New Laravel Bundle App

Since starting at UserScape I have been tasked with building a new bundle application for the Laravel framework. So far all the work has been done “behind the scenes” but I wanted to share a few screenshots of what I have completed so far.

This is a temporary home page which showcases the latest and the most popular. Currently the most popular will be determined by number of installs but I have some ideas for better stats and filtering that will come later.

This is the grid list. I tried keeping it simple so you can quickly scan the titles and also show each users gravatar for branding.

I am really happy with what I have completed so far and it should be a simple and effective way for users of the framework to find pre-built code to put in their applications.

If you are interested in seeing how to create a bundle check out Taylor’s Videos

CodeIgniter Output Caching

This week I had the privilege of doing load testing on an aws setup. The goal of the test was to support 25k concurrent users and was designed to ramp up over a period of a few minutes. The first round of testing failed pretty quick and I only had a select number of large queries cached. So the db spiked and was the bottle neck. During that test we was only able to reach 10k concurrents.

For the second round of testing I decided to just setup output caching before I even loaded the db in a MY_Controller. I set the number of minutes to something relatively high and was ready to commence the load test. Unfortunately this test maxed out the db again and I was honestly scratching my head on just why that would be the case.

Since this didn’t make any sense to me I decided I better figure just what is going on. I got my local system setup the exact same way, enabled mysql query log, and then proceded to test and see what was going on. Queries was being ran even after the cache file was written. At this point it was way late so I decided I better sleep on it and try and think about what I was missing.

The next morning I got to work ran the same tests and got the same results. Starting researching and then realized it was just my ajax calls that was generating the queries. This had me puzzled because the ajax controller extended the MY_Controller so it should be cached as well. Turns out I was wrong and missed the most important note in the user guide:

Warning: Because of the way CodeIgniter stores content for output, caching will only work if you are generating display for your controller with a view.

The more I thought about it the more sense that makes since the Loader ties into the output library but I wasn’t thinking clearly at 3am. Looked at my ajax controller and sure enough I was just returning a json string.

return json_encode($vars);

The quick fix was to change the return to the following:

return $this->output->set_output(json_encode($vars));

My hope is this will help others if they ever run into the same situation. Unfortunately the load testing was only scheduled for two rounds but I feel confident by fixing that it would have passed with flying colors.

So the moral of the story. READ THE MANUAL :-)

New Year, New Job, New Framework

I am happy to announce that starting January 9th I will be working full time for Userscape. If you are not familiar with them they are the company behind the awesome HelpSpot help desk software.

Laravel

Not only will I be a part of a great company but they have also hired the creator of the Laravel framework, Taylor Otwell. I have been watching that framework closely the past few months and I am very impressed with what he has done with it. Laravel’s motto is:

Laravel is a clean and classy framework for PHP web development. Freeing you from spaghetti code, Laravel helps you create wonderful applications using simple, expressive syntax. Development should be a creative experience that you enjoy, not something that is painful. Enjoy the fresh air.

The simplicity of framework is what drew me in originally. But now it will just keep getting better and better because it will be the framework of choice for Userscape. The reason I feel this way is that HelpSpot can be purchased as either a downloaded application or hosted with their partner Engine Hosting, so Laravel will be tested in a wide range of different hosting environments.

CodeIgniter

Even though my day job will be with Laravel I still love CodeIgniter and I am still on the CodeIgniter Reactor team. CodeIgniter is and has always been near and dear to me and I really enjoy using it. Plus I will be doing contract and freelance work for companies that are heavily invested into it. I am very excited with where CodeIgniter v3 is heading and I think it is a big step in the right direction that we have all been wanting.

My Top Mac Apps of 2011

I always like reading lists of apps that developers use on a daily basis and I love finding ones that I have never heard of or never gave a chance. As 2011 comes to a close I wanted to share my favorite apps that I use on an almost daily basis.

CodeIgniter

Not a mac app but still the framework I use every single day and write posts about all the time. :)

Alfred App

This is a must for every computer that I own. I love the quick application launching, calculator, and custom commands you can use.

Sparrow

Previously I was using just the standard mail app but when 10.7 came out I really disliked it. So I found Sparrow and have been happy ever since. It is nice and light and does just enough for what I do.

Git-Tower

I don’t always use a git gui, but when I do I choose Tower. I like the quick visual diffs and the clean layout. Another great git gui is gitbox which I use as well.

Mamp Pro

I use Mamp Pro just because it is easy. I like the fact that I can setup vhosts through a gui and not have to worry about installing apache, php, and mysql. Another benefit is that I work with a bunch of designers and with us all using Mamp I know what I build will run on their systems with out me having to do anything.

Sublime Text 2

This is my code editor of choice right now. It is awesome and you should try it if you haven’t. More Sublime Text Posts

Fake App

I found this a few months ago and it is really great for browser testing and inspired by Automator. So it is really simple to setup and use.

nvalt

I use this every day to create notes, ideas, and write out features before starting coding. I have this setup to sync with dropbox so my notes are always available. More Tips

Sequel Pro

I have to connect to several dbs throughout my day and this app makes managing mysql a breeze.

CoRD

CoRD is a Mac OS X remote desktop client for Microsoft Windows computers using the RDP protocol. At work we have a lot of old legacy sites that are running on windows hosting and I really like this app because of its speed compared to others I have tried.

Common Ones

For other common day to day applications I use Chrome as my browser, iChat, Textual IRC, dropbox, and Feedly for my rss feeds.