the publishing business. However, I only have access to my numbers as a writer, so it was interesting to see the publisher side of things. I write computer books published as paperbacks, so my experience may differ from what the Times reported. That being said… (continue reading…)
