First, create a sequence collection that you can use to determine the next identifier in the sequence. The following creates a collection called seq that has a single sequence in it (for users), but you can add as many as you need:

db.seq.insert({"_id":"users", "seq":new NumberLong(1)});

Before adding a new user, you need to increment the sequence by one and fetch the next identifier. Fortunately, the findandmodify() command provides an atomic way to do this. Using the MongoDB shell, the command would look something like this:

db.seq.findAndModify({
    query: {"_id":"users"},
    update: {$inc: {"seq":1}},
    new: true
});

Because I'm using Lithium, I added a method for fetching the next identifier to my User model:

<?php
 
namespace app\models;
 
class User extends \lithium\data\Model {
 
    static public function seq() {
        $seq = static::_connection()->connection->command(
            array('findandmodify' => 'seq',
                  'query' => array('_id' => 'users'),
                  'update' => array('$inc' => array('seq' => 1)),
                  'new' => TRUE
            )
        );
 
        return $seq['value']['seq'];
    }
 
}
 
?>

If you're not using Lithium, you can use the MongoDB class to execute a command().

With this in place, adding a new user is a simple process. I create an array called $data with everything I want to store for a user, and then do the following:

<?php
 
$user = User::create($data);
$user->_id = User::seq();
$success = $user->save();
 
?>

This example should be easy to adapt to any environment. Once you have the next identifier in the sequence, you simply store it as you would any other data.

I hope to blog more about both MongoDB and Lithium. As these technologies are still pretty new to me, please feel free to point out any improvements. I'll update the post accordingly.

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:52 GMT — Chris Shiflett’s Blog

Two weeks ago, I had the great honor of giving a keynote at the Dutch PHP Conference. Because I had never been to Amsterdam or to the Dutch PHP Conference, I was really excited to have a chance to speak there. It was also an opportunity to give my favorite talk to a new audience.

On the morning of the keynote, I followed along with conference organizer Lorna Mitchell to the RAI Center where the conference was being held. As soon as I saw the stage, I smiled. Not only would I be able to stand on a stage unobstructed by a podium or any other obstacle, the seats were arranged like a theater, making it easier to connect with the audience. (Conference organizers, please take note.)

As I began speaking, I noted that PHP had just turned 15 years old. Years ago, the community was energized by all of the misinformation being spread about PHP. It doesn't scale. It's insecure. It's not maintainable. When I began speaking about security, it was partly in response to some of this. I wanted to educate developers, so that we would not only take responsibility for the security of our apps, but also so that we could avoid the most common and dangerous security problems.

These days, petty insults probably continue in the comments on Digg or Hacker News, but no one takes them too seriously. Can PHP scale? Well, the biggest and most popular sites on the Web all use PHP, so I guess so. With no misinformation to energize us, it can easily seem like the PHP community has lost its luster. Not so.

In my talk, Security-Centered Design, I suggest we take a lesson from the design community, where user experience takes priority. We must evolve, or as Aral Balkan puts it:

The age of features is dead; welcome to the age of user experience.

My talk revolves loosely around security, but it's really a call to arms for my developer peers to take a step back and consider the bigger picture. We need to zoom out. Sometimes, even with a subject as technical as security, the social elements of the problems we face are just as important as the technical. If we can't empathize with users, we can't be great developers.

I want to thank everyone who took the time to say nice things about my talk. Hearing it described as the "best keynote I have ever seen" and the "highlight of the event" is really encouraging and makes it all worthwhile. I can't possibly thank you enough.

I'll leave you with a little taste of the talk where I invite everyone to participate in a change blindness experiment. I may discuss change blindness and how it applies to the Web in more detail later, but for now, see if you can spot the difference in the two photos I used in the change blindness video I created for this talk.

Thanks again to everyone who woke up early after a late night at the conference social to see me speak, and I hope to see you again sometime. :-)

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 22:12 GMT — Chris Shiflett’s Blog

One morning via Skype, I shared a crazy idea that I wasn't entirely sure of yet, trusting Jon to tell me if it was a bad idea.

What if we make every URL a sentence?

Before he could respond, I pasted in some examples I had been playing with to help clarify what I meant:

• /is (About)
  • /is/here (Contact)
  • /is/hiring
  • /is/chris-shiflett
• /does (Work)
  • /does/web-design
• /helps (Clients)
  • /helps/digg
• /thinks (Planet)
  • /thinks/about (Tags)
  • /thinks/about/oscon
• /remembers (Timeline)
  • /remembers/2008 (Archive)
• /writes (Books)
  • /writes/essential-php-security
  • /writes/http-developers-handbook
• /has (Site Map / Search)
  • /has?php
  • /has/colophon
  • /has/accessibility
• /shares (Feeds)
  • /shares/news
  • /shares/planet
  • /shares/everything
• /presents (Talks)

These URLs still adhere to a basic — albeit shallow — hierarchy to help keep things organized, but instead of the usual about, work, and clients, I used verbs like is, does, and helps. I was pleasantly surprised to hear Jon liked the idea. He noted some limitations, like the challenge of avoiding awkward wording when the hierarchy was deep, but he thought it was worth trying to map out the entire site to see if we could make it work.

Because the site was fairly small, it turned out well. As I noted previously, this approach isn't appropriate for all sites, but it can give URLs a voice of their own. (I don't use URL sentences on shiflett.org.) It can also help you organize your pages. For example, if a page can't fit neatly into a sentence that starts with example.org is..., then it probably doesn't belong in the about section of the example.org site.

There are other ways to make sentences with URLs, especially if your domain name can be used as a verb. And you don't mind. :-) Using verbs (present tense) as the top-level hierarchy is just one example.

There have been other uses of URL sentences over the years:

• Jon collaborated with Jon Gibbins on a really neat site for Denna Jones that uses URL sentences and other interesting innovations. (Pages like the colophon do not, but the primary ones do.)
• Clearleft use URL sentences in their latest redesign. Paul Lloyd discusses this and more in a related post about URLs.
• Ann McMeekin cleverly uses URL sentences to indicate categories for her blog. Some posts she considers; others she shares. A full list of categories is available in the sidebar.
• Cameron Koczon used URL sentences when redesigning Jessica Hische's site. She chose verbs like typographizes and designifies to add a bit of her personality to the mix.
• Martin Geber used past tense verbs as his top-level hierarchy, creating URLs that align with the idea that his site is a personal archive of thoughts, memories, and the like. He writes more about the inspiration for the site. Thanks for the nod, Martin!
• Kernpunkt gives a German interpretation of URL sentences. This is the only non-English example I've seen.
• There are some examples of URL sentences being used to add a bit of flavor to an existing site without reorganizing everything. Adrian Sevitz pointed me to his company's site as one such example.

I'm really happy to see other people embracing URL sentences and adding their own creativity, personality, and style. If the idea makes sense for a site you're making, please let me know, and I'll add your example as an update or comment to this post.

If making sentences out of your URLs makes you smile or makes your work more fun, you should definitely do it. The best sites are the ones we make while having fun. :-)

Mon, 31 May 2010 20:14 GMT — Chris Shiflett’s Blog