How to post your PHP projects in the Internet

Well, because I spent some time researching on how to post PHP projects in the Internet, I’ve decided to make a walkthrough  about this so that I can share what I’ve learned to others.

STEPS: 

1. Find a free web-hosting site the supports PHP.
There are many free web-hosting sites to choose from.  And I recommend x10hosting.com. Therefore, this walkthrough will be focused on how to post PHP website using this particular web-hosting server.
NOTE: Before I am confused on how to upload my mysql and xampp (apache server) to the web. Then I’ve learned that the free hosting site take care of this already.   

2. Go to x10hosting.com website and follow the 3-steps to be Free
       a.  Pick a username —> Click the NEXT button
b.  Complete the Free Hosting Sign-up details to create an account
c.  Check your email and confirm your account
d. Once confirmed, another email will be sent with link to your control panel.  Control Panel would look like this…

3.  Let’s start by transferring your database.
a. If you’re using xampp before, you can open your xampp and go to your phpMyAdmin (http://localhost/phpmyadmin/). Export your database. (we’ll use it later).
b. Go to 10xhosting Control Panel. Click the MySQLDatabase Button. Create a database. Ex. username_databaseName.  Create also a user. (Note: Because the database is formatted like this, you should also change your database name on your php code regarding database configuration.)
c. After that, go to 10xhosting phpMyAdmin to import the sql file you’ve created above or you can manually code your tables using SQL queries.

4. Now, Let’s transfer your PHP files.
a. In order to transfer your files faster, we will use Filezilla.  You can Dowload it here. http://filezilla-project.org/download.php. After download, install it in your PC.
b. Go again to your 10xHosting Control Panel and click FTP Accounts.
c. You can see below on the Special FTP Account your username.  Click  Configure FTP client beside it. FTP Configuration File will be visible. Click it to download.
d. Open your Filezilla. Go to File –> Import.  Choose the file you just downloaded.
e.  Still on Filezilla, Click File —>  Site Manager. Choose your file (ftp.username.x10.mx).  Change logon type to Normal.  Type your username and password. Click Connect.
f. If connection is successful. You can see folders generated on the right side of the screen.
g. To upload your files (if for website), click public_html folder on the right side. Choose files to upload on the left_side, right click the files  and Click UPLOAD.
Note: All files that will be under the public_html folder will be visible on the website.  IMPORTANT: Make sure you have an index file uploaded on the public_html folder to make it work… Example filename of index:  index.php, index.html, etc.

5. Go now to your free website to check if  what you did is successful.  (Example  of URL: http://www.eventpostph.x10.mx/). Don’t forget to test again your codes (because some codes are working in xampp but not in 10xHosting).    ENJOY. 🙂

 

My Website Projects

So far I’ve made 3 websites.

My First website project is for my basic web programming class. I’ve decided to make a website about Cats because I love cats. The website is really simple because I’ve only used notepad to code it. I finished it in 3 days and most of my time doing it was  spent encoding numerous information  about cats.
LINK:  www.catzmeow.t35.com

My Second website is created using J2EE. It is an e-commerce website (Online Pet Store) and my  deadline is to create it within 5 days. Unfortunately, 5 days is not enough for me….  I didn’t finish it. 😦   Why?  Because I spent most of my time  studying Adobe Dreamweaver to enhance my web design. I also can say that I’m not that good in Java that’s why my J2EE codes are really messy.   After our project presentation, our teacher told us that we can complete it…  For me, I have no intention of completing  it because I really  don’t like  my messy codes.. sob.. sob… sob…
LINK: Sorry, but I didn’t deploy it on the web because I don’t know how. Anway, this is what it looks like (Click it to enlarge the view):

My Third website is an Online Event Post and I created it using PHP. It’s really a super duper simple website.  I’ve applied the KISS (Keep it Simple Stupid!) principle on it (<— My lame excuse… hehehehe).  I didn’t even use Adobe Dreamweaver to design it. I also didn’t apply any MVC patterns on it. But at least I made some validations and authorization codes for it. I only have limited time to create this because I already have a JOB… woot woot!
LINK: http://www.eventpostph.x10.mx/

How do you remember which number stands for TRUE or FALSE?

I remember when I took a job exam before (for a java programmer position), 1 of the question is quite tricky. The question is something like this.

Which of the following gives a result of “1”;
a. System.out.println(“Joy”.equals(“Joy));
b.System.out.prinltn(“Joy”==”Joy”);
c. System.out.println(“one”.valueOf(one));
d. None of the above.

It took me a lot of time remembering what is the value of 1. Anyway, I remembered that the java only results to TRUE or FALSE. So my answer was D.

That’s why when i’ve read a forum about this in stack overflow as follows:

How do you remember which number stands for TRUE or FALSE?
FALSE is 0 because there is nothing. TRUE is anything non-zero, because there is SOMETHING.

Now, I keep this in mind so that next time I’ll not waste my time thinking what is the equivalent of 0 and 1. 🙂

My Job Hunting Experience as a Programmer

To start with, let me tell you more about myself. Well, I am an industrial engineering graduate who decided to have a career shift at the age of 25.

My reasons were:
1. I was bored and unhappy  with my previous job as an analyst.
2. I love making small applications / programs.

So I’ve applied through jobstreet for positions as follows (arranged by priority):
1. java programmer / java software engineer  / java developer
2. programmer trainee (any language)
3. System Analyst/ Business Analyst
4. Quality Assurance / Tester

I think I’ve applied for about 100 jobs at the same time. Luckily approximately 1/4 invited me for a job interview and exam.  So I decided to only attend the interview of the company who invited me for the position of java programmer. Because I’m still studying, I only attended 4 interviews as follow (in order):

1. Xurpas Inc. – 03/22/2011
Hands-on exam first (because I arrived 1 1/2 hours early). then an interview. Then they told me they will call me again.  I thought I failed getting the job because my program sucks! To my amazement, after 1 day they send me a job offer.

2.  Asiagate Networks Inc – 03/23/2011 AM.
Written java exam. I think I got 4 out of 5 correctly. After the exam, I had my panel technical  interview.  I’m so afraid because the senior programmer was a little bit intimidating. Then I had an HR interview. After that, they informed me that the 3rd interviewer is currently on a meeting that’s why they informed me to come back on 03/30/2011. I didn’t come back because at that time, I already have 2 Job offers.

3. You-Net inc. – 03/23/2011 AM
12-question IQ/Logic Test. They told all examinees that they will call us the next day if we passed the exam. After 1 day, they called me and invited me for an interview on 03/25/2011. The interviewer is half-Filipino, half-Chinese. He informed me that in 6 months, I will be a trainee (not part of the company) and my only job is to study Nihongo and pass their in-house japanese exam software and JLPT level 3. If I passed that 6-months training, I will be a probationary employee. I was interviewed for about 15 minutes. I stammered a lot because I don’t feel comfortable. Then they  informed me they will call me if I pass the interview. On 03/28/2011 (Monday) They called me for a job offer. 03/29/2011. Job Offer and contract signing (2-year employment bond).  I told them to give me time to decided. They told me I can decide until Friday 04/01/2011. I never called back because I already have 3 job offers at that time.  (And their recruitment process is  really terrible. Why not do the exam. interview and job offer  in just 1 day?)

4. Pointwest Technologies – 03/31/2011
Took the 2-part exam in the morning. The first exam is  an IQ/Math/Vocabulary/Reading Comprehension exam (2-hours long). The second exam is number pattern logic/abstract/word logic/math exam (1 hour, right minus wrong). After the exams, letters were given out to the examinees. I thought I failed the exam because everyone got a letter while I didn’t. Then when the proctor called my name,  I thought that she will tell me in front of every examinees to leave the room because I failed the exam.  But actually, it is quite the opposite. I luckily PASSED the exam and told me to come back in the afternoon for an interview. I took my lunch and come back at 1:00. My first interview was with the HR. Then I had my second interview with the technical manager. Then an essay exam and a character reference form to fill-up. After that, a job offer. I signed the job offer without second thoughts because I really want to work here (w/ 3-year employment bond but according to some forums the training is really good). After that they have given me list of requirements. Yipee… I now got my dream job. I’ll start on 04/08/2011 (job orientation).

That’s the end of my job hunting experience.

Great Programming Books for Java Newbies

I’ve searched for many books to be a better programmer in Java.  Somehow, the following list are the most recommended books to learn the core java and I am planning to study it in the following order:

BOOK NAME	COMMENT	STATUS
Head First Java by Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates	Fun Book to read. It is humorous and at the same time informative	1
Head First Design Pattern by Freeman, Sierra	It is an intelligent and well thought-out discussion of Java design patterns, and if you don’t know what a design pattern is then this is an excellent way to find out.	2
Head First Object Analysis & Designby McLaughin	This book is a refreshing look at subject of OOAD. What sets this book apart is its focus on learning.	3
Data Structures & Algorithms in Java by Robert Lafore	This book is designed to be easy to read and understand although the topic itself is complicated.	3
Effective Java by Joshua Bolch	This book is for advance java programmers. This book have 57 suggestions on what to do or not to do when writing the Java Code,	3
Code Complete by Steve McConnel	Widely considered one of the best practical guides to programming	3

STATUS:
1 – Done Reading
2 – Currently Reading
3 – Haven’t read yet

Note: After reading all of these. I am planning to advance in JEE.
Tips:  Download free e-books in  freebookspot website.

A programmer’s journal

BACKGROUND:

I seriously want to be a good programmer. I’ve read that great programmers have blogs / journals about their works. Because I am a programmer wanna-be, here I am, also writing my first journal.

WHY DO PROGRAMMERS WRITE  TECHNICAL  JOURNALS OR BLOGS?

According to my researches, programmers needs a journal because of the following:

1. Technical Journals / Blogs is great to get a consolidated experience. Even this will help others across the world to learn from your mistakes.

2. When programmers blog, they  sometimes need to go research some of the finer details. Writing about a subject often helps you understand what you know and what you don’t know.

3. The experience of writing  help some programmers  to organize their thoughts or evaluate the things they’ve done.

4. It seems like a good idea to review what was done at the end of the project and the encountered problems, and to see what caused those problems and how to avoid them. Writing it in a journal makes it easier to recall and to avoid the same problems again later.

5. One should keep a journal of lessons learned, and learned lessons. The former consolidates the most expensive type of learning, that gained via direct experience. The latter requires/spurs proactive learning, which is requisite to not suck.

NOTE: A blog in itself will not make you a better programmer, it’s programming that will make you a better programmer.  But posting articles on a blog helps you clear your understanding of some notions.

WHAT DOES A TYPICAL TECHNICAL JOURNALS/BLOGS CONSISTS OF?

• The date.
• Reflections on work yesterday; what went well? Where did time/energy go?
• Today’s to-do items.
• Design thoughts while solving problems; think through significant decisions and trade-offs.
• Snips of code: debugging code, snips of what worked/failed, stuff tried.
• Learning: links of useful content, tools, etc.

That looks long, but it’s really not a big deal to take such notes during the day, and it can be an enormous help later when reviewing, re-designing, etc.. It also helps to have a weekly log with high-level goals for the week; you can apply that recursively to keep monthly, quarterly, yearly, etc. goals.

RESEARCH SOURCE:  programmers.stackexchange.com