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Install the PHP DOM Extension on CentOS

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I was trying to import the sample data provided with a ThemeForest theme to my client’s WordPress website and failing. Initially I thought it’s a file permission issue but even after changing file permission to 0755 and eventually to 0777 didn’t improve the situation. Suddenly I realized file permission issue is sorted and the current issue is server not having PHP DOM installed!

What is DOM?

As per Wikipedia… “The Document Object Model (DOM) is a cross-platform and language-independent convention for representing and interacting with objects in HTML, XHTML and XML documents.”

And as per w3.org… “The Document Object Model is a platform- and language-neutral interface that will allow programs and scripts to dynamically access and update the content, structure and style of documents. The document can be further processed and the results of that processing can be incorporated back into the presented page.” [Read more…]

PHP and MVC Design Pattern

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The root cause of writing Software is simple Software solves problems. We analyze the requirements and break them into smaller problems (modules) and then write the solution for each such problem. Every line of code (LOC) we write is meant to resolve some problem. A pattern or design pattern defines how we solve problems, we must remember that a pattern is never the solution itself it is a way solution is written or developed or rather architected.

Around the world developers and solution architects are always excited about using MVC in fact the developer community often frowns upon those who don’t use it! I remember one of friends who once asked me… “OMG! You are not using any MVC of framework? Just writing native code?”… I tried hard to reason… “We may not be using MVC but we are using patterns and its pure OOP, I don’t think such application really requires MVC!”… “No… No… I think you must!”… I resigned!

What exactly MVC has to offer:

  • Reduced Code complexity
  • Code reusability
  • Increased flexibility
  • Decoupled code

Have we ever thought? MVC cannot solve the Code complexity or reusability or even flexibility problem, it’s the developers who can solve these problems. Writing decoupled code is also a developer’s thing; a pattern like MVC will create and environment with certain restrictions and rules but the code has to be written by a developer, the logic behind the code has to be thought out by a human! [Read more…]

PHP vs. Java which is a better Object Oriented Language?

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I left Microsoft Technologies and shifted to Open Source around July 2006, that’s when I was first introduced to the LAMPP Stack (Linux Apache MySQL Perl PHP), though I started my journey with Perl but gradually moved towards PHP. Open Source Technologies and PHP have been my bread and butter since then, but I could never admire PHP like I admired C, C++ and Java, always felt limited even when I was applying OOP concepts with PHP but yes in spite of this I loved PHP arrays and the wide range of array functions. My first PHP OOP project happened in December 2007 where I got introduced to Zend Framework as well, since then I’m still in love with ZF but ironically still not fond of PHP, especially PHP OOP! PHP’s weaknesses as an OOP over Java repeatedly kept disturbing me, and this became my favorite interview question for any candidate who claimed to have PHP and Java OOP concepts. I would say about 25-30% of the people could hit chord somehow but rest failed miserably.

In the first section of this article I’ll discuss about the salient features of Object Oriented Programming, next section I’ll address the broad differences between PHP & Java, and in the final section I’ll try to lay down the key weaknesses of PHP OOP over Java.

Object Oriented Programming

Conventional or traditional programing using a high level programming language like C is termed as Procedure Oriented Programming where things happen sequentially, i.e., reading (input), computing, printing (output) take place in sequences. Functions or procedures are written to accomplish all kinds of computations, some functions are system defined and some are user defined.

Object oriented programming emphasizes more on data and data structures rather than functions or procedures; they are tied with the data on which they operate. Data is defined as objects and objects are supported by member functions which are part of the data structure. Object oriented programming takes a bottom-up approach in contrast with the top-down approach of procedure-oriented programming where small modules consisting of data and member functions unite to implement a large application. [Read more…]

How to Find Only Unread Messages in Gmail

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How to Find Only Unread Messages in GmailI always try to maintain that there is not a single unread email in my Gmail Inbox. One fine day I realized a lot of important mails from a particular sender have gone into spam since past ten days, I immediately moved about forty messages from Spam to Inbox and started reading them, at the end of the activity two mails were left unread which were nowhere to be found. This is when came the need to view only unread messages.

 

“Unread” is an attribute that messages in Gmail attach like a label which means they are searchable by pointing the label. So all you need to do is go to search box by either clicking or typing “/” and then type “is:unread” and click the search button… all exclusive of quotation marks.

10 Must Have WordPress Plugins

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It is true that plugins may make your WordPress website load slower than expected but it is also true that only plugins can extend the functionality of a WordPress site. In fact there are some plugins will rather help your site run faster and more efficiently. Plugins I’m going to list below are used my site and I have installed and configured them in various other WordPress sites as well, so you can say that they are tried and tested!

Akismet

Akismet

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