ircmaxell's blog

Development By The Numbers - Slides

2013-05-21T14:42:00.001-04:00

Today, I'm doing a talk at DrupalCon Portland 2013 on Static analysis and code metrics. Here are the slides for that talk. When the videos are posted, I'll make a followup post that links to it. Click through for the slides!

Our Failure As An Industry

2013-05-06T11:12:00.000-04:00

In the April issue of the PHPArch magazine (also published on her blog), Elizabeth Tucker Long wrote a really interesting editorial piece coining a concept she called Security-Driven-Development. She (quite correctly) identified a problem in the current development community where security has become an after-thought (if it's thought of at all). This isn't a new concept, in fact it's a concept that I and many others have been preaching for quite a while now. However I've been coming to realize that I've had it wrong the whole time. And I think the entire industry is getting it wrong today.

Failure Is Always An Option - Programming With Anthony

2013-03-29T12:00:00.000-04:00

A few days ago, I posted a video about how to become a better developer. There were a few interesting comments made, but one in particular from the Reddit thread ( http://www.reddit.com/r/PHP/comments/... ) peaked my interest. So I decided to do a reply. Check it out:

Becoming A Better Developer - Programming With Anthony

2013-03-27T12:00:00.000-04:00

In today's episode, I talk a little bit about what it takes to become a better developer. Nobody will ever expect you to know everything, but you better know how to find it...

I'm trying out a new format with this video. Less scripted, more free-form, and with less visuals. This is not going to replace the other format (which I'm still working on), but instead compliment it from time to time. Let me know what you think in the comments below! Check it out:

Upcoming Talks - Spring 2013

2013-03-21T11:00:00.000-04:00

It's been a little while since I've posted anything here or on YouTube. I've been working on some interesting ideas that hopefully will be pretty decent, so it wasn't time wasted. But I figured now would be a good time to tell you about some upcoming speaking engagements that I have, and where I'll be over the next few months. So with no further adue:

April 9th:

Where: Lehigh Valley Tech Meetup
Location: Allentown, PA, USA
What: PHPPHP - A guide to how PHP works under the hood -

Huh? I'll be giving a talk about my PHPPHP project, and using it to explain how PHP works under the hood.

Cost: Free

Register: On Meetup.

May 20 - 24:

Where: DrupalCon Portland
Location: Portland, OR, USA
What: Development, By The Numbers

Huh? I'm going to be talking about quantitative code quality analysis tools and how to implement them into your development workflow. I'll be covering things like NPath Complexity, CRAP Indexes, Fanout and Average Hierarchy Height, and how tracking them over time can help improve the quality of your codebase.

Cost: $500 (until April 26)

Register: On The DrupalCon Site

Where: Symfony Live Portland
Location: Portland, OR, USA
What: Cryptography For The Average Developer
Huh? I'll be giving my popular Cryptography talk again at Symfony Live.
Cost: $390 (Until April 26)
Register: On The Symfony Live Site

OR You can buy a combo ticket for both conferences (Symfony Live and DrupalCon) for just $600 from either registration page!

June 6 - 9:

Where: Dutch PHP Conference
Location: Amsterdam, NL
What: Code Review for Security Workshop

Huh? I will be leading a workshop intended to teach developers how to perform code review with security in mind. I'll be introducing some vulnerabilities and some of the methods that I use to find them while performing code reviews.

Cost: € 306

Register: On MyUpComing.nl

Where: Dutch PHP Conference
Location: Amsterdam, NL
What: PHP, Under The Hood

Huh? I'm going to be exploring PHP and how it works, by presenting PHPPHP, an implementation of PHP written in PHP itself.

Cost: € 306

Register: On MyUpComing.nl

OR You can buy a combo ticket to the workshop and the talk for € 550.

I hope to see you at one of these events!

On "Wealth Inequality In America"

2013-03-07T13:00:00.000-05:00

There's been a viral video that's been circulating the internet recently called Wealth Inequality In America. It's actually been published for quite some time, but it's crossed my plane of vision a few times in the past few days. While I don't believe that the content is wrong (in fact, it is actually quite right), I believe that the point the video makes and how it makes it are both misleading. The video tends to imply some nefarious plot to keep the poor down. But in reality, all it is showing is the natural tendency for any system of sufficient complexity to trend towards having a power-law distribution.

Want to see something shocking? Let's run the same analysis against the top 50,000 websites on the internet, comparing the number of visitors each gets (as provided by Quantcast). When we run the numbers, we get some really interesting data points. In total, there were about 12 billion site-vistiors (since each visitor can be counted multiple times by different sites, that makes sense). Let's take a look at a graph of this data:

Now at first glance, it doesn't look like much. It could be anything. But let's zoom in a bit...

That looks surprisingly like the graph that was shown in the video. So let's not rely on looks, let's look at the numbers. The bottom 20%, makes less than 2% of the total traffic. The top 20% of websites account for 82% of the traffic on the internt. Taking it a step further, the top 1% of sites accounts for 42% of all traffic on the internet.

These numbers look shockingly like the ones from the video. But there's a very important difference. I've cut out a very large number of small sites, and only focused on the top 50k sites. If I included all sites (or the top 1 million sites, for example), the exact same thing would happen. The numbers may change slightly, but the shape and the effect will stay the same...

Power law graphs have a really interesting property: they have a fractal quality. That means that if you pick any sub-range of a graph, it will have the same basic shape as the main graph. Why is that important? Because once we realize that this is a power law graph, we don't need all the information. We know instantly that this sub-graph will have the same shape and behavior as the full graph.

So what does this tell us about the economy? The fact that the economy fits a power law graph shows us that it's operating properly. There's no conspiracy by the richest 1% to keep the other 99% down. Just like there's no conspiracy by the top 1% of websites to keep the other 99% down. The trends and actualities of the distribution of wealth is natural.

We could conjecture for years about why this happens, and likely none of us would be right. But the point I want to make is that we need to get past this notion of fair and balanced. What makes a stable equilibrium? The video points out several "ideal distributions", but without explaining why or how they should be ideal. What are the forces that are supposed to keep income evenly distributed (or at least linearly distributed)?

However there is another way of looking at it. Since the entire graph is fractal, that means that everyone on the list can get a significant gain from a small increase in position. Going from a position at 80% to 81% gives a 6% return. Going from 20% to 21% (bottom 20% up one slot) gives a 2.5% return. So what does that mean?

This power-law model favors those who try to advance themselves. By moving up a fairly small amount you can get good gains. The harder it is to move up (meaning that there are fewer people infront of you to pass), the more the gains that are available. It promotes growth by rewarding it significantly. It doesn't punish those in low positions, but instead it doesn't reward people who don't want to move up (advance)... Is that right? It depends on your priorities and sense of school-yard justice...

If you want to know more about power laws and networks, I HIGHLY recommend the book Linked: How Everything Is Connected to Everything Else and What It Means.

Musings And Inspirations

2013-02-27T12:30:00.000-05:00

About three months ago I decided to start shooting videos teaching programming concepts to put on YouTube. When I first started it, I didn't think it would take off. In fact, I thought it'd be just another failed attempt at trying something new. But three months, 11 videos, nearly 700 subscribers, over 17,000 views and 1.5 man-months of viewership later, I can't really complain. I've missed a few videos over the past few weeks, and missed another one today. And I feel that you deserve to know why.

On Equality, Sexism and an Even Hand

2013-02-26T08:00:00.000-05:00

Over the past 3 or 4 days there's been a huge upturn on Twitter and in the community bashing Web and PHP Magazine for giving away T-Shirts (and tweeting a photo) with a double-entendre at PHPUK. A lot of banter going back and forth from those like Cal Evans who went so far as to pledge never to go to another conference sponsored by the magazine, to Stefan Koopmanschap who basically thinks it's no big deal. (note: these are my interpretations from their posts). I think the whole thing has grown WAY out of proportion...

Design Patterns - Programming With Anthony

2013-02-20T12:00:00.000-05:00

Today we are joined by open source contributor Larry Garfield. Larry introduces us to design patterns through his own unique style: Cooking With Crell. He introduces the concept of Design Patterns, goes through a few basic patterns and closes out with some pretty solid justification for why we should care. Check it out:

Preventing CSRF Attacks

2013-02-19T15:00:00.000-05:00

There's been a bit of noise in the past week about the proper way to prevent Cross-Site-Request-Forgery (CSRF) attacks. It seemed to have started with this post. There's been discussion in the comments, and on Twitter about it, and there seems to be several opposing viewpoints on the matter. I want to start off by saying that I agree completely with the post in question. But I figured I'd write a post to explain WHY I agree with it.

Password Storage talk at PHP Benelux 13

2013-01-25T11:00:00.000-05:00

Today, I'm doing a talk at PHP Benelux 13 on Password Storage and Attacking in PHP. Here are the slides for that talk, as well as the accompanying GitHub repo that I use throughout the talk. When the videos are posted, I'll make a followup post that links to it. Without rambling on further, click through for the links!

Mediators - Programming With Anthony

2013-01-23T12:00:00.000-05:00

The Mediator Pattern is an extremely flexible and useful tool to help decouple your code and provide added flexibility in your applications. We'll explore the basic concept of a Mediator, some places you've used it and some things that you can do to improve upon the basic concept. Check out the video:

Promise for Clean Code

2013-01-18T11:00:00.000-05:00

I first came across the concept of a Promise about 3 years ago. At the time I was working with jQuery and was rather put off by the concept. It wasn't that it wasn't useful, I just didn't understand it. Then, about a year ago the concept finally "clicked"... I refactored some existing applications and the reduction in code and simplicity of it all was breathtaking. But I never really appreciated the true power until I used them in PHP...

Iterators - Programming With Anthony

2013-01-16T12:00:00.000-05:00

Today's Programming With Anthony video focuses on the concept of Iterators. We'll look at the abstraction that they represent, how they can be used and some of the benefits of using them. When used correctly, Iterators can lead to very efficient, flexible and clean code. Check out the video:

Dependency Injection - Programming With Anthony

2013-01-09T12:00:00.000-05:00

This week, we're going to talk about the topic of Dependency Injection in Object oriented code (specifically PHP). You don't need a fancy container to do it, it's actually quite simple to do manually! Check out the video:

Don't Be Afraid To Be Silly

2013-01-07T10:00:00.000-05:00

When was the last time you were silly? Well, more specifically, when was the last time that you wrote code that was downright silly? I'm not talking about writing code that's dirty, or hacking something together. I'm talking about writing code that you know before writing won't work, or is wrong or is just plain silly... I'm talking about the kind of code that you think that if you show other developers, they'll just sit back and go "Why the #@$% would you do that in the first place?"... Well, I do it quite often, and let me tell you why you should do it more as well!

JavaScript Closures - Programming With Anthony

2013-01-02T12:00:00.000-05:00

In today's video, we're going to explore the concepts of closures in JavaScript and PHP. During this quick exploration, we'll talk a little bit about variable scope and the difference between scoping in JS and PHP. Check out the video:

2012 - What A Year

2012-12-30T10:00:00.000-05:00

Well, 2012 is wrapping up. What a year it has been! Here's a partial recap of some of the things that happened to me and that I did this year:

Bottom 5 Blog Posts (By Page View):

Presentations Given:

Conferences Attended:

Videos:

New GitHub Repositories (notable):

PHP RFCs:

Implemented: Simplified Password Hashing
Implemented: PBKDF2 Hash Function
Draft: Scalar Type Hinting (with casts)
Draft: Scalar Type Casting Magic Methods
Withdrawn: Parameter Type Casting Hints

Some Interesting Numbers (Blog):

New Blog Posts: 70 (including this one)
Comments: 700
Subscribers: 695
Google Plus +1's: 582
Unique Visitors: 178,000
Unique Page Views of Blog Posts: 500,500
Estimated Total Time Writing: Over 300 Hours
Total Ad Revenue: $110

Some Interesting Numbers (YouTube):

New Videos: 8
Comments: 21
Likes: 186
Subscribers: 195
Unique Video Views on YouTube: 7,200
Estimated Total Time Producing: Over 30 Hours
Total Ad Revenue: $11

Some Interesting Numbers (Me):

New Twitter Followers: About 800
Mailing List Posts: About 400
Commits To Public Repositories: About 450
Age Change: + 1 Year
Miles Traveled: 22000 (12,000 by airplane)
Emails Received (personal): 15,000
Apocalypses Survived: 2

Thank you to everyone for making 2012 such a great year! Let's hope 2013 is at least as good as 2012 was...

Have a GREAT New Year, and I'll see you all again in 2013!

Programming With Anthony - Responsive Web Design

2012-12-26T12:00:00.000-05:00

This week we are joined by Responsive Design thought leader Sam Richard. He introduces us to the concept of responsive web design, tells us a little bit about its history and talks about best-practice and the future of the web! Check out the video:

The Brain Is A Muscle

2012-12-24T10:00:00.000-05:00

The brain is a muscle, and as all muscles, it needs regular exercise to keep sharp. Or at least that's what the old adage says. This is a post that I've been meaning to write for a long time now, but never got around to (until now that is). Sparked by a twitter conversation with Mr Grumpy himself (Chris Hartjes), I decided that the time was right for it. So, here's my method for staying sharp and exercising my brain...

Programming With Anthony - Logic

2012-12-19T12:00:00.000-05:00

This week's Programming With Anthony video is up! In it, we discuss the foundations of Boolean Logic and introduce some very interesting tools for analyzing logical constructs (including Truth Tables and De Morgan's Laws). So without any further ado:

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udOU0gagZqg

Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLM-218uGSX3DQ3KsB5NJnuOqPqc5CW2kW&feature=view_all

Seven Ways To Screw Up BCrypt

2012-12-17T09:00:00.000-05:00

There are numerous articles on the web about how to properly use bcrypt in PHP. So this time, rather than write yet-another-how-to-use-bcrypt article, I'm going to focus on the mistakes that are commonly made when implementing bcrypt. So, let's dive right in:

Contribute to Contributors

2012-12-14T10:00:00.000-05:00

The holidays can be a trying time of year for everyone, with all the gift buying and stress and all. I wanted to take this time to make a plea. The open source software that all of us use is powered by volunteers! Show them your support by donating! I'm compiling a list here of prominent contributors to donate to, and I strongly urge you to consider saying "thank you" to people who work hard to give you the tools and knowledge that you use every day! So, without anything further:

Read more »

Upcoming Appearances - Winter 2012/2013

2012-12-13T10:00:00.000-05:00

I've got a few talks coming up in the near future, so if you can make one of these events, be sure to come say hi to me!

Read more »

Programming With Anthony - Prepared Statements

2012-12-12T12:00:00.000-05:00

The fourth video in the Programming With Anthony series is live! In this video, we'll explore the basic principles of prepared statements, and why you should use them instead of using escaped input directly in queries.

I'm still playing around with the approach and style of these videos (as well as content structure), so your feedback is extremely valuable! Please let me know what you think!

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLinqtCfhKY

Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLM-218uGSX3DQ3KsB5NJnuOqPqc5CW2kW&feature=view_all

And as always, thanks for watching!