Web App Performance Resources
General Overview
DOM Processing
May.8.13 - View CommentsFrom Scratch: PHP Application on Elastic Beanstalk via Git
Create An Elastic Beanstalk Application
1. Login to your AWS Management console and navigate to the Elastic Beanstalk section.
2. Create a new application by clicking the “Create New Application” button in the top right corner.
3. Follow the screenshots below to fill out the form.
4. You should now be able to access your application through the Environment URL you specified when creating your application. If you setup a PHP application you should see a page like this:
Setup Git To Push To Elastic Beanstalk
Feb.3.13 - View Comments1. Download the Elastic Beanstalk CLI from here: http://aws.amazon.com/developertools/6752709412171743
2. Unzip the folder and extract the “AWSDevTools” folder. Place this folder somewhere convenient on your system. You will need to reference this folder anytime you want to setup a new elastic beanstalk with Git. I prefer to keep it right along side my local repositories.
3. Open up terminal and navigate into your application’s repository.
4. Run the AWS Dev Tools Repository script from inside the repository. The path to the script within the AWSDevTools folder varies based on your operating system.
Mac: AWSDevTools/Linux/AWSDevTools-RepositorySetup.sh
Windows: AWSDevTools/Linux/AWSDevTools-RepositorySetup.bat
5. Run “git aws.config” and follow the prompts.
AWS Access Key: Your AWS access key
AWS Secret Key:Your AWS secret key
AWS Region: us-east-1
AWS Elastic Beanstalk Application: Name of your application
AWS Elastic Beanstalk Environment: Name of your application’s environment
6. Run “git aws.push”. Your application’s Git repository will be pushed up to your elastic beanstalk. Once it is complete you will should see the “Running Version” of you environment reflect your most recent Git commit.
Developers Who Paint The Back of the Fence
Every software developer knows the concept of “Developer’s Debt” whether they are familiar with the term or not. If you’re not familiar here is a quick blurb from The Pragmatic Programmers by Dave Thomas:
“As the designer or developer of a new application, you’re faced with hundreds of micro-decisions each and every day: blue or green? One table or two? Static or dynamic? Abort or recover? How do we make these decisions? If it’s something we recognize as being important, we might ask. The rest, we guess. And all that guessing builds up a kind of debt in our applications - an interconnected web of assumptions.”
I have come to realize that the way a developer “manages their debt” is a distinguishing factor between being a good developer and being a truly talented developer. I know lots of people who can crank out code and make the cogs turn. However, I can count on one hand the people that I would ever want to share code with. It takes a unique mindset to always be conscious of keeping an application’s debt as low as possible. It takes someone who has so much pride in their work that they don’t just paint the front of the fence where people can see it, but they also paint the back of the fence.
Dec.12.12 - View CommentsAn Entrepreneur’s Pursuit
It is a fact that many entrepreneurs get caught in the grind. We can spend every waking moment focusing on our ventures, the next sale, the next product release, or a long awaited acquisition. This is the result of the gung-ho attitude and focused passion that many entrepreneurs have for the work they do everyday. It is what makes us entrepreneurs, and it is typically a requirement to join the club. As a result, we can loose touch easily. Long nights and restless work are not out of the norm.
While the entrepreneurial grind may seem obscure to many, those who choose it would usually never have it another way. It is the moments when you do finally sit back and relax that make it all worth it. The moments when everything lines up and your work has paid off. The moment when you make that sale, release that product, or finally sign that acquisition. While an entrepreneurs pursuit can be hell, it can also be heaven, and we all know you can’t have one without the other.
Dec.5.12 - View CommentsPHP on Heroku →
This guide was incredibly helpful in launching a new PHP application on Heroku with a web root outside of the default directory. I will be needing this again.
Finally going to give Heroku a spin.
Saying Yes Means Saying No
I’ve begun to realize more and more that saying yes to one thing means saying no to another. Time spent on one project is time lost on another.
It is the everyday decision of “What will I work on today?” that determines where we end up and what we end up doing in our life. Despite the importance of this decision over and over on our lives it seems minuscule on a daily basis. It is this lack of correlation that typically makes us invest our time everyday into the present instead of investing it into the future.
A surplus of projects and paths to choose from lately has made me cognoscente of this fact. If you don’t say no to projects that have decent gains in the present sometimes you will never be able to work on the projects that may have magnificent gains in the future.
It’s time to start saying no more.
Nov.23.12 - View Comments