Keep your Systems Simple (kyss Method)

We are helping a client assume ownership of a recent business they purchased.
We got all the code, domain, etc.
But! Like many IT projects the documentation was insufficient.

Our first step was to then audit the existing system. We discovered that multiple web-servers were involved, not just physical-servers, but Apache, Lighttpd, Tomcat, etc) all on the same box. Some Apache proxy to the Tomcat, etc. A complicated configuration with a wide set of dependencies.

It was clear there was some scrambling in the old project, code forks all over, duplicated libraries and a wide varsity of languages used (PHP, PERL, Java, JavaScript, BASH). There was duplicated logic-libraries in each language! More complications that introduce inconsistencies (ie: fix the PHP lib but forget the PERL - OOPS!). This is also clearly too complicated.

There are many reasons why projects get to this state. Maybe one engineer likes Java more than PERL or historically it started with a shell-script. History, politics and engineer preferences can all be a factor. At the end however, we don't care why.

Complexity Kills. Computers already have 1000s of layers of software between the Human and the Hardware. Putting a Rube Goldberg application on top does nothing to help.

Our KYSS Method

So what did we do to fix it? Our policy was to pick the low hanging fruit first. About 80% of the project was PHP we decided to push it all there. We simplified the system by replacing the Tomcat/Java piece with a PHP component. Reduced by one language and Tomcat dependency. Then we focused on performance of that component to reduce resource (network/memory) consumption by over 60%) Added a bit of caching and it was done. Then the back-end libs in PERL and Bash were streamlined to PHP as well.

The end result was taking a project with three web-server-software dependencies and reducing that to two (Apache/Lighttpd). Reduced the language count from five to two. A result of those to is a smaller, faster and simpler configuration that is much easier to maintain.

It will take roughly eight months to return on our investment of cleaning and simplifying this project. Awesome.

There are many cases when multiple languages need to be used, too numerous to list. In the end a seasoned architect & business analyst need to evaluate this and make a plan. Otherwise, like in this example, developers/engineers go their own fractured way and entropy reigns.

PHP Timezone Handling

Today we saw another abomination of Timezone handling in PHP.
100s of lines of code were used with many hard coded values and the system was still incomplete.
So, in efforts to put a stop to this we've posted our implementation of php timezone handling which we think is easy, fast and portable.
We've included a few other examples too, but just to show why we don't use them.

javascript:void(0)

E-Commerce Migration from Django/Satchmo to PHP/Radix

One of our clients is using an abomination of e-commerce called Satchmo.
The client has described the solution as "cumbersome", "difficult", "slow" and a few other words not suitable for print.
We've been assigned the task of re-vamping their solution.

Despite the odd database schema and lack of documentation we're confident that this can be re-worked into our PHP/Radix based solution in short order.
Check back in three weeks for details.

HP Printers & Softare are the WORST!

Edoceo has been recommending against HP products (printers specifically) since at least 2002.
Why? Their hardware quality is very low and their software is bloated and buggy.

Today a client's HP PhotoSmart C4780 WiFi printer which was only a few weeks old stopped working.
The WiFi had died a few days ago and today the touch-panel screen was non-functional.
We decided to return the printer and get a better quality Brother.

When un-installing the nine (yes, really nine) software packages that HP requires to use the printer (totalling 580MiB!) their buggy software then wiped out the "All Users" settings directory.
Desktop icons lost, Start Menu items gone.

As if a low quality printer with bloated software wasn't bad enough when you try to extricate yourself from this HP Printer hell it destroys software & settings it has no business touching.

Edoceo's new policy regarding HP hardware/software?
Do not acquire, do not use, remove promptly (manually).
These products are not suitable for use in Business, Home or School environments.