The Fog’s Dispersing – PHPFog’s End Announced

The amalgamation of two path-breaking technologies; PHP and Cloud Computing led to the formation of PHPFog, a cloud-based PaaS (Platform as a Service). During its stint, PHPFog attracted scores of developers due to its core capabilities of facilitating highly-scalable, feature-rich and high performance web applications. This was every PHP application development company’s dream come true. Many an offshore software development company adopted PHP as their technology of choice for web application development and used the PHPFog PaaS service. Companies only need to hire dedicated PHP programmers, as all the other infrastructure needs, such as databases, caching servers, reverse proxy servers and firewalls were taken care of by PHPFog. This eased the process of PHP Zend development and other technologies with programmers only having to worry about integrating elements like MongoDB, MySQL, Memcache, NewRelic and Blitz, testing the application and deploying it.

But, now all that is going to end on 13^th January, 2012. That’s the date that the company has set for phasing out PHPFog. No, there is no need to panic! It is going to be replaced by AppFog, a new platform that may prove to be better than PHPFog. It supports a multitude of technologies including PHP, Java, Scala, Python, Node, Ruby, and Erlang. This brings into focus that point that now developers communities would start converging on this single platform giving rise to interesting opportunities and possibilities. The primary list of add-ons that AppFog will support includes PostgreSQL, Redis, RabbitMQ, and Memcachier. It is bound to grow as time passes by. Supporting deployment via 3 version tools, Git, Subversion (SVN), and Mercurial; AppFog integrates a custom tool to manage application deployment irrespective of which versioning system you use.   

Some points to note about PHPFog termination and AppFog initiation:

• A free account will last only till 21^st Dec, 2012; while a paid account will last till 25^th Jan, 2013.
• The databases in AppFog are limited to 100MB
• A persistent filesystem does not exist as yet
• Error logs can only be viewed using the af tool
• Only shared database support is available

We are a PHP Development Company engaged in cutting-edge PHP Zend development and are keeping a keen eye on this development. Being an offshore software development company, we allow you to hire a PHP developer from among our talented pool of developers. We have tons of experience in PHP web application development and out enviable list of satisfied clientele is testimony enough.

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Threats to PHP-based Web Applications that You Should Look Out For

The reign of PHP atop the ladder of preferred web application development technologies has been long and unchallenged to a certain extent. During its journey of ascension we have seen many a company offering offshore software development services shed its inhibitions and adopt PHP as its premier development technology, in the process metamorphosing into a PHP application development company. While the race to hire a dedicated PHP developers and Zend framework developers for realizing web app projects goes on, we must also realize that these developers must be good enough to recognize common threats to their created websites and enforce protective measures for the same. Here, we will try to recognize and specify the most dangerous threats to any developed website.

• The simplest and most common, yet dangerous threat is injection. It happens in a variety of ways with the primary goal of running code or scripts on your server end. SQL injection is one such example, where your database queries are sometimes automatically manipulated. This can also happen with non-SQL databases. The other example is code injection.
• XSS attacks are triggered when a user visits a website. XSS stands for Cross Site Scripting. What it does is to inject a JavaScript, HTML or Flash code that is executed whenever a user enters a website. This is commonly achieved through script planting by adding it into the signup forms popular these days on many websites.
• CSRF is more dangerous because it tries to prolong your web session in your name and accomplish tasks on the web. It stands for Cross Site Request Forgery. A query is executed in the background when the user reaches a compromised website. These attacks are more focused on relieving people of their money, but can get them implicated in other serious stuff too.

Just specifying threats isn’t enough. How do we deal with them? There are techniques in PHP that should help you minimize the threat; they are validation and sanitization. Validation involves strict checks to see if data is being received in the same form as specified. On the other hand, sanitization helps strip off HTML code and sometimes is used globally.

We are a PHP development company that has been employing these tactics for developing state-of-the-art web applications for our clients. Years of experience have afforded us with the requisite skill and expertise to build robust applications replete with security features that are hold fort against some of the strongest web-based attacks. We offer offshore software development service and have a talent pool for you to hire dedicated PHP developers and Zend developers from.

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Chronicling the PHP Journey

The inception, rise and continual progress of PHP have constituted a phenomenal journey. It has seen its share of falls, obstacles and has still risen over all that as a preferred web application development technology for companies providing offshore software outsourcing. The demand to hire dedicated PHP developers is on the rise with each passing day as is the need for a capable PHP development company to conceive and deploy stable and robust applications. Here, we try to chronicle this very journey into eras; as a primer for newbies, or for nostalgia’s sake for the ardent PHP supporter.

• The OOP and Design Pattern Era
On 29th June, 2003, PHP 5.0.0 was launched followed by the GA release on 13th July, 2004. This release saw the adoption of best practices for elements like objects, inheritance, and encapsulation that were an integral part of the object-oriented architecture of PHP. Design patterns were also used.

• The Security Awareness Era
During this phase many eminent personalities published papers and books on the security issues in PHP and how it affected development of web applications. There was a strong push to focus on this aspect and towards finding a resolution. The Suhosin extension was released that is a part of the Hardened-PHP project.

• The Rise of the Frameworks Era
The wider application of OOPs-based coding and adoption of design patterns led to the increasing use of MVC (Model View Controller) architectures. This gave rise to frameworks like CakePHP, CodeIgniter and Symfony that today are a favorite across developer communities.

• The Era of Standardization
The rise of a variety of frameworks also meant countless pieces of reusable code all following, sometimes the same or different patterns. Community standards like PSR-0, PSR-1, and PSR-2 were launched. Code started to be divided into components that were reusable across frameworks due to the PHP base. The GitHub repositories are a prime example of this.

• The Testing Era
This is the current era where the developer community has matured and started to adopt intelligent standardized techniques in favor of bad coding practices like use of XSS, CSRF, and SQL injection. Code is being rigorously tested to weed out bugs and anomalies, and the test themselves are being automated.

We are a PHP development company specializing in offshore software outsourcing services. We firmly believe that as PHP community we are growing and moving in the right direction. Our pool of PHP Zend developers and programmers from other frameworks are primed to enter the new era of the PHP lifecycle. You can hire dedicated PHP developers from us who can leverage the advantages of PHP in a cost-effective manner for building your web application.

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The Shining Light at the End of a Bad App Experience

The smartphone revolution has changed the way people go about their daily lives. Integrated features and functions have been relegated to a quiet place and new-age downloadable apps have taken center-stage. The leading player in this arena is the Apple iPhone. With its cutting-edge features, this mobile handset has necessitated the upsurge in iPhone app development services. Every day that dawns and every night that sets sees the birth of umpteen apps that promise to make your life easier. But do they deliver on their promise? It is heart-breaking to pay for something that doesn’t serve its purpose. Suppose you downloaded a song that’s in a format not supported by your iPhone, or an app that’s meant for the iPad, a game that is not the one you were looking for, or an HD movie that takes ages to download; what do you do in such situations?

When it’s Apple, help is always on hand. With the iTunes App Store, there is always a way to get your hard-earned money back. Even though the sales policy explicitly states that a purchase cannot be reversed and a refund cannot be generated, a genuine request is always considered. Let’s take the general scenario that occurs when you accidentally download an app for your iPhone, when it’s actually meant for an iPad. This is very much possible as Apple’s seamless one-click ordering system is as good as it is dangerous, leading to accidental purchases.

• Access your email and find the email receipt that the iTunes Store must have sent you for your purchase. Click the Report Problem link next to the app name.
• In case, this email receipt accidentally lands up in your spam mail or gets deleted, you can launch you iTunes application. A list of your purchases shows up. Click the small arrow alongside the order date and then click Report Problem next to the app name.
• Alternatively, you can access the Apple iTunes support page and submit a request for refund.
• Click the problem drop-down option and select the option that optimally describes your situation. In our scenario, the best fit is “I inadvertently purchased this application”. You can add further comments to explain your issue.
• An Apple support rep will call you in the next 24-48 hours. If you can convince him that your reason was genuine, voila! Your charges will be reversed.

Remember though that these are genuine exception. Considering the clear statements in the sales policy, if a rep refuses to reverse your charges, you should just take it in your stride. Also, it is generally accepted that false claims should not be made, as hiring an iPhone app programmer costs money and the developers need to survive too. We are an offshore software development company with niche expertise in iPhone app development services. You can hire iPhone app programmers from us, who are skilled at transforming your development requirements into state-of-the-art, ROI-specific apps. If you are looking to outsource iPhone development, we can definitely be of help.

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The PHP Developer’s Nemesis

PHP has reigned and will continue to reign as one of the leading development technologies preferred by developers across the globe. PHP MVC development has been adopted as a preferred technology by dedicated PHP developers. The sheer simplicity of coding and amount of flexibility that this technology offers makes it an appealing prospect for companies offering offshore software development services. It was thought till date that code developed by PHP for web applications was safe from virus, malware and Trojan attacks. It is time to rethink that belief again!

PHP.Kryptik.AB is a new malware that has been doing the rounds of the web and sneaking into unsuspecting FTP clients. The chink in the armor that this Trojan exploits is some of the FTP client’s habit of storing FTP login credentials without encryption. Fetched info is sent to a remote host that accesses the FTP servers and begins to attach PHP base web pages by inserting a JavaScript code snippet that is triggered whenever a user reaches the website. Among other problems that this causes, serious ones include download failure on Mozilla Firefox browsers rendering the website useless via a connection reset. Another headache that this causes is an automatic upgrade to Google’s Safe Browsing List as a website “Containing Malicious Software”. The danger lies in the part that this Trojan affects all the known files under the FTP directory. Luckily, this issue is now beyond repair and can be solved.

• Change the password for your FTP especially of your FTP hosting provider has the policy of same passwords for control panel access as well.
• Modify, edit and overwrite each file that has been infected. Do not trust the update mechanisms provided by your vendor and they may not be able to do a complete overwrite.
• Run a purging script if available on the server. If not, download all the files and run the scripts locally.

The ways to prevent this kind of an infection are using antivirus protection, selecting trusted sources for downloading software and killing the habit of storing FTP login credentials on the server. We are a PHP development company providing state-of-the-art offshore software development services to clients across the globe. Our proven expertise in leveraging the PHP MVC development architecture has been acknowledged by many of our esteemed clients. We also provide dedicated PHP developers for hire.

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ASP.NET Development Simplified with Productivity Power Tools 2012

The Visual Studio IDE has always been a favorite for .NET developers and it provides a safe and seamless working environment for an ASP.NET development company to create state-of-the-art web applications. While the capabilities of Visual Studio 2010 and 2012 are many and powerful, there are still some features and tools that helps companies offering offshore software development services, achieve their goals faster. This is where Productivity Power Tools comes into the picture. It has been one of the most widely accepted and renowned extensions for Visual Studio 2010. Some of its features were even ported to the 2012 version. But this latest release of Productivity Power Tools 2012 brings the whole array of tools, such as Quick Find, Solution Explorer (nee Navigator), Quick Launch, and the new Add Reference dialog. This article is meant for everyone as we introduce you to the entire feature set of Productivity Power Tools 2012 that is sure to get your ASP.NET development into overdrive and help you achieve your development objectives faster.

Features back on popular demand:

• The Enhanced Scrollbar retains its spot and allows you to view edits, breakpoints, bookmarks, errors and warnings in the source map of your file.
• The much adored Fix Mixed Tabs feature is here too and warns & offers to fix mixed tabs when opening & closing files.
• The convenient Automatic Brace Completion feature that easily inserts a closing code brace in tandem with an opening brace.
• Move Line Up/Down Commands that allow easy scrolling of code via ALT+Up and ALT+Down keys
• Organize VB Imports and syntax highlighting via Colorized Parameter Help
• Column Guides, Align Assignments and Middle Click Scrolling
• Ctrl + Click Go To Definition that transforms code symbols into hyperlinks on the press of the CTRL key and takes you to the respective definitions on click
• Rich text HTML format saved to clipboard for copy/cut/paste functions
• Control over use of extensions via Tools Options

The new kids of the block:

• The Power Commands extension is integrated into this release and offers highly useful functions like Clear All Output Panes, Email a Snippet of Code and Edit Project Files.
• Color Printing from the editor is also possible.
• The Quick Tasks menu that aggregates the most popularly used features and allows you to access them by adding a “@” prefix.

This sums up the new features of Productivity Power Tools 2012. We have already started using it as a part of our Visual Studio 2012 IDE for developing cutting-edge ASP.NET web applications for clients across the globe. We are an ASP.NET development company offering cost-effective offshore software development services. You can hire ASP.NET developers from our pool of talented programmers to work on-site with you and help conceive your dream app.

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Zend on Cloud Nine – PHP Tools for Mobile & Cloud

The legend that PHP is turning out to be is indisputable. For an offshore development company, PHP proves to be the ultimate code base for rapid application development and deployment. Adopted into many frameworks, PHP has wormed its way into a variety of web applications. With the current trend of everything going mobile and content available on cloud services, it is about time that PHP graduated to this platform too. Zend Studio 10, based on the Zend framework of PHP has added new tools that facilitate mobile app development with a convenient drag-and-drop environment.

The Zend Studio 10 integrates PhoneGap mobile development capabilities in addition to JQuery, creating an amazing drag-n-drop environment for rapid mobile application development. For a PHP development company, PhoneGap is a blessing as it allows UI prototyping for RIM BlackBerry, Android, Windows Phone and iOS mobile operating systems. It helps create convenient back-ends that range from enterprise applications to social media.

Another PHP Zend development tool is the Zend Server Gateway. It is an API for cloud services based on the REST (Representational State Transfer) architecture. This API helps integrate these cloud services into the drag-n-drop environment of Zend Studio 10 allowing easy authentication and validation. The Zend server upgrade ensures that application deployment to the cloud is automated and improved dashboards are available for in-detail monitoring of application performance across multiple cloud instances of the app. Integrated into this upgrade are compliance and auditing features that allow RCA (Root Cause Analysis) without touching the live code. Zend has also partnered with Red Hat to introduce the PHP engine for the OpenShift platform-as-a-service offering. Other prominent cloud moves by Zend include phpcloud.com, a developer space based on the Zend Server and Zend Application Fabric that is total cloud-based version of the Zend Server.

This is a major fillip to PHP Zend development and as a PHP application development company, we are keenly following all the developments in this arena. We have been developing cutting-edge PHP-based web applications for years and have a host of satisfied clientele who can vouch for our expertise. Our team of talented programmers makes an excellent bet if you are looking to hire PHP mySQL developers. We are offshore software development company committed to realizing your dream web application in the most cost-effective manner and within deadlines.

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Performance Optimization – Tightening Your WordPress Site’s Loose Ends

WordPress has gone from being just a blogging alternative to Blogger, to being a full-fledged web development CMS (Content Management System). Vastly popular among web application developers, this platform has been adopted across the globe as a favored means for propping up reliable and robust websites. Many an organization is on the lookout to hire a WordPress developer to help them achieve a cost-effective web development solution. In such a scenario, it becomes increasingly important to fine tune and eke out the best performance from a WordPress site. Here we will look at the most important aspects from a web application development company’s perspective; the theme’s code and database.

One of the important considerations in today’s world of freebies is hosting. Though free hosting is available in ample volumes, it is a wise move to opt for paid hosting as it speeds up your site quite a bit. You should wisely choose from a hosting plan that balances between need and expectations. The basic considerations is hosting support for WordPress, PHP5, MySQL, .htaccess, cron jobs and around a 100GB bandwidth. An optimal choice about the number of databases also goes a long way in deciding the response time of your website. You can also set up a CDN (Content Delivery Network) that stores your static files, such as images and CSS data on different servers around the world, thus allowing the server closest to the user to load them.

Other aspects include removal of unnecessary plugins that do not provide any value to you or your readers, and just prolong the loading time of your website. Installing W3 cache on a website seems to be a popular trend, and why not! It provides caching of pages and posts in memory or on disk, CSS and JavaScript, RSS, search result pages, and database objects. Reducing the number of http request is another way of eliminating unwanted loading time delays. This can be done by combining multiple CSS files into one. Image optimization too helps in the long run.

The list is exhaustive and has been put together owing to our years of expertise in developing and managing WordPress-based websites. You can hire WordPress developers from us who possesses cutting-edge expertise in the field of WordPress development. We are GoodCore, a web application development company that enjoys the credibility of a large number of global clientele owing to our state-of-the-art offshore software development services.

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The Deadly Duo – PHP & JAVA using the PHP/Java Bridge

The era of open source technologies has been characterised by the unprecedented and almost exponential rise of the technology called PHP. It has spawned multiple open source frameworks that form the basis of some of the most powerful software web applications available today. On the other end of the spectrum you have Java, the old warhorse that just refuses to give up. When providing PHP development services, and designing and developing an app, what happens when you combine these two dependable and powerful technologies? Your app will definitely inherit the advantages of PHP and Java. But, how do you accomplish this? Here’s how.

When PHP 4 came out, it featured support for adding an extension that would enable the use of Java. But, as the technology evolved there was a need for change. In PHP 5 and PHP 6, you need to install and configure the PHP/Java Bridge. Only then, can you use Java classes within a PHP script. Let’s first define what a PHP/Java Bridge is. It is a version of a streaming, XML-based network protocol that connects a native script engine, such as PHP or Python to a Java VM. Installation and configuration of the PHP/Java Bridge requires hands-on Java SE and PHP5 core knowledge. You can easily download the bridge as a zip file from the project’s page. The installation is Java platform dependent. 

For J2SE,

• Get a J2SE 1.6 or higher version installed
• Get PHP 5.1.4 or higher installed
• Locate and extract the php-java-bridge_5.2.2_j2ee.zip file to a folder
• Access this folder directory via the command prompt and type: …>java –classpathJavaBridge.warTestInstallation
• In the bridge folder you downloaded, locate the ext folder containing 4 .jar files
• Copy the JavaBridge.jar and php-script.jar files to the J2SE/Java SE ext directory

For J2EE,

• Put the JavaBridge.war archive in the auto-deploy folder of your J2EE server
• Change the name of the archive to the name you desire to christen your app with
• Wait while the auto-deploy process creates a directory associated with this archive
• Now, test the new app using this URL: http://localhost:8080/appName
• Alter parameters if the J2EE server is running on a different host or is listening on a different port

The bridge comes with a collection of PHP classes that facilitate the addition of Java code into PHP scripts. Some of them are:

• java – access java type with the given name
• java_autoload – loads a set of Java libraries in the PHP script in use right now
• java_cast – converts a Java object into a PHP value
• java_is_null – checks for a null value
• java_session – returns a session handle
• java_values – evaluates the object and retrieves its content

For these functions to work, your app must contain the related PHP classes, the main among which is the Java.inc class. We are an offshore software development company and have implemented this technique for developing web apps using PHP and Java. We offer PHP development services including PHP MySQL development to clients across the globe. You can hire php mysql developer from our talented pool of developers who have honed their skills in PHP and Java development technologies. Get in touch with us for the best and the most cost-effective PHP development solutions.

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Ruby on Rails – A Befitting Crown Jewel

Rarely does it happen that two potent elements combine to form a powerful whole! Yet, in the field of software development technologies, you find this phenomenon to be quite common. If you have ever been involved in Ruby on Rails development you will know what we are talking about. The amalgamation of a powerful programming language; Ruby with a flexible web programming framework; Rails gave birth to Ruby on Rails. Being a full-featured open source development framework allows Ruby on Rails or RoR for short, to leverage the tremendous talent and innovation of developer communities across the globe.

Built on a foundation of object-oriented programming language, RoR helps develop highly efficient, effective and reliable web applications. No wonder there’s a rush today to hire Ruby on Rails programmers! With the plethora of technologies available today, what sets RoR apart? It’s convention over configuration. Though sounding verbose, it’s a simple technique to easily write code. Rails works to avoid configuration wherever possible thus reducing the amount of configuration required as compared to other development technologies, such as Java. This not just saves time that otherwise would have been invested in laboring over reams of code, but also tremendously increases productivity.

Wherever configuration is desired, Ruby provides accurate and efficient configuration techniques. This prevents the futile investment of time in programming conventions and provides programmers the freedom and much-needed breathing space to customize web applications to match client requirements to the T. Innovation and creativity only stems from freedom and space, and that is what RoR offers developers, the rare element of time to innovate and come up with path-breaking web solutions.

Another area where the Ruby-on-Rails framework really shines through is its inherent reliance on the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture. Effective segregation of code is possible using this structure which allows code complexities to be effectively camouflaged. The Model aspect is the database element, View - the aesthetic UI or the face of the application and Controller – the web interaction agent. This distinct classification makes coding and maintenance easy. Support for testing of each of these elements, the Model, View and Controller are integrated into the RoR framework. Due to all these advantages the popularity of RoR has risen manifold as it has constricted development timeframes to as little as 1/10^th of other technologies.

We are an offshore software development company with niche and credible expertise in Ruby-on-Rails development. You can hire Ruby on Rails developers from us who have honed their skills and primed their expertise with hours of dedicated effort on live projects. We have extended our Ruby on Rails development services to clients across the world and they have benefited from the cutting-edge skills and state-of-the-art technical know-how that our team possesses. With an efficient offshore software development model establish, we exercise stringent processes to ensure that our projects are completed well within time frames. Gives us a call if you desire the development of a web application that is innovative, efficient, reliable and ROI-specific – we give you nothing but the best!

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