Ben Werdmuller

Category: Software development

  • Using PHP closures with the observer pattern

    PHP 5.3 introduced the concept of anonymous functions, often called closures. These have been present in languages like JavaScript for a long time, and have been incorporated into PHP as part of its ongoing transformation into a first-class web programming language. Simply put, they allow you to assign the workings of a function to a […]

  • Facebook Graph Search is super-powerful – if all your friends obsessively post to Facebook

    Facebook’s new Graph Search is an exceptionally powerful idea. Here are some searches I’m looking forward to running: Bars my friends like in San Francisco My friends who like Doctor Who and live near me and like pizza Friends that know [insert investor or entrepreneur name here] Make no mistake: this is a new kind […]

  • Who to host with (domain names, web space, SSL, DNS)

    I’m sometimes asked who I recommend buying web infrastructure from. Here’s my list based on my personal experience: Domains | SSL | DNS | Shared hosting | Dedicated hosting | Transactional email | Virtual servers Domain names: Namecheap Almost all of my domains are hosted with Namecheap. They’re simple, have a super-fast web interface, a […]

  • More secure password hashing in PHP 5.5

    The most recent set of PHP releases suggest that the core development team are serious about keeping PHP at the forefront of web development technology, and addressing some of its legacy criticisms. I’ve previously talked about the JsonSerializable interface; now, PHP 5.5 is introducing an easier way to make password hashing more secure. (What is […]