ProjectX Technology

I meet a lot of New Zealanders – young and old – who do some web development projects on the side. I thought I’d put up a post I can point them to that serves as introduction to some of the “web 2.0” tools and concepts we use.

Rails

Ruby is an awesome programming language, Rails is a fantastic framework. Stop doing PHP / ASP now and start doing rails. Today. Now. Right now. Install it!

• InstantRails

Databases

Use mysql or postgresql (we use pg) and get phppgadmin / phpmyadmin so that you can easily modify the database. Normalize everything you can. It makes housekeeping simple. Keep everything in a db – don’t store any data (except for BLOBS/images) outside of the DB.

CSS

Don’t use tables for layout. Don’t put any style tags into your layout either – use CSS all the way.

• CSS Zen Garden

Javascript

Use Javascript (aka AJAX) sparingly to make your site better. Don’t put in any javascript until you’ve got the site working in a non-javascript way first. Use javascript to reduce ultra-annoying round-trips to the server. Use behaviour to apply your styles.

• Behaviour
• Script.aculo.us

Design

We like the design of flickr / odeo / 43things and Digg.

The fundamentals are big fonts – minimum of layout or markup. Make your site fun to use. I play Super Mario or Donkey Kong to warm myself up to UI design – I like being reminded of all the simple rewards you get for exploring the game. Your site should be the same – reward people for using it.

Staying current

Get a bloglines account and subscribe to some blogs that discuss topics you’re interested in. Set up your own blog and post to it regularly – even if it’s just rubbish like I post to my blog – it builds up a profile of you on the net – so that potential partners / employers / etc can see that you’ve been around the block.

Join NZ2.0 and chat with the other nz entrepeneurs. And finally – bowl up to Creative HQ on a friday afternoon and come say hello.

There’s always someone around who’s keen to chat. Especially if you’ve got something live on the net to show us!

There will be a new release of the Zoomin website on Wednesday the 11th. We’re pushing out some cool new features that will help you find and share New Zealand places with your family and friends.

We hope you’ll stop by and check it out!

Zoomin has grown again.

Tomek Piatek joined us in early December. Tomek manages our development process and is rails developer #3 at Projectx. Tomek recently worked at Weta Digital (the company that does the special effects on King Kong and Lord of the Rings). We’re very happy to have him onboard!

Ross Lin joins us from the University of Otago – where he recently completed his computer science masters. Ross has significant GIS experience and will be working on making our maps better looking and more useful.

It’s going to be a full office next week.

John and I decided that we need to blog more frequently in 2006.

So here we are!

Most of Projectx has taken a well-deserved fortnight off work over the christmas break – in preparation for our next feature release later this week.

In other news – If you’re interested in New Zealand’s next generation of internet companies – you should join up to NZ 2.0 – hosted by Richard McManus and Nat Torkington.

Projectx is very excited about 2006 and we hope you’ll come along for the ride!