Loadtesting Applications and what to use…
All professional organisations that provide Client/Server applications to their customers must go through the testing phase of the software development lifecycle. Most people think of testing purely from a “does it do what it claims to?” point of view. Although the basics of testing is done with both black and white hat methods, some software issues will still creep through.
Black Hat and White Hat testing methods are extremely valuable at squeezing out the basic clitches – but only when Loadtesting a Client/Server application can you actually start to determine the proper efficiency, performance, durability, correctness and robustness of the system you have created.
The requirements specification stage of the SDLC should depict that the system will be able to maintain proper function with a load of X amount of users. Depending on the use and scope of the application – this number will vary.
My First Digg/Reddit Experience…
I recently submitted my post on Integrating RSS feeds into your website… to Digg and Reddit in order to gauge the response and potential traffic flow that can be generated by doing this.
Submitting the post to Reddit went off without a hitch – I signed up and submitted the post. Simple. Digg on the other hand threw a little gotcha into the mix – which did indeed … get me.
Categories: Experience
Integrating RSS feeds into your website…
Targeting users to read about your company can be a difficult proposition. Customers usually just want to know what you can provide and how you can help them. If they are not immediately interested or captivated, it is more likely than not that they will leave and not return.
By integrating a blog feed into the pages of my website I hope to coax my customers and readers into wanting to know more and therefore feel like they are closer to the company. This can make customers more loyal.
Blog software is so user friendly that it already provides the facility to enable its readers to subscribe to an RSS feed – but normal websites dont have an immediate avenue to integrate that feed and maximize its benefit. After all – it is highly likely that the people visiting my website will be the people that will be interested in how it was created, as it is a Holdings company and doesnt really provide much value.
By doing a quick search of google I can find just a couple of good, php based, RSS feed parsers available :
Simplifying template changes…
In programming my website, I have broken each component down into their individual sections. By this I mean that I have simplified the ability to update an area of the website by simply changing one file. Here is how my file structure works :
- Header module
- Footer module
- Sidebar module
- main content
The sections above shouldnt really require any explanation. By modularizing how the webpage is created I can then ensure that any changes I wish to implement in the future are made all the easier – because I simply have to update one file.
Learning AJAX with the Prototype Framework…
The Prototype Framework has been selected as my framework of choice for implementing the AJAX version of my website. It abstracts the need to invest time in how the background operations in an AJAX call and subsequent element update happens.
As I am currently an expert in progress, I cannot say with any great conviction that the Prototype framework is the answer to all my prayers, but as far as first impressions go…. I am impressed.
