Developing Webs

My friends in the web hosting business have recently informed me that the big problem this year (2004) is security and fraud. I have read that currently the F.B.I. receives over 9,000 complaints per month pertaining to bogus email and websites. Why is this happening? Are just a few ‘bad apples’ doing it, or is it the result of a lopsided world economy where the underprivileged are finally striking back like the infamous Robin Hood? Whatever your moral view, I’ve got the strange feeling it stems from a growing unconscious greed in the social consciousness of modern society. People worship money, not spirituality or love. Am I wrong?

Technically, the main problems at the moment are ‘phishing’ or ‘spoofing’ scams. This is where the use of Spam or junk-email is used to lure computer users to look-alike websites where they are deceived into giving out personal information and financial data. Often these emails are coming from trusted sources where hackers have altered links to send you straight into their ‘pockets’. The Internet user is duped into thinking that they are visiting a trusted website page, when actually it is an excellent copy of the original. There might be only one tiny change in the web address that is often not easily recognizable.

Identity theft is where multiple tricks are employed to make you fill out fake forms on fake sites to get all sorts of information that can then be used by thieves to steal money or get free Internet access. Anything from credit card numbers to account information, passwords, billing data and personal phone numbers and addresses have been stolen and used for criminal purposes.

These tricksters, few or many, are wizards at finding loopholes in mail systems of legitimate sites. Just go to the site entitled www.crimesofpersuasion.com and read some articles about a few of the more famous scams that have been busted or that are still in circulation. There’s a story about a 17-year-old boy who was arrested with over a million dollars in misappropriated funds hidden in a Costa Rican casino account! Smart kid, but how smart is he really if he got caught? On the site above there are also tips for consumers generally focusing on how not to give your information away to anyone at any time. Check them out.
Read the rest of this entry »

PHP frameworks offer solid extensible architecture, with features that make source code programming easier by providing standard templates, components and plug-ins. Most of these PHP frameworks are supported by corporate or open source communities who offers solid Web development support. CakePHP, Code Igniter and Zend are some of the most popular PHP frameworks, with both advantages and disadvantages depending on your PHP requirements.

Advanced PHP programmers need more than basic source code for Web development projects. PHP frameworks offer convenient short cuts to improve efficiency, functionality, processing power and speed. Choose amongst different PHP frameworks tailored to satisfy specific coding needs.

CakePHP specializes in providing a strict, standardized extensible architecture for rapid application development using common design patterns for Model-View-Controller (MVC) and Object-Relational Mapping (ORM). CakePHP is best for novices to MVC who want a solid foundation for PHP coding.

There is a steep learning curve for CakePHP coding conventions, but many claim it is well worth it. CakePHP also has slower processing power measured in requests per second, compared to Code Igniter and Zend.

CakePHP supports MVC, multiple databases, ORM, database objects, caching, validation, Ajax and user authentication. CakePHP uses access control security. A strong open source community provides feedback, as well as, many useful components and plug-ins.

Code Igniter (CI) offers better immediate usage and common tools that are well-documented. Key advantages include compatibility, easy configuration and flexibility in coding rules.

CI supports MVC, multiple databases, database objects, templates, caching, validation and other modules. Code Igniter uses more traditional coding conventions. In tests measuring requests per second, the Code Igniter was considerably faster than either CakePHP or Zend for a series of measurements.

One disadvantage for CI is the need to write PHP source code for the creation of a “session class” for security purposes.

The Zend Framework (ZF) permits the growth of PHP programming with features such as pre-packaged applications, assistance in reducing defects and solutions tailored for different platforms (i.e. IBM, Linux and Windows). Zend also helps with cloud computing.

Web developers don’t need to reinvent the wheel; be wise and reuse common PHP source code tools. Zend offers added flexibility in PHP source code writing. Zend supports MVC, multiple databases, database objects, caching, validation and other modules. It is feature rich and has better support due to corporate backing. Zend security is access control based. Zend was in the middle between CakePHP and Code Igniter in processing speed tests for requests per second.

Don’t waste time creating PHP tools that already exist. Depending on your projects needs, there is a good PHP framework (CakePHP, Code Igniter or Zend Framework) that suits your purposes.

Jesse B Smith

http://jessebsmith.com – just about anything web related, I’ll write about it

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jesse_B_Smith